WCI Red Devils reflect on historical 2025 boys’ soccer season

The Woodstock CI Red Devils’ boys soccer team finished off its most successful season with a WOSSAA AA championship, a 3-2 record at OFSAA and a top eight provincial finish. (Jeff tribe Photo)

Jeff Tribe, Echo Correspondent

It wasn’t like the Woodstock CI (WCI) Red Devils hadn’t learned from their Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations history with the Windsor E.J. Lajeunesse Lions.

But that didn’t make repeating it any more fun.

In March of this year in Woodstock, the Red Devils faced the Lions in the OFSAA A boys’ basketball championship game, dropping a tight 55-45 decision. On June 7 in Welland, the two met in the OFSAA A boys’ soccer quarterfinals, the Lions prevailing once more by a 2-1 margin.

“I texted Moli (WCI coach and athletic director Eric Molinaro) after the game,” said Red Devils soccer coach Jason Poole, able with time for reflection to interject an element of humour into his voice. “He was like, again?”

WCI opened pool play on June 5 at 9 a.m. with a solid 3-1 win over Waterford District High School.

“Guys were dialled in,” said Poole, pumped up from the previous evening’s OFSAA banquet and attendant atmosphere. Everett Carne scored twice and Elisha Dezeeuw added a single to fuel the offence.

“We were able to use our skill a bit in that game,” said Poole, against a big, tall and strong squad utilizing a kick-and-run approach.

The Red Devils resorted to their seasonal gameplan of shape, defence and counterattack against Toronto Ursula Franklin Academy, a highly skilled, quick feet ball-possession type of team in game two. Dezeeuw scored the game’s lone goal, leaking past the Franklin back line and onto a lead pass in the clear.

“He broke the goalie’s ankles and finished,” said Poole of a goal scored in the first five minutes of the second half.

Heading into provincial championships, Poole had emphasized how the Red Devils were making history as the school’s first soccer team in a position shared with their female counterparts. That living history had unfolded ideally through day one, with WCI atop its pool at 2-0, on the inside track to quarterfinals.

“Pretty incredible, totally in charge of our fate.”

The Red Devils kept the positive narrative rolling through their 9 a.m. Friday, June 6th start, shutting down a very disciplined Kenora St. Thomas Aquinas squad out 2-0.

Carne and Depew each found the back of the net and keeper Justin Deschamps recorded his second shutout, despite battling a case of stomach flu for the event’s duration. A running team joke was that Deschamps was able to finally eat popsicles by Friday.

“But Justin at 50 per cent is better than anyone else at 100 per cent,” said Poole. “He’s a phenomenal goalie.”

The win locked up first place in Pool C, allowing the Red Devils to work their bench through a 2-0 game-four loss to Trenton St. Paul, ensuring players who unquestionably contributed to the team’s success also got playing time at provincials, while starters rested for quarterfinals.

“It was the perfect situation,” said Poole. “Everyone played and we hung around and competed.”

Things were set up ideally for their Friday evening tilt with La Jeunesse, the Red Devils all business in contrast to a more-typical pre-game music-rich ‘chill.’

“We were ultra-pumped, calm and confident,” said Poole.

More used to playing teams focused on using their skill toward ball possession, WCI was admittedly taken aback from a high-intensity, non-stop pressure, pressure, pressure approach Poole likened to a pack of wild dogs.

“It caught us off-guard a bit in the first ten minutes for sure.”

The Red Devils adjusted, Poole feeling they took control of the contest.

“We had probably eight chances, three posts and all the possession, but no goals.”

The Lions came out of the first half leading 1-0, getting a foot on a lazy cross. WCI remained quietly confident through the break and changed its structure to generate more offence. The approach worked but didn’t manage to get a ball into the back of the La Jeunesse net.

The Lions went up 2-0 with around 15 minutes to go off a corner kick.

“Head in the guillotine kind of thing at this point,” said Poole.

Noah Clements got the Red Devils on the board with roughly five minutes to play. A feisty finish began following the goal, Poole pleased his players went down, metaphorically swinging, to the final three whistles.

“Credit to them, they played our game against us and won the battle,” said Poole. “You can’t fault them. That’s the only problem with history is when it repeats itself,” he added wryly.

A historical perspective also allowed Poole, disappointment aside, to reflect on not only this year, but the growth in the Red Devils program it represented.

“You can’t let a single moment engage the entirety of our success in the season,” he concluded, reflecting on an undefeated Thames Valley Regional Athletics campaign, Western Ontario Secondary Schools Athletic Association A championship, and a trip to provincial finals. “And top eight in the province, that’s a pretty good progression from three years ago when we had three wins… in total.”