www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, June 8, 2012 · 40 Early goal burns Jr. Hawks Titans into OFSAA quarter-finals An early goal against and the first-half disqualification of one of their players proved too much to overcome for the Loyola Hawks in the Halton junior boys' soccer final yesterday (Thursday) at North Park. Georgetown's Christ the King Jaguars edged Loyola 1-0 on the strength of Steve Kastelec's goal in the opening five minutes and the shutout keeping of Nick Luciani. Loyola spent the final 40-plus minutes of the game down a man after one of the Hawks received a yellow card, then was quickly assessed a red card after raising his palms in what appeared to be a mild protest to the call. "(The referee) thought the boy was being derogative. I tried to explain to him that's not the nature of that young man, but what do you do?" Hawks head coach Reno Malisa said. "We had a little bit of adversity, but we didn't put our heads down. We worked hard and that's all you can ask for from the kids." Loyola applied pressure in the final five minutes of the contest, firing a shot barely over the crossbar and earning a couple corner kicks, but was unable to notch the equalizer. Loyola went undefeated in regular season play (6-0-2), outscoring its opponents 30-3, then defeated Assumption 2-0 and Iroquois Ridge 1-0 in the playoffs. Christ the King was 6-1-1 during the regular seaThe skies opened up drenching the Holy Trinity Titans yesterday (Thursday) afternoon, but it was impossible to rain on their parade. The Titans secured a spot in the quarterfinals at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations AAAA girls' soccer championship with a 1-0 victory over Bishop Allen at Pine Glen Community Park. The victory improved Holy Trinity's record to 2-0 and locked up first place in its pool. Earlier in the day, the Titans wasted little time getting down to business, scoring two minutes in as they went on to down Denis Morris 4-1. Melissa Coulson had a pair of goals while Sara McDowell and Emma Mezgec also scored. Titans coach Peter Bonfiglio said the team's previous experience at OFSAA, including a silver medal in last year's tournament, should benefit them as the tournament progresses. "They can draw from their experience. They've been here before," he said. "For six of them, this is their third time here. They can lead by example and that helps the nerves come down a little bit." And if previous experience didn't help the Titans settle in, the early goal in the opener certainly did. "It took the pressure off. It was a bit of a relief," said Melissa Coulson, who had the game's lone goal against Bishop Allen. After opening up a 4-0 lead on Denis Morris in their opener, Coulson said it was good for the Titans to face a stiff test in pool play against Bishop Allen. "We know it's not all going to be easy games and we have to be prepared," said the Grade 11 student, who plays on the Oakville Soccer Club's U-17A team. Holy Trinity will play Urseline College in its final pool game today (Friday morning) before playing its quarter-final game at 3 p.m. at Pine Glen. That could very well turn out to be a rematch of last year's gold-medal game against London's Mother Teresa. The defending champions have had a slow start to the tournament, losing 3-0 to Bill Crothers and tying St. Marcellinus 1-1. With wins in its first two games, Crothers has locked up first in the pool but Mother Teresa could still qualify for the quarters with a win in its final pool game. Though Coulson said the Titans are definitely motivated to win gold, they are not looking too far ahead or worrying about potential matchups. The Titans are also dealing with injuries, with as many as four players missing time during the Bishop Allen game. Bonfiglio said strong play by the Titans backs give them a chance in every game, though. The top two seeds in the other two pools (St. Anne and Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Pool C and Waterloo Collegiate and Pickering's St. Mary's in Pool D) also won their opening games. All four quarter-final games will be at 3 p.m. today. The semifinals are at 9 a.m. tomorrow (Saturday), followed by the bronze medal game at 1 p.m. and the gold medal game at 2 p.m. All games are at Pine Glen. -- Herb Garbutt MARTA IWANEK / OAKVILLE BEAVER / @HALTON_PHOTOG ILLEGAL D: Christ the King player Claudio Sereno (right) holds up Loyola's Mauricio Pineiro during yesterday's Halton junior boys' soccer final. Loyola lost the game 1-0. son before downing Milton District 2-1 in the quarter-finals and Corpus Christi 2-0 in the semis. -- Jon Kuiperij Good start for other OFSAA soccer teams While the Holy Trinity Titans won their first two games at the provincial girls' soccer quad-A championships (see story, above), none of Oakville's other three soccer teams competing at OFSAA had tasted defeat either as of yesterday afternoon. The King's Christian Cavaliers got off to a 2-0 start at the single-A boys' championships in Windsor, defeating ESC NouvelleAlliance 2-0 and EC Saint-Charles Garnier 2-1. The Cavs will conclude round-robin play today (Friday) with games against London District and Heritage Christian. The St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders posted a win and a tie in their first two games at the double-A girls' tournament in St. Thomas. Aquinas played to a scoreless draw with St. Michael, then edged St. Paul 2-1. The Raiders will face St. Francis and St. Martin today. At the double-A boys' competition in North Bay, Aquinas opened with a 3-3 tie against St. Mary's. The Raiders were scheduled to face Prince Edward CI yesterday afternoon (a game that ended after the Beaver's deadlines), then take on Cardinal Carter and Fort Frances today. Quarter-finals for all three tournaments will be played this afternoon. Semifinals are slated for Saturday morning, and bronzeand gold-medal games will be contesetd Saturday afternoon. Graduating players pass mindset on Continued from page 39 portive," Newman said. "They've got banners hanging in the school and the boys team has been so supportive. It means so much." Newman, along with fellow four-year starter Labenski, will be among the nine graduating starters from the OT lineup. That doesn't necessarily mean OT will take a step back. Players like Greer and Seatle will be among the players who will fill the void. "The (Grade) 9s and 10s learn from the 11s and 12s how to carry themselves," Lui said. "It's a mindset." "It's a reflection of the athletes that come in," Valley said. "It's instilled in them knowing there is a standard to uphold." It's a high standard the OT girls set for themselves at the beginning of the season. Like Newman, who decided to stick with rugby, the Red Devils didn't waiver from their goal when they faced adversity. Wednesday, they met that challenge head on. -- Herb Garbutt can be followed on Twitter @Herbgarbutt