Mustangs off on a historic hockey journey
First team in school history to play at OFSAA tourney
The Monsignor Doyle Mustangs have achieved their pre-season objective, making history in the process.
What happens next is the icing on the cake.
The Mustangs will face off against the Lawrence Park Panthers of Toronto on Tuesday morning in their opening game at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations boys’ triple-A hockey championship in Whitby.
When the puck drops at Iroquois Arena, the Cambridge boys will become the first hockey team from Monsignor Doyle to play at an OFSAA hockey championship.
“It’s a huge honour to be part of this team and going to OFSAA,” Mustangs captain Aidan Singh said before a March break workout at Galt Arena Gardens.
“There’s such good energy and great vibes on this team; you can feel it as soon as you walk into the rink.”
Mustangs assistant captain Aiden Goias offers a similar take.
“It’s a huge deal, and we’re not taking it for granted,” he said. “This is an amazing opportunity, and we’re going to enjoy it.”
The Mustangs have twice risen from the ashes since District 8 split from the Waterloo County Secondary Schools Athletic Association before the 2015-16 school year, failing to ice a team for the 2017-18 and 2019-20 seasons. In the first three seasons they did play, the Mustangs won five of 30 games.
The program returned for the abbreviated 2021-22 post-COVID season and has since won 21 of 26 games, including a 10-0 regularseason record this year and a twogame series sweep of the Resurrection Phoenix to clinch a second straight District 8 championship.
The Mustangs posted more wins at last week’s Central Western Ontario Secondary Schools Association tournament in Elmira, earning their OFSAA berth with a 5-2 victory over Guelph’s John F. Ross Royals in the final. Previously, the veteran-laden team defeated the WCSSAA champion Grand River Renegades, 4-0, in the semifinals.
Monsignor Doyle teacher Daniel Hewko has served as the team’s head coach the past two seasons, with teachers Chris Hallahan and Duncan Smith serving as assistants.
“Our goal from Day 1 was to advance to OFSAA because we knew we had the players; it was just a matter of everyone buying in and working as a team,” said Hewko, who previously played at OFSAA while attending Sherwood Secondary School in Hamilton.
“They’re playing 200-foot hockey, they’re playing offence, they’re playing defence, and they’re sacrificing their bodies to make the team successful. Everyone is ecstatic because this is something Monsignor Doyle has never done before.”
The pre-season optimism really started at last year’s CWOSSA tournament, where Monsignor Doyle lost a 3-2 overtime heartbreaker to the Orangeville Bears in semifinal play. Orangeville beat Grand River, 4-1, in the championship and then finished sixth at OFSAA.
The recent success is even more impressive when one considers Monsignor Doyle is in just its second year at the triple-A level for schools with more than 950 students. The CWOSSA website shows the school has a student population of 1,061 — about half the size of St. Mary’s High School in Kitchener with 2,075 — but is likely to continue to grow with a housing explosion in the south end of Cambridge.
At OFSAA, the Mustangs will rely on the reunited top line of Goias, Singh and Simon McCandless to do much of the heavy lifting on offence. McCandless rejoins the squad after missing CWOSSA because of a commitment to his Huron-Perth rep team.
Nathan Cunningham joined the top line for CWOSSA and scored two goals in the semifinal win and another in the final. He also scored the overtime winner in the D8 clincher against Resurrection.
The second line of Ethan Arrojado, Matthew Aoun and James Sayles has also scored its share of goals this season.
Alex Robinson and Cameron Hattie have been the top defensive pairing, and Grade 10 goaltender Owen Annett has been steady in the post-season run after splitting time with Brady MacDougall during the D8 campaign.
“Everyone’s been great,” said Hewko. “We took down some incredible teams at CWOSSA, and now we are one of 16 teams at OFSAA.”
The Mustangs are the No. 11 seed at OFSAA, meaning they go in as underdogs in the eyes of the seeding committee. After opening Pool B play against No. 8 Lawrence Park, the Mustangs face the No. 2 Bishop Reding Royals of Milton and the No. 13 Chatham-Kent Golden Hawks.
“Orangeville was ranked 14th last year and finished sixth, so being the underdog is not a bad thing,” said Goias. “Every game is a new game, and it doesn’t matter whether we’re the No. 1 seed or the No. 11 seed; this team is capable of doing something special.”
The top two finishers in the four round-robin pools advance to the quarterfinal round Wednesday afternoon. The semifinals and finals are Thursday.
Every game is a new game, and it doesn’t matter whether we’re the No. 1 seed or the No. 11 seed.
Celtics aim for OFSAA repeat
The defending champion St. David Celtics are the No. 3 seed at the OFSAA girls’ single-A/double-A hockey championship and face No. 16 Burlington Central Trojans in their first game on Tuesday.
The No. 5 Holy Cross Hurricanes of Peterborough and No. 11 Lorne Park Spartans of Mississauga are also in Pool C with the Celtics. The Holy Trinity Titans of Simcoe are the No. 1 seed after defeating St. David, 3-2, in double overtime at last week’s CWOSSA championship.
AIDEN GOIAS MUSTANGS ASSISTANT CAPTAIN