The game plan seemed sensible enough last Friday: devote an entire column this week to a complete cross-section of all that was on my local sports radar for the past five to seven days – likely some thirty or so events, teams, tournaments, etc ... in all.
The plan was sensible enough, until the weekend, when Sudbury athletes do what Sudbury athletes do – which is to say standout when facing the very best comparable competition in the province.
In the end, that would make it blatantly unfair to then devote just a sentence or two to a gold medal winning Sudbury U13 C Lady Wolves team that teetered on the brink of not even existing in the fall of 2021.
“There was talk just before our last tryout that we weren’t going to have a team – that was a very strong possibility,” noted David Simon, who shared the co-coaching duties with Geoff Morris, with Robbie Kidd and Samantha Stortini as assistants. These things will happen when you don’t have a goalie.
Thankfully, the generous offer from forward Suri Darwish to don the pads for one season, just to allow this group to move forward proved unnecessary when Emilie “The Wall” Joly (are there any young goalies who are not nicknamed The Wall? lol) crossed over from boys house-league hockey, backstopping her team to a provincial crown.
“We got about as lucky as we possibly could in that situation,” said Simon. “We were overjoyed.”
Still, there was plenty of work ahead. With U13 C hockey not particularly prevalent across the north, the Sudbury squad managing to do battle with Sault Ste Marie in Blind River in November, a pair of exhibition squeezed between their slate of regular season outings versus the SDGHA U15 house-league grouping.
“The Sault was the only U13 C team we saw until a tournament that we played in Brampton in February,” noted Simon. Still, a tournament banner there by virtue of a shootout victory over the Gloucester Cumberland Stars injected some confidence into the local squad that posted a 2-1 record in pool play at provincials (losing 1-0 to the Stars), then surviving a 3-2 affair in the quarter-finals and overcoming a second period 2-0 deficit to take the semis 4-2.
All of which meant a rematch with Gloucester Cumberland.
Deadlocked at two, the teams would head to overtime. “We battled back and forth for the last eight minutes of the third, with some very close calls, pucks on the goal line,” said Simon. “I think it took five years off my life.”
When Ryann Morris sniped home the game-winner minutes into the second overtime period, it culminated a season to remember, though likely more memorable at the moment for the parents than the young ladies. “I don’t even think that these girls realize just yet what they accomplished,” said Simon.
“They will realize that later. They’re an incredible group.”
Rounding out the team roster are Presley Brennan, Jenna Cole, Rowan Frood, Raina Gauthier, Naomi Gobeil, Serena Harris, Ava Herbert, Mila Kidd, Maiya Parsons, Kassandra Reasbeck, Gabrielle Roy, Violet Simon and Leah Windover.
Joining the U13C team on the podium are the Sudbury U13BB Lady Wolves, the locals claiming bronze with a 4-1 win over the Haldimand Rivercats after dropping a tough 2-1 decision to the Kanata Rangers in semi-final play. The U15B Lady Wolves also advanced through to the Final Four on Sunday, but settled for fourth, while the U18AA girls were within four minutes and a very questionable call of upsetting the Whitby Wolves in their Saturday quarter-final.
Though I could expand at length on all of the above, I am thankful that multiple opportunities exist to highlight local performances. Rest assured that Randy in the Rings on Saturday will have full details of the NOCA championship teams in both the U18 girls ranks (Mia Toner, Valerie Ouimet, Justine Toner, Clara Dissanayake) and the Mixed bracket (Team Trevor Bonot that features Sudbury lead Amanda Gates).
And let’s not forget the U18 boys team of Brendan Rajala, Ian Deschene, Kyle Vainio and Jesse Crozier who will make their way to nationals next month by virtue of placing second at the Northern Ontario playdowns, beaten by the Dallas Burgess Kakabeka Falls team in the final.
And to think that this is only the tip of the iceberg of what we were following last weekend.
In terms of provincial championships alone, both basketball and volleyball are rapidly following in the footsteps of girls’ hockey. The Ontario Basketball playdowns commenced a few weeks ago, as we kept an eye this past weekend on representatives from both the Sudbury Jam (U12 girls finished 2-2 – 5th place in their Div #1 event in Ottawa) and the Greater Sudbury Basketball Association (U12 boys finished 2-2 – 4th place in their Div #7 event in St Catharines).
The Ontario Volleyball Association follows suit this weekend, with the Northern Chill Black and Blue Vortex both in action in the
Eight members of the Sudbury Laurentian Swim Club competed at the Spring Forward Invitational in Markham, with seven of the eight advancing to B finals while Shane Clapham represented the Nickel City Aquatics at what was more or less the same event, except that it was hosted across town at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre.
Let’s Skate 2022 stayed true to its traditional weekend as the Sudbury Skating Club welcomed some 150 skaters representing seven different clubs from across the north to the Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex for what amounts to more or less the final competition of the 2021-2022 figure skating season in these parts.
Coach Dale Lafrance and the Sudbury U14 AAA Nickel Capitals were running an intra-squad game in preparation for their participation at the 2022 U14 OHL Cup, an inaugural event taking place in Oakville (April 14th – 16th) and sponsored by the Dairy Farmers of Ontario.
Saturday and Sunday would see the last of the 2021-2022 games contested for the Sudbury Playground Hockey League, with championship banners being doled out across five different divisions of play.
Last Thursday, the last of the SDSSAA winter sports wrapped up as the Confederation Chargers swept past the Horizon Aigles 25-23, 25-20, 25-20 to lay claim to the city junior girls Division I volleyball banner.
Members of the winning team included Reece Crane, Abbey Walker, Rylee Thompson, Madisyn Leblanc, Isabella Vis, Danica Fleming, Mya Stewart, Avery Brule, Marley Tremblay, Kendra Desrochers, head coach Joey L'Heureux as well as assistants Ethan Selk and Giuliana Parisotto.
On the flip side, Horizon volleyball mentor Patrick Gervais noted the improvement of the team since the beginning of the season, highlighting the play of Emma Perreault. "She was a standout, with some massive kills in all three sets," he said.
Post-secondary awards season is in full swing as the Cambrian College Athletes of the Year (Isabelle Rivest – Female; Stephen Brown – Male) were announced last Thursday. The Collège Boréal Vipères are hosting their banquet tonight (Wednesday), while the Laurentian Voyageurs staged their event on Tuesday (Female = Abbey Maillet; Male = Marvin Zongo).
The Sudbury Laurels tumbling and trampoline contingent were in action at their first qualifier of the season, with the women’s artistic group still waiting for all of the remaining qualifiers to take place before we will know if any have advanced through to the all-Ontario meet.
We also try and keep an eye on our locals who are starring out of town or on the international stage, with Portuguese soccer professional Cloe Lacasse making her first appearance in a Team Canada uniform in a game that was staged in Canada last week. She has a few caps already under her belt, but this was the first time she donned the maple leaf on home soil.
Of course, you will note that I have not included the Sudbury Wolves and Sudbury Five – both of whom many of you already follow – or the Greater Sudbury Cubs, locked up in what could easily be a seven game playoff series with the Soo Eagles. Add in the SDSSAA Badminton Championships that are being held Tuesday and Wednesday of this week and you begin to get a small taste of just how active the Sudbury sports scene can be.
So how was your weekend?
