knights eye three-peat at ofsaa soccer as one of seven local teams eyeing podium
the holy names knights will take aim at a little histor...
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anna pozzi, at right, will play a key role as the holy names knights seek a third straight ofsaa girls' aaa soccer title while vanessa ventura, at left, and the villanova wildcats will also take aim at the podium.
jim parker
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the windsor star
the holy names knights will take aim at a little history.
with records dating back to 1984, only one school has captured three-straight ofsaa titles at the top of girls’ soccer. that came from1990-92 when burlington nelson won three in a row when the tournament was a aaaa event. now, the two-time defending champion knights look to equal that mark at this year’s aaa event, which gets underway thursday in oakville.
“while the idea of a three-peat was never openly discussed among players and coaches, it’s something that’s definitely been in the back of our minds,” knights’ head coach marc leonardi said. “achieving it would be an incredible accomplishment, but we’ve always known it would require commitment to the team, personal effort and a tremendous amount of hard work.”
the knights are among seven local teams headed out to six ofsaa soccer championships this week. following is a brief look at each team ahead of tournament play, which opens pool play on thursday.
girls aaa
the knights head into the event as the no. 1 seed while the villanova wildcats, who earned the area’s second berth at the event, are the no. 14 seed in the 20-team event.
the knights are led by middle defender jane pozzi, who was a first-team wecssaa all-star and league mvp. younger sister anna pozzi has been a dominant force on offence up front and the first-team all-star and is a solid defender in midfield when the squad is looking to protect a lead.
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despite the success, the knights have battled injuries all season before finally getting healthy for the swossaa final.
“to reach the (ofsaa) final, a team must endure seven games in just three days, which is an incredible test of endurance and depth,” said leonardi, whose team opens play at 9 a.m. against toronto bishop allen. “staying healthy, making timely substitutions and sticking to our game plan will be essential, if we want to make it back to the top.”
the wildcats have been a solid squad the past three years, but foiled in the wecssaa final by holy names each time.
the club will look to captain delia caruso, who plays centre midfield, centre back audrey dojcinvoski, attacking midfielder isabelle sakalo and goaltender emeline van laerhoven-overton.
“strong goaltending will be a must,” wildcats’ head coach john corazza, whose team opens play at 12 noon against no. 4 seed guelph john f. ross, said of the keys for team success. “solid defensive organization, led by dojcinovski, efficient counter attacking, through caruso in the midfield, and maximizing on scoring opportunities from our forwards (especially sakalo).”
the l’essor aigles’ jasmine dado, centre, celebrates with teammates in the swossaa final.
girls aa
the l’essor aigles sit as the no. 10 seed heading into the ofsaa girls’ aa tournament in kingston.
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“this team is both similar and different from the 2023 team,” said aigles’ coach cathleen mulvey said of a squad that reached the quarter-finals at ofsaa. “similarities are strong goaltending and team defence, but this team is stronger offensively.”
the aigles open pool play at 10:30 a.m. in the 20-team tournament against sault ste. marie st. mary’s and will look to continue the strong defensive play that has seen the team post a shutout in nine-of-10 games in wecssaa and swossaa play.
jasmine dado has led the team offensively this season while jolina mouawad has been solid in goal and benefitted from solid overall defensive play.
“as always, our goal is to play strong and smart in pool play in order to advance to the quarter-finals,” mulvey said. “from there, anything can happen and is a bonus.”
the lajeunesse royals’ evan comtois, at right, will play a key role for the club at the ofsaa boys’ a championship.
mark malone
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postmedia network
girls a
coming off a silver medal at last year’s tournament, the lajeunesse royals are the second seed at this year’s event in welland.
“we came into the 2025 season with a lot of pressure on our shoulders being hot off a silver medal last year at ofsaa,” royals’ head coach kim adams said. “losing eight seniors, including our goalie, has made this year a building year for us.”
the royals’ quest to get back on the podium starts with a 9 a.m. game against erin in the 20-team event.
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key to success will be the play of centre midfielder mikhaila harris, who was league mvp, defender liliana d’agostino, who was a first-team all-star, and midfielder ariana nabben.
“we are as ready as we can be for ofsaa and will put into play all the things we’ve worked on this season,” adams said.
boys aaa
the st. anne saints needed to win a challenge game to return to the ofsaa boys’ aaa tournament, which will be played in kingston.
“we are proud of the guys and the way they responded, especially after losing the swossaa final,” saints’ coach tarik misho.
the saints are the no. 7 seed and will open pool play at 10:30 a.m. against no. 10 aurora st. maximillian kolbe and will look to defender stone campbell, midfielders matteo mosca and zachary sobieraj and forwards bolade fawehinmi and mattia roma to lead the way.
“we have 13 returning players from last year, all of which got to experience ofsaa already,” misho said. “they re aware of the level of competition and how challenging every game can be.
“our seniors, in particular, have set ofsaa as a goal since before our season had even started and so, they will be the leaders the rest of the team will look to throughout the tournament.”
boys aa
the catholic central comets will compete in boys’ soccer at ofsaa for the first time since 2015.
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“we are proud to make it to this point,” comets’ head coach steve richardson said. “once we are there, it is time to refocus and give it our all. gold is very difficult to achieve, but always a possibility.”
the comets are the no. 16 seed in the 20-team tournament in ottawa and open against fourth seed brockville thousand islands at 11:30 a.m.
goalie farji kakanah, winger sabir ibrahim osman, forward aliye aliye, centre backs andres munar lopez and juan diego rodriguez marquez along with centre midfielder massimo teti will play key roles.
“we would like to medal in the tournament,” richardson said. “with that being said, if our team provides their all and plays at our highest level, the coaches will be nothing, but proud, despite the result.”
boys a
the lajeunesse royals are back at the ofsaa boys’ a championship in welland.
the royals missed the tournament a year ago after winning a silver medal in 2023.
“the boys are excited to be back,” said royals’ head coach dom cakarun, who returns five players from the 2023 team.
the royals are the no. 4 seed in the 20-team event and open pool play at 9 a.m. against collingwood our lady of the bay. goalie hunter nephew, centre back noah morvay, centre midfielder evan lachance, forward and top scorer fabien ramadhandi along with wing evan comtois lead the way.
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“we’re not going in with too many expectations,” said cakarun, whose team started the season 0-4. “we are still a young team and 12 of the 20 players are still juniors. just really proud of the progress we made since the start of the year.”
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