Congratulations to the Cameron Heights Golden Gaels for winning the Waterloo County junior boys soccer championship on Tuesday.
The Gaels, led by coaches George Iorolescu and Fraser Haig, defeated the Waterloo-Oxford Crusaders
5-2 for their eighth WCSSAA title since 1986 and first since 1997. Isaac Moratay led the way with three goals, while Dan Bigu and Marko Djukic added singles.
Jacob Ewert and Jordan DaCosta replied for the Crusaders.
This was Cameron's first undefeated season (10-0) since 1992, when the Gaels won the first ever Central Western Ontario championship.
This year's CWOSSA tournament is scheduled for Thursday and Friday in Fergus.
The Gaels will be joined at the tournament by the St. Mary's Eagles, who scored a 6-4 win over the Resurrection Phoenix in the District 8 final on Monday.
Bryce Alderson led the way with three goals led the way with two goals, while singles went to Oneil Spencer, Daniel Glibota and Omran Sanaie.
Christian Mroczkowski had two goals for the Phoenix, while Patrick Zrebiec added one. Details of the fourth goal weren't available.
* * *
Thanks to Brian Henry for pointing out a good news story from the junior girls basketball ranks.
The Jacob Hespeler Hawks have made a remarkable turnaround this season and currently sit in first place with a 10-1 record with one game to play. The team only had one or two wins last year -- he can't remember for sure -- so have obviously turned it around. One of the wins is a first-ever victory over WCI.
Brianne Pedersen and Matt McIntyre are coaching the squad and both have strong resumes. Pedersen was a three-time WCSSAA all-star in senior girls basketball and McIntyre was a Mike Moser recipient.
Brooklynn Wright had 21 points and Taylor Dennis added 13 for the Hawks in their latest victory, a 51-38 win over Grand River.
* * *
There's a big game on the Waterloo County senior girls basketball schedule on Thursday as SJAM visits WCI for a 3:30 p.m. contest. Both teams are tied with 11-0 records heading in to the final game of the regular season. KCI, also 11-0, is at Preston.
The qualifying round of the playoffs is Tuesday and the quarter-finals go next Thursday.
* * *
SJAM and WCI will also meet in an important Waterloo County senior boys volleyball contest on Thursday, with the 7-1 Vikings visiting the 8-0 Highlanders.
* * *
The Jacob Hespeler Hawks and Galt Ghosts are both in control of their own playoff destinies.
Simply win Thursday night’s (7 p.m.) monster game against the visiting Ghosts and the Hawks (5-0) will clinch top spot in the
(4-1), meanwhile, need to win and then come out on top in a three-way tiebreaker with Galt and the Southwood Sabres (5-1), who are on a bye week.
Southwood already owns a 6-2 win over Galt and the tiebreaker would come down to points against in head-to-head meetings between the three. The Hawks beat the Sabres 27-9 on Oct. 15 and have been inactive since then.
The difference between finishing first, second and third is huge. Finish third and the reward is an A-division quarter-final playoff game with the defending champion and undefeated Resurrection Phoenix (6-0). Finish second and it’s a clash with the Cameron Heights Golden Gaels (4-1). Finish first and it’s a more preferable meeting with A division’s third seed, likely the Bluevale Knights (3-2).
At this stage, it appears as though the fourth A-division quarter-final will feature the Sir John A. Macdonald Highlanders (2-3) and Preston Panthers (2-3), although that could still change with the Knights facing the Panthers on Thursday.
“I just know that first place in B gets a week away from Rez and Cameron, but at the same time, I know that Bluevale, SJAM and
“We just want to go into the playoffs with momentum. We don’t want to go in limping, we want to go in with a win.”
A lack of activity could be troubling for the Hawks, who will have gone 21 days without a game. They were off on a bye week and then had their game with St. Mary’s cancelled when the Eagles folded.
Quarterback/safety Connor Paddock has been solid for the Hawks this season. In fact, since taking over at QB at the start of the 2008 playoffs, he hasn’t lost a game, going 8-0 during that span.
Grade 11 running back Brandon Golding has come up big for the Hawks as well. The durable but undersized player – “he’s 130 to 140 pounds with an anvil in his pocket,” said White – has been getting the lion’s share of the carries.
On the line, it’s hard to miss Erik Krebs, a towering six-foot-six, 310-pounder who plays both ways for the Hawks. Slotback/defensive back Tyler Rivett is another key player.
For the Ghosts, look for speedy running back Scott Campbell to see a lot of carries. When he’s not handing off to
“We’re hoping for good weather so we can throw the ball and we’d obviously like to get on them early. And no turnovers, whatsoever,” said Ghosts coach Brad Marsh, who expects the long layoff will hurt the Hawks.
“You lose your conditioning, no matter what you do in practice,” said Marsh, who admits he’d like to avoid Rez and Cameron in the first round of the playoffs.
The Hawks may very well come in rusty, but they’ll certainly be prepared. Or at least they better be with this amount of time to get ready. So look for the home squad to start slowly but then rebound in time for a close win.
* * *
Still with Rez and Cameron, it was the only game I failed to get right last week. Rez needed a last-gasp rally and then won it in overtime in a Thursday night thriller.
Still, 8-1 isn’t so bad.
And here’s a quick look at the final games of the regular season.
* * *
WEDNESDAY
St. David (1-4) at WCI (2-3), 2 p.m.
Pride is the only thing at stake in this game, which the Vikings should take to end the season at .500.
(***UPDATE***
WCI won this game 30-0.)
I’ll take a win here, thank you very much.
THURSDAY
The Gaels will be in a foul mood after letting one slip away against Resurrection last week. They’ll win big here.
The Knights have been perfect since opening the season with losses to Rez and Cameron, while the Panthers showed they can go toe-to-toe with the best in a recent loss to the
SJAM (2-3) at
The Highlanders haven’t been overly impressive since winning their season-opener against
Last week: 8-1. Overall: 42-12.
Good to hear that Cameron soccer is back doing well again after all those years. I hear the new coaches are young and energetic. They've certainly done a fine job with their players.
Thanks for the good news!
Posted by: Goran | November 06, 2009 at 01:41 PM
Thanks for keeping me honest and I'm glad to see someone is paying attention.
Posted by: TheRecord | November 05, 2009 at 10:29 AM
Not to nitpick here but Mark's picks last week were: Cameron (L), Jacob (default W), Southwood (W), SJAM (W), Bluevale (W), Huron Heights (W), Glenview (L), St. Benedict (W), KCI (W) = 7-2
Posted by: WCSSAASports.com | November 04, 2009 at 08:18 PM