OFSAA Silver For the Golden Eagles in Belleville
(Editors Note - The wrong oursome for this game was posted online last week, and even now it has been difficult to remove it from circulation - Unfortunately for SHS fans, this is the real outcome)
It had been a dream week for the Sydenham Golden Eagles Varsity Hockey. As they had done throughout the season, earning then the second seed in the tournament, the SHS team plowed through the opposing teams round robin play on Tuesday (March 24) and Wednesday (March 25)
And it was the same story in the quarter and semi-finals, setting up the gold and silver medal game against St. Theresa, the number one seed in the tournament, on Thursday afternoon (March 26)
The finale was indeed a battle of equals, a level of play from both teams that was beyond any of the other games in the tournament.
St Theresa scored first, early in the opener, but Sydenham manage to peg them back with 4.55 to go in the period with a goal by Cole Rowatt, his first in the tournament, and Shane Kennnedy chipped in with the assist.
The second period was scoreless, but early in the third, the St. Theresa Titans took the lead again. A couple of minutes later, a penalty shot was granted to St. Therese, but the Sydenham goalie Zakk Ottenhof did not yield, keeping the Golden Eagles within 1.
With the clock beginning to wind down, Declan Hingley of the Golden Eagles intercepted an errant pass just inside the St. Theresa Blue Line and fired it home over the left shoulder of the St. Theresa goalie to tie it up. In the dying seconds of regular time, Sydenham was in control, just missing a couple of times, with the best chance coming just as the buzzer went off.
Then, three minutes and thirteen seconds into overtime, Pierson Clute became the unlikely hero for St. Theresa in a one-man rush against two Sydenham defenders he found an opening and fire the puck passed Ottenhoff, giving St. Theresa their first OFSAA title, and leaving Sydenham with even more motivation for next year. It was Chute’s first and only goal of the tournament.
Coach Shane Cook was emotional after the final, characteristically proud of his team, and happy that the OFSAA experience, except perhaps for the last second of the last game.
it was an awesome game to end an awesome season. No quit in those guys. So proud of them! The whole season, but especially the OFSAA experience was wonderful,” he said.
Against Central Hastings in the semi-final earlier on Thursday, the Golden Eagles scored 3 unanswered goals in the second period after a scoreless 1st frame. The opening goal of the game was scored by Sydenham's Declan Hingley in the 1st period, but Tait Rosborough of Central Hastings tied things up with a goal halfway through the second. The Golden Eagles responded soon after. Consecutive goals came off the stick of Drake Thomas, before Hudson Groenewegen scored near the end of the period, as Sydenham pulled ahead 4-1. Sydenham scored once in the third, and the final score was 5-1.
Sydenham beat Kincardine in the quarterfinals Wednesday afternoon, 5-1. Jack Craig, Drake Thomas, Brayden Thompson, Koltyn Garrah, and Carter Sager scored for the Golden Eagles.
The Golden Eagles beat E.S. L'Essor 8-1 to open the tournament on Tuesday morning, in the morning, and later in the afternoon, they shut out Fort Francis, 3-0. In the final round robin game, Sydenham beat Kincardine District Senior School, 4-2, the only game in the tournament, other than the final, where they surrendered more than 1 goal. ■
