Sabres girls start 2-0 in AA soccer
The Sandwich Sabres won both games Thursday as the OFSAA girls’ AA soccer championship began at the L’Essor soccer field. The WECSSAA champion Sabres opened with a 3-1 win over Waterloo St. David and followed with a tough 1-0 win over Burlington Notre Dame. Sandwich (2-0-0) takes aim at a top-two finish in its pool when it wraps up play Friday against St. Thomas Parkside (2-0-0) and Peterborough Holy Cross (0-2-0). It was a tougher start for the host L’Essor Aigles at the girls’ AA tournament.
The Aigles dropped a 6-1 decision to Bradford Holy Trinity and drew 1-1 with Aurora Father Bressani. Angie Arsenault scored at Holy Trinity while Vienna Marlovits had the goal against Father Bressani.
The Aigles (0-1-1) play mustwin games Friday against Timmins Ecole Theriault and Sault Ste. Marie Superior Heights if the club hopes to advance to quarterfinal play.
KNIGHTS OPEN STRONG
The Holy Names Knights opened the OFSAA boys’ AAA soccer championship in Thunder Bay with a pair of wins on Thursday. The No. 3-seeded Knights opened with a 6-0 win over Cobourg College and followed it with a 3-2 win over host Thunder Bay Ignatius. The Knights (2-0-0) will close out pool play Friday against West Humber (2-0-0) and Glebe Collegiate (0-1-1).
SAINTS START STRONG
The host St. Anne Saints went unbeaten to start pool play on Thursday at the OFSAA girls’ AAA soccer championship at the Vollmer Complex. St. Anne, which lost the WECSSAA final, outscored Peterborough Thomas Stewart for a 5-4 win and drew 2-2 with Kingston Notre Dame.
The Saints got single goals from Tiana Confilitti, Emma Collins, Sylvia Pavelich, Alexa Burks and Sarina Russo in the win over Thomas Stewart. Collins and Katerina Iakovidis scored against Notre Dame. The Saints (1-0-1) will look to secure a quarter-final spot Friday with pool play games against Mississauga St. Martin and London Lucas.
SPLIT FOR ROYALS
The Lajeunesse Royals split a pair of games on Thursday at the OFSAA girls’ A soccer championship in Pain Court. Lajeunesse opened with a tough 1-0 loss to Woodland Christian, but bounced back to beat Timmins O’Gorman 10-0. Emily Chauvin had three goals for the Royals with Marietta Lascak getting two goals and singles going to Ericka Boismer, Michaela DiFranco, Emily Leblanc, Lauren Miles and Megan Murtagh.
The Royals (1-1-0) finish pool play on Friday against University of Toronto Schools (0-2-0) and Toronto St. Michael (2-0-0) and will look for a top-two finish to advance to quarter-final play.
MURPHY TAKES GOLD
Area athletes picked up two medals on Thursday as the OFSAA track and field championships got underway in Toronto.
Both medals came in the midget boys’ pole vault as St. Anne’s Bradley Murphy took gold by clearing 3.45 metres while the Sandwich Sabres’ Dylan Farina earned bronze by clearing 3.20 metres.
MUSTANGS FALL SHORT
The Massey Mustangs were unable to clinch a spot in the OFSAA baseball championship Thursday. The top-seeded Mustangs needed a single win to advance to next week’s final four, but dropped a 13-6 decision to No. 2 Mississauga and then fell 6-2 to No. 3 Pickering at the OFSAA West Regional. Against Mississauga, the Mustangs held a 5-3 lead in the fourth inning when St. Marcellinus rallied to get the win. Right-hander Alex Drouillard went four innings for Massey with Storm Ricciotti hitting two doubles and driving in three runs for the Mustangs. Against Pickering, the Mustangs were unable to convert scoring chances in the first three innings and Pickering took advantage of a couple of Massey errors to jump to a 3-0 lead after five innings. Ricciotti started the game and allowed one unearned run in four innings and drove in two runs.
GIANTS WIN BIG
The St. Clair Green Giants rolled to a 12-1 road win over Saginaw Sugar Beets in Great Lakes Summer Collegiate Baseball League play Thursday.
St. Clair took two-of-three games from the first-year Saginaw, Michigan squad in the season-opening series for both teams.
Gavin Homer and Gianni Tomasi had three hits each for the Green Giants while Matt Phipps had two hits and drove in three runs and Brady Dorn had two hits. Righthander Marcus Christy got the win by allowing just three hits in six shutout innings.