Trip to OFSAA would be ‘gravy’
Huron Heights trying to build on first championship
Regardless of what happens at the Central Western Ontario (CWOSSA) senior boys’ soccer championship, the Huron Heights Huskies can declare their season a successful one.
Fresh off their victory over the Grand River Renegades in last week’s Waterloo County final — a first title for any senior boys’ team since the school opened in 2006 — the Huskies are attempting to punch their tickets to a first trip to the all-Ontario (OFSAA) triple-A championship.
But it won’t be easy.
The Huskies split a pair of games at the CWOSSA triple-A tournament on Tuesday at Schlegel Park — falling 3-1 to the Assumption Lions of Brantford and scoring a 12-2 win over the John F. Ross Royals of Guelph — to advance to a sudden-death semifinal clash with the District 8 champion St. Mary’s Eagles on Thursday morning.
The winner of the Huron Heights-St. Mary’s semifinal will meet the winner of the Assumption-Grand River semifinal for the CWOSSA championship. Both semifinals are 9 a.m. kickoffs at Schlegel Park and the final is set for Thursday at 1 p.m.
The winner moves on to the June 2 to 4 OFSAA championship in London.
A trip to OFSAA would be “gravy” on a season that has already exceeded the expectations of longtime Huskies head coach Lianne Ollerhead.
“(This season) has been huge, especially coming off of COVID and two years of nothing. I had some of these guys as juniors, and I think we lost in the quarters, so for these
guys to come back with such power; it means a lot,” said Ollerhead.
“We have a team of incredible depth and incredible skill, and they just work together, on and off the field, and they’re a pleasure to coach. The past two years have been pretty grim, so for these players, especially the Grade 12s, to be able to win a WCSSAA championship, it’s pretty nice.”
The Huskies have been strong at the front with the one-two punch of Ashwyn Lambert and David Toma and are solid at the back with goalkeeper Mehmet Tutak and fullback/co-captain Joseph Tudur leading the way. Midfielder/co-captain Jayden Menjivar is another
strong presence for the Huskies, both on and off the field.
On Tuesday, in Huron Heights’ must-win afternoon game over John F. Ross, Aidan Memmolo and Luca Lucic had two goals each. Among the other goal scorers were Chizi Oboli, Jayden Randell-Eddy, Kaleab Gezaw, Logan Welton, Owen Smith, Lambert and Toma.
John F. Ross had dropped a 6-0 decision to Assumption in its first pool game.
In the Huskies’ morning contest, Lambert scored the only goal against a hard-working Assumption squad that sealed its win over Huron Heights with a pair of late penalty kicks.
“Our goal was getting out of pool play and into semis … and against St. Mary’s, we’ll give it all we’ve got,” said Ollerhead. “We’ve played them at CWOSSA in junior for three years in a row, and they’ve beaten us every time, but who knows what to expect.”
St. Mary’s won Pool B with a 5-1 win over Grand River and a 6-0 win over the Owen Sound Wolves. Dylan Aziz, with three, Juan Arcila and Thomas Ferreira scored against Grand River, and Brandon Silva, with two, Leo Levinski, Marcus Barichello, Aziz and Arcila scored against Owen Sound.
Owen Kalbfleisch, Joel Guse,
For these players … to be able to win a WCSSAA championship, it’s pretty nice.
LIANNE OLLERHEAD HURON HEIGHTS HUSKIES HEAD COACH
Harveer Lail, Dennis Farcas, Stefan Urosevic and Travis Duncan scored for Grand River in a 6-0 win over Owen Sound, and Nicholas Giannopolous scored the lone goal against St. Mary’s.
Three local teams still standing
Semifinal opponents are also set for the CWOSSA triple-A girls’ soccer championship, with John F. Ross facing Grand River in one and St. Mary’s tackling St. John’s College of Brantford in the other. Both games are 11 a.m. kickoffs on Thursday at Schlegel Park.
On Tuesday at Woodside Park, St.
Mary’s won its pool with a 3-1 win over St. John’s and a 0-0 draw with the KCI Raiders. Grand River was second in its pool after a 9-1 win over Owen Sound and a 3-0 loss to John F. Ross.
Krystyna Dosen, Gillian Rovers and Alyssa Schmidt scored for the District 8 champion Eagles, and Tayler Schade, with four, Rylea Schade, with three, Ashlynn Renner and Zayna Siddique scored for the WCSSAA champion Renegades.
The CWOSSA girls’ final is a 3 p.m. start Thursday at Schlegel Park.