High School Sports blog

Soccer standouts

You know, you see that sun shining outside and it just makes you want to get the spring sports season rolling.

The plethora of soccer comments are fabulous. And it got me thinking of greats that have gone by through my five-year run in sports.

Here are a few of the boys soccer standouts that I got to see in recent years. This is just one guy's opinion. If you have others, please feel free to add them in the comments section.

Brandon De Serpa, St. Mary's/Eastwood: Perhaps the best pound for pound player to hit the high school loop. Great speed and technically sound. If he was a foot taller, he'd be playing in Europe in some capacity. I'm convinced of that.

Branko Gavric, Eastwood: He was a pretty skinny dude in his first few years with the Rebels. And if memory serves correct, he was a midfielder and striker at times early on. By the end, coach Jaret Brown had him as a defender. Gavric had mad skills and was probably one of the nicest kids I've interviewed.

Alex Ruhe-Lischke, Forest Heights: He had the height and used it to keep the ball out of the Trojans' end. A strong defender who was smart with the ball and delivered perfect passes down field.

Noel Tipovski, Rez: He was like the Ruhe-Lischke of the Catholic league. Tipovski was a leader with the Phoenix and had a competitive fire.

Brandon Carcamo, St. Mary's: One of the more creative players over the years. He sure had some fancy footwork and a knack for scoring goals.

Raphael Goldemann, Bluevale: A quiet guy but the glue in the midfield for Bluevale. The Swiss-born athlete played disciplined soccer and had all the skills in the world.

Mohammed Ahmed, Cameron Heights: A true leader in the midfield for the Gaels. He had some epic clashes with Eastwood back in the day. I never saw him rattled on the field.

Damir Hadziavdic, Forest Heights: Pure offence and could score at will. He went on to star for Laurier and still keeps active in the KDSL at last check.

Others that come to mind: Bart Krasnopolski, St. Mary's; Shomesh Chaudhuri, Elmira; Scott Goldsworthy, Cameron Heights; Jake Inglis, Rez; Scott Carter, St. Mary's; Paul O'Hare, Rez.

Successful swatting for Gaels

For shuttlecock enthusiasts, I have some badminton results from this past Saturday's Rez tourney, courtesy of Cameron Heights coach Matt Ruhnke.

The Golden Gaels won the overall junior team title thanks to a well rounded effort.

The highlight for Cameron was the boys singles final that saw an all-Gaels affair. Jake Ruehlicke downed teammate Haris Hanif.

Stan McElroy and Nick Torigian placed second in boys doubles while third place finishes went to Lauren Thomas in girls singles and Fiona Scott and Connor Mitchell in mixed doubles.

WCSSAA championships run next Monday and Tuesday at Conestoga with the finals going Wednesday at Huron Heights.

But before the finals, the top four schools will showdown tonight and tomorrow in a pre-WCSSAA tourney at the KW Club. Action begins at 3 p.m.

Raiders rule the rink

Kitchener-Waterloo Collegiate captured a gold medal in boys curling yesterday with a 4-2 win over Geraldton Composite High School at the OFSAA final in St. Catharines.

The Raiders trailed 2-1 after five ends but rallied for a two-point sixth before adding one more in the eighth end.

KCI beat Etobicoke 3-2 in the semis, scoring the winning point in the final end.

Congrats to skip Michael Flemming, vice David Mathers, second Nolan Karges and lead Dylan Cawker.

Another court classic

Who says you can't score with tenths of a second on the clock? This guy doesn't even shoot, he just redirects the ball. Awesome.

Can Brantford be bounced?

OK, got a request for some rugby talk, so here we go.

I'm still waiting for schedules and division breakdowns, so that makes it hard to assess the season ahead.

However, when it comes to boys rugby, it's clear that Brantford rules, at least on the regional level. Last year's CWOSSA final was an all-Brantford affair with Collegiate pounding St. John's. Funny enough, I'm told St. John's will be the team to beat this year.

Locally, I'm assuming SJAM will be strong again, especially with a solid junior squad moving up. Brian Reiter is obviously one to watch. Preston, Elmira and Waterloo-Oxford always seem to be in the top half of the league. 

But can anyone get past Brantford at the regionals? That is real question. It has been done before, but, historically, the Telephone City rules.

In girls, there was talk last year that Glenview Park may not have enough bodies to form a team. That would be a shame since the school has built up a solid rep on the pitch, taking two consecutive OFSAA bronze medals.

If your team is in a tourney, get your coach to fire me off the results and I'll get them up on the blog.

Raiders rocking at curling finals

It's a solid 3-0 start for Michael Flemming's rink at the OFSAA curling finals in Grimsby/St. Catharines.

The foursome, that also includes vice David Mathers, second Nolan Karges and lead Dylan Cawker, are sweeping past opponents without any problems in the early stages.

KCI thrashed Nepean John McCrae 14-5 and downed Iroquois Falls 11-4 to open the tournament. Flemming's side kept the assault going against Mississauga's Lorne Park with an 11-3 win. The Raiders also take on Wingham's FE Madill later today.

Semis and finals run tomorrow at the St. Catharines Curling Club. Expect to see KCI there if the crew keeps up its current pace.

Meanwhile, Southwood's girls hockey team should be returning home sometime today. The Sabres were knocked out of the OFSAA quarter-finals yesterday.

Sabres' season over

I'm back from Orillia, man that drive is longer than I thought.

I was hoping to make it a two-day trip but, alas, the Sabres bowed out in today's quarter-finals of the girls hockey championships.

It was a close one though, 2-1 for Windsor Holy Names. Aby Laking scored for the Sabres.

I'll have a full recap in tomorrow's paper but thought I'd throw something up here in the meantime.

Sabres sail to quarters

Southwood's girls hockey team is off to the quarter-finals at the all-Ontario finals in Orillia.

The Sabres went undefeated in pool play with two wins and a tie. The girls tied Napanee 0-0 in a tense opener with goalie Alex Mugford making several key saves.

Emily Martz picked up a goal and an assist in the team's second tilt, a 2-1 victory over Windsor Holy Names.

Earlier today, the Sabres pasted North Bay's Scollard 5-1.

The 2-0-1 record assures Southwood a spot in tomorrow's quarters. It looks like the club will face Windsor Holy Names at 11:30 a.m.

Johnson jacked to head south

Bryson Johnson, of St. David, gets the District 8 MVP tonight out at Monsignor Doyle at the annual all-star game.

This one was really a no-brainer. St. David excelled this season thanks to an overall solid lineup led by Johnson.

I made my way over to St. David yesterday to chat with him about the award and heading to Bucknell University.

It's certainly exciting stuff for the Nova Scotia lad, especially now with March Madness in full swing.

While I was at the school, I took a peek at the new football field. It's looking sharp. When finished, it will be the envy of many a school.

Also arriving in the in-box was a list of the WCSSAA girls hockey all-stars.

They are: Laura Neu, Southwood; Jocelyn St. Clair, Southwood; Aby Laking, Southwood; Natalie Buttinger, Rez; Jessica Buttinger Rez; Erin Zach, Elmira; Amanda Schwindt, Elmira; Jamie Martin, Grand River; Marisa Herner, Grand River; Ally Galloway, Forest Heights; Sarah Moses, W-O; Alanah Walls, St. David; Kat Zgraja, Bluevale; Amanda Woodcroft, SJAM; Holly Archer, KCI; Kristy Kelly, Huron Heights.

Pizza man delivers: Vasile wins MVP

St. Benedict Saints forward Chris Vasile was named high school hockey's most valuable player.

The Italian led the league with 18 goals and went on to suit up for the Cambridge Winter Hawks after the high school season ended. He finished second in MVP voting last year.

Earlier in the season, I had a chance to catch up with Chris. You can read that story here.

As for the other all-stars, the list is in. Take a gander below.

First team: Greg Chevreau, Bluevale; Kevin Nickel, Forest Heights; Andew Smith, Rez; Alex Cossar, Grand River; Shawn Udema, Grand River; Jordan Wolfe, Bluevale.

Second-team: Kyle Scheifele, Grand River; Jamie Rooney, WCI; Phil Rawn, Bluevale; Randy Ribeiro, St. Benedict; Jake Heimpel, Bluevale; Blair Witmer, Forest Heights; John McIntyre, SJAM.

Honourable mention: Scott Thompson, St. Benedict; Craig Nolan, Grand River; Mitch Clarke, Forest Heights; Kyle Majaury, Forest Heights; Scott Johnson, Preston; Jake Wilhelm, Forest Heights; Justin Milne, WCI; Steve Clampitt, Grand River; Evan Lobsinger, Bluevale; Derek Mathes, Grand River; Wes Palmer, Bluevale, Nik Lubczynski, Bluevale.

Also, in today's paper, a story on Southwood preparing for OFSAA. The Sabres are ranked No. 2 in Ontario.

BLOG CHANGE: Just a note to the faithful followers out there. I've made a small change to the comments section. As of now, the most recent comment will appear first, followed by older ones. Nothing huge, but thought I'd pass it along.