St. John’s-Kilmarnock strikes OFSAA gold
BURLINGTON — The team that started the streak is the one that kept it going.
Sofiya Kiseleva scored the game-winning goal at the midway point of the first half and the third-ranked St. John’s-Kilmarnock Eagles captured the all-Ontario (OFSAA) field hockey championship Saturday with a 2-1 win over the ninth-ranked Parkside Stampeders of St. Thomas.
Hannah Rohrer also scored for SJK, a private school in Breslau, which captured its fifth OFSAA championship and first since 2009. Teams from Waterloo Region have now won 13 consecutive OFSAA crowns, dating back to SJK’s first of four straight in 2006.
“It speaks to the talent of our area, no doubt about that,” said SJK head coach Leanne Dietrich, as her players celebrated in the background at Nelson High School.
“These guys have been together, a lot of them, since U14 and we knew they were special. We’ve had our eyes on 2018 for a few years now.”
Eagles captain Anna Bout is the team’s undisputed leader and a multi-sport athlete who has also excelled in soccer, volleyball and cross-country running.
She will celebrate the victory with a
pre-arranged Hawaiian getaway and later this month will sign a scholarship to play NCAA Division 1 soccer at the University of Pittsburgh.
“Field hockey is such a big thing at our school and we’ve been working toward this for such a long time, so it’s amazing,” said Bout.
“We’re such a cohesive group and my teammates are my best friends, so it’s bittersweet to know this will be our last time together.”
SJK competes in the Conference of Independent Schools of Ontario Athletic Association during the regular season and participates in a number of tournaments on the side.
Braelyn Dennis opened the scoring for Parkside less than two minutes after the start of Saturday’s gold-medal game, deflecting a shot by Kendra Hulst past SJK goalkeeper Olivia Renaud.
Rohrer tied the game 10 minutes later, taking a short-corner feed from Rebecca Grootendorst and blasting a shot past Stampeders goalkeeper Maggie Gordon.
Kiseleva’s game-winner came five minutes later and again started with a short corner from Grootendorst. Madeleine Hykamp took the initial shot and Kiseleva pounced on the rebound after Gordon made the initial save.
SJK joins the Resurrection Phoenix as the only five-time OFSAA field hockey champions. Notre Dame CSS (Burlington) and South Huron DHS (Exeter) are four-time winners.
The Eagles advanced to the gold-medal game with a 2-1 semifinal victory over the top-ranked St. Mary’s Eagles of Kitchener, while the Stampeders advanced with a 2-1 win over the sixth-ranked Bill Crothers Colts of Unionville.
Bill Crothers went on to defeat St. Mary’s 2-1 in the bronze-medal game.
St. Mary’s won the District 8 and CWOSSA championships on its way to a fourth-place finish at OFSAA.