The energy was electric at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex, in Oakville on Monday, as the #6 Holy Trinity Titans took on #8 St. Ignatius of Loyola Hawks in an All-Oakville HCAA Varsity Boys Hockey Final.
Loyola made their way to the championship by upsetting #1 seeds Notre Dame in the Quarterfinals and Corpus Christi in the second round. While Holy Trinity scrapped their way into the final game by beating the #3 ranked St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders in the first round, then 2nd seeds St. Francis Xavier in the semi-finals.
The Hawks swooped in on goal immediately, opening the score less than a minute into the game, with Quad Beaudry notching the first tally 52 seconds into the first period, throwing the Loyola fans into a frenzy before most had even made their way into their seats.
A physical first period would see bone-crunching hit, after bone-crunching hit all over the ice, and eventually, these two North Oakville schools carved a rut to the sin-bin with 6 penalties handed out in the opening stanza.
Things took a turn in the second period as Brady McLenaman was sprung in on a Loyola’s goal, and after fighting off a defender, he muscled his way towards the net, and while his initial backhand was saved, he knocked in his own rebound to knot the game up with the 2nd intermission fast-approaching.
In the third period, Holy Trinity took control of the game and it would be none other than Captain Jack Grant bulging the twine in the opening minute. Momentum would take over from there, as Holy Trinity put the pedal to the metal for the rest of the game.
Angelo Turco was outstanding once again in goal for Trinity. He turned away chance after chance much to the delight of a rambunctious crowd gathered behind his goal. With each save the fans chanting “TURCO! TURCO!”. Ever conscious of his in-game mindset, Angelo wasn't about to revel in the crowd's adoration, "It’s pretty awesome, but you can’t feed into it too much, or else your focus gets messed up, but it’s great!"
Adam Lakhani drove the final nail into Loyola’s coffin with just under 5 minutes left in the 3rd period making it a 3-1 Final for the Titans.
After the game, Oakville News caught up with defenceman Matthew Milko who was brimming with joy following two challenging years not being able to play the game he loves. “It means so much because we’ve been off for so long, ever since we won it two years ago. It was such a good feeling having the whole school here, and winning it again was just the best feeling ever!”
Varsity Girls Final
Earlier in the day, the Holy Trinity Varsity girls were shut out 3-0 by a very talented Christ The King (CTK) squad. When the two teams met earlier this season, CTK was able to score 7-1 on the Titans. After the game Head Coach, Anita Paone was really proud of her girls despite the tough loss, "It was a huge improvement and comeback from the last time, and I'm very proud of the girls, they worked hard, they were talking to one another. The other team was playing tough, but we were strong on our feet, and we were moving the puck very well. "
Whenever a team gets blanked on the score sheet, you immediately look to the other team's goaltender. Sure enough, Paone credits the opposition's goalie with a championship-winning performance. "In the first period I think we had a slow start, but the girls were able to come back in the second period. I think the flood did us well. We recouped, had a great talk, and going into the second we were dominating! They had very strong goaltending, and our girls just couldn't finish. I think if our girls would have had a different game, with a different goalie, it would have been a different outcome."