High School Sports blog

Big week for Grand River striker

There were once again a number of outstanding performances by WCSSAA and D8 student-athletes last week. Here are six and yes, I still plan on getting this list up to 10 in the coming weeks.

Ljubo Stojkovic, Grand River: The Grade 12 striker scored back-to-back hat tricks as the defending WCSSAA senior boys soccer champions improved to 3-0 on the season. His three-goal games came in a 6-1 win over Forest Heights and a 6-0 win over Preston. Stojkovic led the league in scoring last year.

Aubrey Formica, Preston: The Grade 11 striker scored three times last week as the Panthers scored a pair of wins in the WCSSAA girls soccer league. The multi-sport athlete who also plays volleyball and basketball had two goals in a 5-1 win over Elmira and one in a 3-1 win over Galt.

Lacretia Antwi, Forest Heights: The Grade 10 student had a pair of strong outings as the Trojans opened the WCSSAA girls rugby league schedule with a pair of wins. She had one try in a 36-5 win over Grand River and added two in a 39-10 win over Huron Heights. An active member of the school community, she is involved in drama, student council and Journey.  SHe was a member of the wrestling team and got herself to CWOSSA. 

Kylie Bordeleau, Jacob Hespeler: The versatile Grade 12 player scored six goals in one game as the Hawks pounded the Elmira Lancers 11-3 in WCSSAA girls soccer play. Bordelaud, who also plays  volleyball, scored once earlier in the week in a 3-1 win over Waterloo-Oxford. 

Jordan Silva, Sir John A. Macdonald: The Grade 12 player had a pair of tries as the Highlanders routed the Southwood Sabres 56-8 in WCSSAA boys rugby league play. A second-team all-star in 2011, he was also a defensive standout for the SJAM senior boys football squad that captured the WCSSAA title this past fall.

Raven Schuett, St. Benedict: The Grade 12 midfielder had a pair of strong District 8 girls soccer league games, including a three-goal effort in a 3-1 win over Pere Rene. The team's co-captain has been with the squad for four years and also had a strong game in an 8-1 win over Rockway.

Soccer Renegades move to the front

Don't look now but it would appear the Grand River Renegades are once again the team to beat in the WCSSAA boys soccer  league.

The defending champions laid a 6-1 whooping on the  Forest Heights Trojans Thursday and are now the only Premier League team without a blemish on their record after three games.

Ljubo Stojkovich recorded his second hat trick of the week in the win.

Eastwood and  WCI are next at 2-0-1 and will square off on Tuesday in Waterloo.

WCI will host Grand River two days later.

* * *

I had a great conversation with St. Mary's graduate Calvin Arsenault on Friday morning and will write something for Saturday's edition of the Record.

The University of Louisville freshman recently set a new school record in the 110-metre hurdles.

 

 

 

A soccer shocker in District 8 play

Woodland Christians Cavaliers 2, St. Mary's Eagles 1

Say what?

The six-time defending champions of the District 8 senior boys soccer league suffered one of the most shocking losses in recent memory on Wednesday, falling at home to tiny Woodland Christian.

Brayden VanderHoef and Caleb Isaccs provided the offence as the Cavaliers scored their first win after suffering a pair of defeats to open the season.

There's more to this story, however, than meets the eye.

Eagles head coach Mark Temple  decided to bench his entire starting lineup and 13 players in total because of ongoing attendance and attitude issues.

In revealing the disciplinary action, Temple tipped his hat to Woodland, and said the Cavaliers would have been difficult to beat, even with his starters playing.

It was a gutsy move by Temple, but one he hopes will serve as a wakeup call for his squad in the coming weeks.

The Eagles slipped to 1-1-1 and are scheduled to face undefeated Resurrection (3-0) on Monday.

St. Mary's will get a lift when sweeper Oneil Spencer returns from injury, but will need to get on the same page as a team to have any hope of capturing a seventh straight title.

* * *

A trio of soccer players from Cameron Heights will be part of Waterloo U-17 Warriors squad that will compete at  BMO Field in Toronto on May 13.

Santiago Almada, Jalen Nuronha and Thomas Modjesch will play on Toronto FC's home field in a 5 p.m. game against Brampton East FC in the championship game of the Provincial Indoor Soccer League.

The Warriors defeated the Woodbridge Strikers 2-0 last weekend to advance.

And yes, you read that correctly -- the championship game of  an indoor league is being played outside.

Go figure.

* * *

It's been a one-sided start to the D8 girls soccer league as the top four teams (Resurrection, St. Benedict, St. David and St. Mary's) are a combined 10-0-2 won-lost tied while the bottom four (Pere Rene, Rockway, Monsignor Doyle and Woodland Christian) are 1-11-0.

The goals for and against paints an even uglier picture as the top four have scored 99 times and have been scored on six times, while the bottom four  have scored five goals while giving up 100.

* * *

I'm always looking for interesting stories and nominations for athletes of the week. Drop me a line at mbryson@therecord.com if you've got something.

 

 

 

 

Bluevale rolls to easy win in opener

There were some dominating performances on Tuesday in the WCSSAA boys rugby league, starting with defending champion Bluevale's 48-0 spanking of St. David.

Eights players got in on the scoring for Bluevale, which takes on Huron Heights in its next game on Tuesday.

The Forest Heights Trojans also flexed their muscle, rebounding from an opening game loss against St. Mary's to clobber KCI by a 42-0 margin.

St. Mary's, meanwhile, improved to 2-0 with a 19-0 win over Southwood.

Unfortunately, results from SJAM's game with Waterloo-Oxford and Grand River's game with Cameron Heights were not reported to the WCSSAA website, so I have no idea whether the games were even played.

* * *

The Jacob Hespeler Hawks posted a big number against the Glenview Park Panthers  in WCSSAA senior boys soccer, laying a 12-0 drubbing on their Cambridge rivals in First Division play.

Owen Prutton scored three for the winners, while Justin Macchione and Peter Pugliese both had two.

Defending champion Grand  River also looked good as Ljubo Stojkovic posted a hat trick in a 6-0 win over Preston.

The match of the day was Eastwood's 3-2 win over Forest Heights in a match between two teams that are being touted as contenders for the WCSSAA championship.

 

An early look at WCSSAA and D8 soccer

We should start seeing trends by the end of this week as to what we can expect in the various WCSSAA and District 8 leagues.

Feel free, in the meantime, to comment on rugby and soccer.

Who are the teams to beat and who are going to be the squads that challenge them?

I've been hearing a few things, but  take everything with a grain of salt at such an early stage in the short  season.

The  WCSSAA boys soccer league looks to be a  wide-open affair with Forest Heights, Cameron Heights, Eastwood, Grand River and  WCI leading the way.

The  Rebels looked impressive in their Week 1 win over Southwood, while Forest Heights was fortunate to escape with a 2-0 win over Cameron Heights. The Gaels were the better team for much of the second half of that game -- the half that I saw -- but were unable to convert on several glorious opportunities.

Over in District 8, the Resurrection Phoenix look to be the team most capable of  ending St. Mary's streak of  six straight championships.

And don't look now but the Monsignor Doyle Mustangs are 1-0-1 after tying the Eagles and topping St. Benedict.

The  WCSSAA girls soccer league could also be up for grabs, although WCI just might be the team to beat. The  Vikings, who  opened with a 5-0 win over Southwood, return a significant number of players from last year's squad that fell to Grand River in the  WCSSAA and CWOSSA finals.

Forest  Heights also looked strong in its opener, a 5-2 win over  Cameron Heights.

I'm not sure what to make of the  D8 girls league yet as both Rez and St. Benedict have exploded out of the gates with 2-0 records while piling up the goals.

The Phoenix have  scored 19 in two games while the Saints have 16. Neither team has been scored again.

Unfortunately, it looks like it will be a year  of blowouts. Seven games have been reported to the league's website and the winning teams have outscored the opposition by a 56-2 margin.

Ouch.

* * *

I'll take a closer look at the three rugby leagues on Wednesday, following Tuesday's full slate of  WCSSAA games.

 

 

 

Badminton players stand tall

There were a number of outstanding performances last week, including a few at the CWOSSA badminton championship.

Here are five that caught my eye. I'll shoot for 10 next week.

Ton Silimai, Resurrection: The Grade 11  exchange student from Thailand defeated SJAM's Yuming  Han to claim first place in the senior girls division at the CWOSSA badminton championship. Both advance to the  May 3-5 OFSAA championship in Stratford.

Jacob  Lewis, Glenview Park: The fifth-year student topped SJAM's Dan Wei to win the CWOSSA senior boys badminton championship. The rivals also met in the  final of last week's WCSSAA championship with Wei winning the top prize. Both move on to  OFSAA.

Leticia Skeete, Grand River: The Grade 11 striker scored five goals to lead the Renegades to a 6-0 win over the  Bluevale Knights in the opening day of play of the  WCSSAA girls soccer league. Skeete is attempting to earn a spot on the Canadian national team that will compete at the under-17 Women's World Cup in Azerbaijan in September.

Thomas Sackor, Eastwood: The Grade 10 striker came off the bench to score a pair of second-half goals for the Rebels in a 4-0 win over the  Southwood Sabres in the WCSSAA boys soccer league.

Matt Fuller, St. Mary's: The Eagles co-captain scored a try, a penalty kick and added three conversions in a 24-5 win over the Forest Heights Trojans in WCSSAA senior boys rugby play. Fuller, who plays fly-half and kicker, also played football at St. Mary's.

 

Crone named Bishop's best

Cambridge native Josh Crone has been named the male athlete of the year at Bishop’s University.

The  Southwood  graduate, a business major in his fifth year at Bishop’s, led the Gaiters to their first-ever Baggataway Cup championship. He anchored the attack line, and led the Quebec league’s East division with 29 goals in nine games. He was named the most valuable player of the Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association, as well as the top attackman and an all-star. Crone was also the MVP of the Baggataway Cup tournament, as he scored 18 points in four playoff games.

Crone's father, Jim, is a teacher at Preston High School and head coach of the  Panthers senior football team.

* * *

It's crazy when you think about it, but former St. Mary's student Bryce Alderson could still be in the Eagles lineup if he wasn't out in Vancouver working on his game at the Vancouver Whitecaps Academy.

Alderson would be in Grade 12 at St. Mary's but instead chased his dreams of a professional soccer career on the West Coast.

Alderson is chronicling his  journey in a blog for goal.com.

Check it out.

 

Weekly feature makes return on Monday

The spring seasons are upon us so it's once again time to nominate athletes for the best-of-the-week feature that runs Monday in this space.

Just provide the name and grade of the student and let me know what he or she did to earn the recognition. Send submissions to mbryson@therecord.com

* * *

Seasons previews will shift to the  three District 8 leagues next week -- girls rugby as well as boys and girls soccer.

The D8 boys soccer league got rolling on  Wednesday with what has to be considering a surprising result as Monsignor Doyle held St. Mary's to a 3-3 draw.

 

Best of luck to Grand River's Skeete

Add Grand River's Leticia Skeete to the list of outstanding young adults that I've had the opportunity to meet over the past three years on the high school beat.

The Grade 11 soccer player was a pleasure to talk with and I can't help but wish her the best of luck as she pursues her short-term goal of representing Canada at September's under-17 Women's World Cup in Azerbaijan.

* * *

With three season previews in the books, Thursday's plan is to focus on the WCSSAA boys soccer league that continues with seven games on the schedule -- three at Woodside and four at RIM.

I'll be taking in Eastwood's game against Southwood, a game between two teams that reached the playoff semifinals last year.

The Premier League season got rolling on Wednesday as WCI blanked Preston 3-0.

Jacob Winkler, Nikola Despotovic and Marco Hensel scored for the Vikings, while Dan Merkel recorded the shutout.

* * *

Here's a look at what I've got for the WCSSAA senior boys soccer league.

Bluevale Knights

Coaches: Ike Husain, Chris Lamb

Big three: Alex Cressman, Mike Gardiner, Baraa Hamodi

Goalkeeper: Ryan Hohendorn

 

Cameron Heights Golden Gaels

Coaches: Fraser Haig, Nazim Ramzan, Krista Waechter

Big three: Jermaine Williams, Andrew Mackie, Malcolm Tibbets

Goalkeeper: Nick Cunningham

 

Eastwood Rebels

Coaches: Jaret Brown, Steve Martin

Big three: Adnan Abdi, Musab Hamad, Thomas Sackor,

Goalkeeper:  Pawl Carvajal

 

Elmira Lancers

Coaches: Chris Finnie, John Swatridge, Gregory Pappas

Big three: Callum Johnson, Cole Martin, Takuya Shibiyama

Goalkeeper: Mike Weber

 

Forest Heights Trojans

Coaches: Mike Wilson, Trevor Francis, Graham Marks

Big three: Yalcin Uyar, Omar Aliali, Alen Brcanovic

Goalkeeper: Alex Couzins

 

Galt Ghosts

Coaches Bob Millar, Chris Millar, Rebecca Millar

Big three: Rick Turnpenny, Ho Vo, Ahmed Phady

Goalkeeper: Jake White

 

Glenview Park Panthers

Coaches: Bill Woolfrey, Quintino Grasso

Big three: Luke Anderson, Shawn Dutton, Ryan McEwen.

Goalkeepers: Gavin Kirk, Cody Piper

 

Grand River Renegades

Coaches: Dominic Torre, Angel Hammoud

Top three players: Ljubo Stojkovic, Nick Rew, Nikola Miokovic

Goalkeeper: Bryce Reinhardt

 

Huron Heights Huskies

Coaches: Lianne Ollerhead, Thomas Hope

Big three: Justin Golder, Shervon Williams, Andre Auger

Goalkeeper: Nathan Bowern

 

Jacob Hespeler Hawks

Coach: Jorge Henriques

Big three: Keiran Burnham, Owen Prutton, Leon York

Goalkeepers: Shane Burnham, Jack Auld

 

KCI Raiders

Coaches: Robert Anagnostopoulos, Glen McGrath, Robert Parent, Garth Graham

Big three: Seraj Abukar, Zane Khan, Rollin Duncan

Goalkeeper: Brogan Kavanagh

 

Preston Panthers    

Coaches: Adrian Houwer, Mike Dick

Big three: Jake Manson, Sean Holmes, Jacob Wehrle

Goalkeeper: Zack Marsh

 

Sir John A. Macdonald Highlanders

Coach: Robert Faler

Big three: Ismail Hashi, Kamal Zia, Jared Pallin 

Goalkeeper: Holden Harris

 

Southwood Sabres

Coaches: Joanne Martin, Michael Kolodziej, Brett Bellaire

Big three: Joel Milovancev, Dylan Tomaz, Steven Jones

Goalkeeper: Riley Clipper

 

Waterloo Vikings

Coaches Murray Cloutier, Ion Damian,

Big three: Xavier Gillespie, John McGowan, Jacob Winkler

Goalkeepers: Daniel Merkel, Heera Chagger 

 

Waterloo-Oxford Crusaders

Coach: Owen Horn

Big three: Tillo Walch, Wes Moir, Jake Ewert

Goalkeeper: Chris Newcombe, Kyle Weber

 

Best of luck to Grand River's Skeete

Add Grand River's Leticia Skeete to the list of outstanding young adults that I've had the opportunity to meet over the past three years on the high school beat.

The Grade 11 soccer player was a pleasure to talk with and I can't help but wish her the best of luck as she pursues her short-term goal of representing Canada at September's under-17 Women's World Cup in Azerbaijan.

* * *

With three season previews in the books, Thursday's plan is to focus on the WCSSAA boys soccer league that continues with seven games on the schedule -- three at Woodside and four at RIM.

I'll be taking in Eastwood's game against Southwood, a game between two teams that reached the playoff semifinals last year.

The Premier League season got rolling on Wednesday as WCI blanked Preston 3-0.

Jacob Winkler, Nikola Despotovic and Marco Hensel scored for the Vikings, while Dan Merkel recorded the shutout.

* * *

Here's a look at what I've got for the WCSSAA senior boys soccer league.

Bluevale Knights

Coaches: Ike Husain, Chris Lamb

Big three: Alex Cressman, Mike Gardiner, Baraa Hamodi

Goalkeeper: Ryan Hohendorn

 

Cameron Heights Golden Gaels

Coaches: Fraser Haig, Nazim Ramzan, Krista Waechter

Big three: Jermaine Williams, Andrew Mackie, Malcolm Tibbets

Goalkeeper: Nick Cunningham

 

Eastwood Rebels

Coaches: Jaret Brown, Steve Martin

Big three: Adnan Abdi, Musab Hamad, Thomas Sackor,

Goalkeeper:  Pawl Carvajal

 

Elmira Lancers

Coaches: Chris Finnie, John Swatridge, Gregory Pappas

Big three: Callum Johnson, Cole Martin, Takuya Shibiyama

Goalkeeper: Mike Weber

 

Forest Heights Trojans

Coaches: Mike Wilson, Trevor Francis, Graham Marks

Big three: Yalcin Uyar, Omar Aliali, Alen Brcanovic

Goalkeeper: Alex Couzins

 

Galt Ghosts

Coaches Bob Millar, Chris Millar, Rebecca Millar

Big three: Rick Turnpenny, Ho Vo, Ahmed Phady

Goalkeeper: Jake White

 

Glenview Park Panthers

Coaches: Bill Woolfrey, Quintino Grasso

Big three: Luke Anderson, Shawn Dutton, Ryan McEwen.

Goalkeepers: Gavin Kirk, Cody Piper

 

Grand River Renegades

Coaches: Dominic Torre, Angel Hammoud

Top three players: Ljubo Stojkovic, Nick Rew, Nikola Miokovic

Goalkeeper: Bryce Reinhardt

 

Huron Heights Huskies

Coaches: Lianne Ollerhead, Thomas Hope

Big three: Justin Golder, Shervon Williams, Andre Auger

Goalkeeper: Nathan Bowern

 

Jacob Hespeler Hawks

Coach: Jorge Henriques

Big three: Keiran Burnham, Owen Prutton, Leon York

Goalkeepers: Shane Burnham, Jack Auld

 

KCI Raiders

Coaches: Robert Anagnostopoulos, Glen McGrath, Robert Parent, Garth Graham

Big three: Seraj Abukar, Zane Khan, Rollin Duncan

Goalkeeper: Brogan Kavanagh

 

Preston Panthers    

Coaches: Adrian Houwer, Mike Dick

Big three: Jake Manson, Sean Holmes, Jacob Wehrle

Goalkeeper: Zack Marsh

 

Sir John A. Macdonald Highlanders

Coach: Robert Faler

Big three: Ismail Hashi, Kamal Zia, Jared Pallin 

Goalkeeper: Holden Harris

 

Southwood Sabres

Coaches: Joanne Martin, Michael Kolodziej, Brett Bellaire

Big three: Joel Milovancev, Dylan Tomaz, Steven Jones

Goalkeeper: Riley Clipper

 

Waterloo Vikings

Coaches Murray Cloutier, Ion Damian,

Big three: Xavier Gillespie, John McGowan, Jacob Winkler

Goalkeepers: Daniel Merkel, Heera Chagger 

 

Waterloo-Oxford Crusaders

Coach: Owen Horn

Big three: Tillo Walch, Wes Moir, Jake Ewert

Goalkeeper: Chris Newcombe, Kyle Weber