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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, Ju ne 21 ,2 01 8 | 46444 Pierce Burch couldn't have imagined where he would finish his final high school lacrosse game. Of course, with their goaltender injured before the provincial tournament even began, it may have just as unlikely to find the Ab- bey Park Eagles playing for an OFSAA medal as it was to find the longpole defend- er guarding the net. With goalie Chase Stry-WW chaluk sidelined with a bro- ken wrist, Burch was called upon to fill in. He had done so for a couple games two years ago, but never against the province's top teams. But despite having a sub- stitute goalie, a roster that included just four graduat- ing players as it rebuilt af- ter last year's provincial AA championship victory, and moving up to the AAA ranks, the Eagles defeated Donald A. Wilson 10-9 in the OFSAA bronze-medal game. "To win a bronze medal without our goalie and a small roster that's primari- ly Grade 10s, that's a great accomplishment," said Ea- gles' coach Patrick Coyne after the team won its third OFSAA medal since it was formed three years ago.ff The Eagles won four of their five games. Abbey Park went undefeated in pool play, with Burch hold- ing the opposition to 16 goals in the three games. "He filled in admirably. It's not easy to stand in there a get hit with a ball go- ing 100-plus miles per hour," Coyne said. "I kept telling him to step off the line, but quite frankly, I don't know if I would have been able to do it myself." The Eagles beat St. Mother Teresa 14-8, Sir Wil- liam Mulock 16-4 and No. 5 seed Mayfield 6-4. That set up a meeting be- tween last season's AA champion and the defend- ing AAA champion St. Mi- chael's College. St. Mike's jumped out to an early lead on its way to a 16-4 victory, handing Abbey Park its first loss of the season.ff "St. Mike's was the class of the field. We weren't go- ing to win that game, even with Chase," Coyne said. "They won the final by the same margin (15-3)." In the bronze medal game, Justin Sykes and Lu- cas Hucal each scored three times as the Eagles built a third-quarter lead. James Carroll, Chris Dong, Rahul Kaura and Harrison Rees, who also had three assists, also scored for Abbey Park. In the fourth quarter, the Ea- gles' defence, including Will McAllister, Matt Evans, Henry Klink and Rees, helped hold off a late Wilson charge. "They were sounder than they had been all sea- son," Coyne said. "And they needed to be." McAllister, Burch, Rees and Evans are the only graduating players and de- spite having a wealth of ex- perienced players back next season, Coyne isn't taking anything for grant- ed. Abbey Park qualified for OFSAA by edging Garth Webb 9-8 in the Halton finalWW and then getting by Holy Trinity 11-9 in the GHAC championship game. "Garth Webb and Holy Trinity, teams we played in the playoffs, would have faired well at OFSAA,"ff Coyne said. "The Halton competition was some of the best competition we had all season." Other members of the Eagles' bronze medal team are: Owen Coyne, Matthew Hledin, Gareth Mann, Na- than Rougier, Ethan Stain- ton and assistant coach Sheila Gabura. SPORTS Abbey Park wins third straight OFSAA lacrosse medal HERB GARBUTT hgarbutt@metroland.com The Abbey Park Eagles edged Donald A. Wilson 10-9 to win the bronze medal at the OFSAA lacrosse tournament. Team members are: Pierce Burch, James Carroll, Owen Coyne, Chris Dong, Matthew Evans, Matthew Hledin, Lucas Hucal, Rahul Kaura, Henry Klink, Gareth Mann, William McAllister, Harrison Rees, Nathan Rougier, Ethan Stainton, Chase Strychaluk, Justin Sykes, coach Patrick Coyne and assistant coach Sheila Gabura. Abbey Park Eagles Tamia Noel had just inched past her personal best with a throw of 12.02 metres. Yet, it left her in an all-too familiar posi-YY tion. Noel had contended for an OFSAA med- al before. In 2016, before she joined a track club, while she was still refining her shot put technique by watching videos online, she had finished fourth at the provincial championships. Though she had played soccer, her suc- cess as a shot putter encouraged her to concentrate all of her effort on the sport. She joined the Burlington Track and Field Club and began getting coaching. As a first-year senior she finished sixth at OF-fff SAA. Now, here she was agonizingly close to a medal again. Through five of six rounds, she was fourth, just three centimetres off the podium. "I had been in that situation before," No- el said. "It was my last high school throw, so I figured I would make my last one my best throw. I put everything I had into it." To Noel, though, her final throw felt ef- fortless, which the best throws often do.ff She watched it land and thought it had enough to put her on the podium. Noel watched anxiously as the mea- surement was taken. And then it came: 12.78 m. "When I heard the number, I started crying," said Noel, who would claim the silver medal. "It was a special moment," said Loyola Hawks coach Barb Celestini, "especially with how hard she's worked. Medals have always eluded her so it was great to see ev- erything come together for her." Noel started competing in shot put in el- ementary school, though she said "nobody really knew what they were doing." When she made it to OFSAA in Grade 9 without much instruction, she decided to take it more seriously and started studying tech- nique online. "I like that you are constantly challeng- ing yourself," said Noel. "You have to take accountability for everything. It's like a personal game with yourself. How much Noel takes her best shot to win OFSAA silver HERB GARBUTT hgarbutt@metroland.com l See ONLY, page 48