SUDBURY – The Sacred Heart High School Crusaders, based in Walkerton, took top spot in the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) A/AA hockey championships last week, winning the top trophy available to the squad.
Coach Clark Wilkinson, in an interview with Midwestern Newspapers, explained that the team thought their season was over when, at the Central Western Ontario Secondary Schools Association (CWOSSA), they were edged out, in double overtime, by St. James Catholic School 4-3.
“To make it to [the OFSAA championships], you have to make it to [the CWOSSA] championships,” he said. “We got to the CWOSSA finals, but lost in double overtime. However, a second berth opened up for a CWOSSA team, and we were able to take that as the silver-medal winners.”
The tournament, held in Kitchener, saw Sacred Heart edge out St. James the first time they played, 2-1, then down St. Davids Catholic Secondary School 4-2, then downing McKinnon Park Secondary School 8-1. The Crusaders earned their chance at St. James in the finals with an 8-0 win over Southwood Secondary School, but then were edged out in the aforementioned final 4-3.
From there, it was on to OFSAA in Sudbury, where the Crusaders were undefeated, proving that that second berth was theirs from the get-go. The tournament would end with a 5-3 victory over St. Joseph’s from Renfrew.
Wilkinson said the team was aiming for the finals all year, having told him during their first practices that they wanted a chance at CWOSSA after what players felt was a disappointing showing last year.
“They told me at the start of the season that they wanted to qualify for OFSAA, and that was great to hear as a coach,” he said. “I told them they had the ability.”
After reaching OFSAA, the players didn’t sit on their laurels, Wilkinson said, immediately saying they wanted to and intended to bring home the gold.
“To make it to OFSAA, you have to make it through CWOSSA, and we did that,” he said. “So I had no doubt that they would follow through on this. At OFSAA, the boys really stepped up and elevated their gameplay to the next level.”
The team posted three wins throughout the pool play of the tournament, downing the Belle River Nobels 4-1, Parkside Collegiate Institute 10-0 and ESC Hearst High School 7-1.
In the quarter-finals, the Crusaders downed Holy Rank Trinity Catholic Secondary School from Courtice 4-3. In the semi-finals, Belleville’s St. Theresa Catholic Secondary School gave the Crusaders a challenge, butJack Farley scored in overtime putting the Crusaders ahead. In the final, the Crusaders downed St. Joseph’s Catholic High School from Renfrew 5-2, completing an undefeated sweep of the tournament.
The winning team had a number of players and a coach from the South Bruce area, including seven players from Teeswater or Formosa.
‘End on a high note’
Wilson said it will be the last year for a lot of players on the team. He expects six or eight to possibly return, but many of them are in Grade 12 and graduating, which means they won’t be back. Others may sign on with Junior hockey teams, which means they won’t be eligible to play high school hockey.
“For some of these guys, it was a chance to end on a high note,” he said. “We knew it would be the last time we had this group of 20 guys together.”
Part of their success, Wilkinson said, was that the group had been together for a number of years. While there were a few Grade 9 and 10 students on the squad, the majority were in Grade 11 or 12, meaning they had been playing together for several years.
“We’re going to have a very different looking team next year, but the goal will be the same,” he said.
