swossaa roundup: another defensive gem sends aigles to ofsaa
tecumseh – the l’essor aigles are headed back to ofsaa ...
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the l'essor aigles' megan malmberg looks to cross the ball during thursday's swossaa senior girls' aa soccer final. malmberg had two goals to help l'essor to a 3-0 win over the lambton central lancers.
jim parker
/
the windsor star
tecumseh – the l’essor aigles are headed back to ofsaa after another dominating defensive effort.
the aigles blanked the petrolia lambton kent lancers 3-0 on thursday to capture the swossaa senior girls’ aa soccer title.
“it was good,” aigles’ striker megan malmberg said. “i was so excited, we finally won.”
facing a stiff wind in the first half, malmberg got the aigles on the board in the final minute of the half as she managed to find the back of the net through a pile up of players.
“it was messy,” said the 17-year-old malmberg, who had to briefly come off after the goal after getting knocked down. “i don’t even know what happened. it was so fast. i kind of dribbled around and then i finally shot it in. it hit off a player and then i knocked it in. i think i fought pretty hard for it.”
for the aigles, a single goal is pretty much all the offence the team has needed this season.
“we played really well,” malmberg said. “once we get a goal, i think we get pretty confident. it was hard to get a goal, but once we do i feel we’ve got the game.”
l’essor went through regular-season play in wecssaa without allowing a goal. thursday was the club’s ninth shutout in 10 games with the team outscoring the opposition 43-1 this season.
the l’essor aigles’ jasmine dado, centre, celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal during thursday’s swossaa senior girls’ aa soccer final. l’essor won the game 3-0.
jim parker
/
the windsor star
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“in the end, our defence was outstanding,” aigles’ centre midfielder elizabeth boccarossa said. “shutting down the ball, closing runs. forwards on the other team had rare chances where it was one-on-one with the goalie.”
the lancers had advanced to ofsaa with a 7-0 win in the lambton-kent final, but found little space against the aigles.
“everybody really helps each other out,” the 17-year-old boccarossa said. “when one person gets beat, there’s two more people behind her helping her out. it’s not really one-on-one, it’s always the whole team against everyone. we really just shut it down and supported each other from the back up.”
malmberg added her second goal in the 56th minute and jasmine dado closed the scoring with a goal in the 61st minute while jolina mouawad earned the shutout.
the aigles now head to kingston for the ofsaa girls’ aa championship, which is set for june 5-7.
tilbury’s princely dol, left, and lajeunesse’s evan comtois clash in the swossaa senior boys soccer a final at tilbury district high school.
mark malone
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postmedia network
lajeunesse 4 tilbury 0
the lajeunesse royals are headed back to the ofsaa boys’ a championship for the second time in three years.
the royals clinched an ofsaa berth with a 4-0 road win over the tilbury titans in the swossaa senior boys’ a championship.
lajeunesse got a pair of goals from fabian ramadhani with gradi kaleba and evan comtois adding single goals while hunter nephew earned the shutout.
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the royals, who won a silver medal at ofsaa in 2023, head to the championship in welland, which is set for june 5-7.
villanova 2 st. patrick 0
the villanova wildcats made the most of a second opportunity.
with holy names winning the swossaa senior girls’ aaa soccer title, the wildcats had a chance to challenge the st. patrick fighting irish for the area’s second berth at ofsaa and earned a spot with a 2-0 win in sarnia.
vanessa ventura and olivia vitale scored single goals and goalie emeline vanlaerhoven-overton was outstanding in earning the shutout as the wildcats will join the knights at ofaa, which is set for june 5-7 in oakville.
sandwich 14 chatham-kent 1
the sandwich sabres will get a chance to defend their ofsaa slo-pitch title.
the sabres beat the chatham-kent golden hawks 14-1 to capture the swossaa championship. with it, the sabres advance to ofsaa, which will be held in windsor june 9 and 10. the brennan cardinals, who are hosting the event, will also compete in the tournament.
in the swossaa final, the sabres jumped to an 8-0 lead in the third inning and were never challenged. kyra smith had four hits, drove in a run and threw a complete game. emily crosby went three-for-three with a walk and drove in a run while sam garant also had three hits and drove in four runs. breslynn banks and haylie hancock each added two hits and drove in a run.
wallaceburg tartans’ lucas laprise is tagged out at home plate by riverside stingers’ catcher miles lepore in the swossaa baseball challenge game.
mark malone
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postmedia network
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riverside 5 wallaceburg 1
the riverside stingers earned a spot at the ofsaa west regional baseball tournament with a 5-1 road win over the wallaceburg tartans in the swossaa challenge game.
riverside right-handers cam grondin, nolan bryans and nolan brown combined to allow just two hits.
bryans scored once and drove in a pair of runs. brycen renaud also drove in a run.
the stingers join st. anne, which won the swossaa title, at the west regional tournament, which is set for june 4 and 5 in windsor. the top two teams from that event advance to ofsaa.
jpparker@postmedia.com
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