Warriors play for each other, ‘Pop’ in locking up OFSAA AA berth

Woodstock St. Mary’s Warrior Caleb Allard (rear) executes a hard challenge against a St. Joe’s opponent. (Jeff Tribe photo)

Jeff Tribe, Echo Correspondent

Woodstock St. Mary’s Warriors boys’ soccer dual threat Tommy Walker finished what the St. Thomas St. Joe’s Rams started in a 2-1 Western Ontario Secondary Schools Athletic Association (WOSSAA) AA semi-final penalty kicks victory Wednesday, May 28th at London’s City Wide Field.

“Season on the line, just had to give my all there,” Walker summed up succinctly.

That tense win was in itself just the opening act for a 3-2 extra-time AA championship victory over the London Westminster Wildcats. The back-to-back gut checks earned the Warriors an Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) AA provincial final tournament berth in Ottawa from June 5 to 7, which goes along with the WOSSAA title.

“It was amazing and it still doesn’t seem real,” said Warriors co-coach Vanessa Pye. “OFSAA was our goal the moment we lost in last year’s WOSSAA finals against (London) Oakridge,” she continued. “We believed this was our year and every step of the way the boys showed us they wanted this and were willing to do what it takes.”

The Warriors earned every bit of their WOSSAA AA title, opening against a tough St. Joe’s squad whose only regular Thames Valley Regional Athletics South East season loss came at the hands of the Warriors, 4-1 on May 1 at London’s City Wide field. St. Mary’s followed this up with a 3-0 shutout in the TVRA South East title game Wednesday, May 21st at Woodstock’s Cowan Park. Despite three-goal margins in both meetings, a credible sports adage speaks to how hard it is to beat a quality team three times in a season.

It would be borne out in a WOSSAA semi-final, which finished both regulation and extra time tied at a goal. The Rams had opened scoring with Mateus Fortuna answering for the Warriors.

In extra time’s latter stages, Pye and co-coach Valerie Popovich made a strategic substitution, shifting midfielder and team captain Walker into the Warriors net in preparation for looming penalty kicks in lieu of a starter who was unable to continue.

“It’s all mental,” said Walker, who tries to identify which way to ‘guess and dive’ during opponents’ run-up.

The Rams opened strongly, scoring on their first two kicks to, in conjunction with an opening save from their goalie, take an early 2-0 lead.

St. Mary’s responded however on consecutive goals by Noah Allard, Fortuna and Hunter van den Akker. Walker recorded two denials on the Rams’ third through fifth shots, diving to his right to see one sail wide of his right post and then subsequently, make a clean block on another. Stepping to the penalty spot as the Warriors’ fifth shooter with the tally tied at three and the game on his foot, he reflected on two successful earlier penalties against the same keeper.

“I went left both times, so I switched it up,” said Walker, who calmly buried the game-winner inside the post to his right.

Things did not get markedly easier in the AA championship game later that afternoon.

The Warriors’ Lisandro Da Costa scored off a corner to equalize at one during the first half, Kingston McPherson giving St. Mary’s a 2-1 lead just prior to its conclusion.

Fortuna extended the Warriors lead to two with 20 minutes to play in the second half, a crucial insurance goal that would stand up as the game-winner. Westminster pulled within one during an extended period of extra time, however, St. Mary’s held on for the victory in what coach Pye described as a ‘gritty, gritty display.’

“This team played for one another and played for ‘Pop’ (coach Popovich) every single second and it was most evident in the finals where every single person contributed,” she credited. “It was an amazing feeling to see these young men play their hearts out.”