The HHS Senior Boys Soccer team showed an enormous amount of class, sportsmanship and skill while representing Huntsville at the provincial level last week at the 2016 OFSAA Championships in Kingsville, Ontario.
After finishing their regular season with a shutout record for the first time in school history, the Hoyas remained undefeated while charging through the MPS and GBSSA playoffs last fall. Keeper Jack Armstrong was perfect in net all year until conceding his only goal of the season in a 1-0 loss to the previous year’s OFSAA champion, Holy Trinity, in the Georgian Bay finals. Finishing second in the region, HHS secured just their second-ever berth to the senior boys provincial soccer championships after making their inaugural trip two years prior in 2014.
On day one of OFSAA, the Hoyas started the game with some nerves against a talented Holy Cross team from Woodbridge. While the Hoyas were able to tally their first-ever point on an OFSAA scoreboard, it was not enough to the seven recorded by Holy Trinity, although the score of the game did not reflect the intensity, strategy and control by the Huntsville side. In their second matchup of the day, the Hoyas demonstrated their resilience and ability to learn on the fly as they controlled play against Timiskaming DHS, earning the victory with a 5-0 win.
On day two, the Hoyas suited up against Windsor’s Riverside High, but despite controlling the bulk of the play throughout the match the boys came up just short in a 3-2 nail-biter. The Huntsville lads would save their best for last, however, in their final game of the tournament against Ajax’s Dennis O’Connor High School. Jack Armstrong was once again a wall in net, and along with floating defenders Matt Allen and Zack Farnsworth completely shut down the attack from Dennis O’Connor. While the opposition expected to walk over the Hoyas en route to an easy win, the entire HHS team played patiently and cohesively to finish with a 0-0 draw and third overall in their pool.
“Outstanding efforts by all of the team throughout the season created our success,” said Head Coach John Cowan. “I was also very pleased by the sportsmanship displayed by this team. They did not receive one yellow card throughout the entire OFSAA tournament. These boys are an exemplary model of great athletes, not only in skill and strategy but also in their sportsmanship.”
The team will be losing Nathan Forestell (Captain), Nathan Valliere, Bret Zylstra and Eric MacNeil for next season due to graduation. The remaining 16 members of the team will be returning for another chance to compete at the provincials next year. Congratulations Hoyas!
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