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Jon Kuiperij Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Sports 11 | Wednesday, June 11, 2014 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com "Connected to your Community" OFSAA medals on track and on field, but none on soccer/rugby pitch Iroquois Ride Trailblazers' Ryan Haire (left) and Notre Dame Fighting Irish player Cole Skidmore joust for position during Monday's Halton high school junior boys' soccer final at North Park. Ridge scored twice late in regulation to defeat the Irish 3-2. | photo by Graham Paine -- Oakville Beaver -- @Halton_Photog Led by Loyola's Kristen O'Neill, Oakville athletes combined to win four medals at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations track-and-field championships last week in Mississauga. O'Neill won gold in the junior girls' 800 metres and added a bronze in the 400m. Abbey Park's Devyn Mackenzie (silver in senior girls' high jump) and T.A. Blakelock's Zaria Armstrong (bronze in junior girls' 100m) were Oakville's other medal-winners. Coverage of those performances will appear in an upcoming edition of the Beaver. Local soccer and rugby teams weren't so fortunate at their OFSAA tournaments. Loyola (boys' AAA), St. Thomas Aquinas (girls' AA) and King's Christian (girls' A) were unable to advance to the quarter-finals in soccer competition. Oakville Trafalgar (boys' AAA/AAAA) and Aquinas (girls' A/AA) were eliminated early at rugby provincials. Halton Minor Ball Hockey League Standings as of June 8, 2014 Team A) LTP 3-6 A1-LTP Julian Dean Photography Bruins (Gold) A2-LTP Toronto Marlies (Blue) A3-LTP Hamilton Bulldogs (Red) A4-LTP K.N. Crowder Penguins (Black) A5-LTP Red Wings (White) A6-LTP Lightning (Silver) A7-LTP Oilers (Orange) A8-LTP Stars (Green) B) Tyke 7-8 1 B3-Raiders (Silver) 2 B4-Fitness Firm Penguins (Gold) 3 B2-Tyke Mainway Sports (White) 4 B1-Green Goblins (Green) C) Novice 9-10 1 C1-Questica (Orange) 2 C6-Fitness Firm (Blue) 3 C3-Wave Shop (Silver) 4 C2-Oakville Beaver (White) 5 C5-Dairy Queen Snipers (Black) 6 C4-Burlington Post (Red) D) Atom "A" 11-12 1 D8-Bandits (Black) 2 D2-Granite Ridge Golf Club Blue Thunder 3 D4-Fitness Firm (Green) 4 D3-Vacuum Shoppe (Gold) D) Atom "B" 11-12 1 D5-Dynamic Healing Orange Crushers 2 D7-Eagles (White) 3 D6-Play it Again Sports (Silver) 4 D1-Mantis Red Devils E) Peewee "A" 13-14 1 E8-Piranhas (Red) 2 E1-S.E. Auto Sales (Gold) 3 E4-Pioneer Energy LP (Black) 4 E7- Sharks (Teal) E) Peewee "B" 13-14 1 E2-Peewee Team 2 (Silver) 2 E3-Tripemco Insurance Group (Blue) 3 E5-Olympic Trophies (Orange) 4 E6-South Hill Designs (Green) F) Bantam 15-16 1 F1-Burlington Ball Hockey League (Vegas) 2 F2-National Sports (Green) 3 F4-Bantam Team 4 (Red) 4 F3-Vipond Inc. (Blue) G) Junior 17-18 1 G4-Junior Team 4 (Silver) 2 G3-Junior Team 3 (Orange) 3 G1-Junior Team 1 (Gold) 4 G2-Junior Team 2 (Black) GP Record Pts GF GA +/- Ridge rallies late to win junior boys' soccer title by Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver Staff With his team facing the undefeated Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Mike Luyks knew he needed a big game from his top striker. And he had a big request. "He probably scored 70 per cent of our goals this season," the Iroquois Ridge Trailblazers coach said of Dusan Kovacevic. "We needed him. I asked him for two goals." Kovacevic, who netted three in a 5-1 semifinal win over St. Thomas Aquinas Thursday, instead opted for quality over quantity. Finishing off a nice three-way passing play with Alex Golubovic and Ryan Haire, Kovacevic unleashed a blast that found the top-left corner of the net with two minutes remaining to give Iroquois Ridge a 3-2 victory in Monday's Halton junior boys' soccer final at North Park. The goal came just a minute and a half after Brandon Logan's seeing-eye shot from the top of the box found its way through a maze of players and into the back of the net. "I had faith in the team. I knew the boys would come through," Kovacevic said. "And once we got the second goal, I knew the third was coming, too." While Kovacevic's belief never wavered, Ridge supporters had to wonder if this just wasn't going to be their team's day. Despite controlling the play for much of the first half, the Trailblazers found themselves down 2-0 heading into the half after a pair of goals by Notre Dame's Matthew Monteiro. And it could have been more if not for a diving save by Ridge keeper Sajid Khan on a nice give-and-go by the Irish. "Our captains talked to us and they told us to keep our heads up," said Haire. "They said to keep pushing, passing the ball and playing like a team." The Trailblazers had not been without their own chances in the opening half. Golubovic was denied a pair of strong strikes from just outside the box. The Notre Dame keeper dove to bat one away and, just before the half, tipped another over the bar. With the wind in its favour for the second half, Iroquois Ridge knew it needed to send a message with a quick goal. Haire delivered with a strike from 25 yards out that curled into the top-right corner to cut the Irish lead to one. The next 25 minutes would look much like the first half, with Ridge scoring opportunities just missing the mark. Liam Moore lofted one up from the left sideline that came down just behind the crossbar. Then, with time starting to become a concern, Golubovic threaded a pass through to Kovacevic, who slipped it past the keeper, only to have the ball hit the post before being cleared by a Notre Dame defender. Finally Logan tied the game and Kovacevic netted the winner. "He's been doing it all year," Logan said of his teammate. "I knew we would persevere and come back and win it." "They had two wonder goals from outside the box," said Notre Dame coach Clerio Fuciarelli, whose team fell in the final for the second year in a row. "You can't coach against shots like that. It's a tough loss but it was two good teams. There was some nice soccer played out there." Iroquois Ridge had been playing some nice soccer all season. The Trailblazers were 9-1, with their lone loss a 2-0 defeat at the hands of the defending champion Christ the King Jaguars. All but one of their victories had been by at least two goals, including five by four or more. Monday, Ridge showed it could win the close games, too. "It's way better to win that way than to win 4-0," Luyks said. -- Loyola loses junior girls' final to Corpus Christi, page 12 7 7 7 7 6 6 6 6 6 6 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 5-1-1 5-1-1 1-5-1 1-5-1 4-2-0 4-2-0 3-2-1 3-2-1 3-3-0 0-6-0 6-1-0 6-1-0 4-2-1 4-3-0 3-4-0 2-4-1 2-5-0 0-7-0 6-1-0 5-1-1 4-2-1 4-3-0 (W1) (W1) (L1) (L3) (W2) (W1) (T1) (T1) (L2) (L6) (W5) (W2) (T1) (L1) (L1) (T1) (W1) (L7) (W5) (L1) (L1) (W1) 11 11 3 3 8 8 7 7 6 0 12 12 9 8 6 5 4 0 12 11 9 8 6 4 4 2 14 5 5 4 11 7 6 4 43 61 30 23 35 39 27 22 28 4 48 34 36 35 23 19 30 17 30 26 24 20 15 17 15 15 45 15 14 12 30 24 31 16 30 30 55 42 23 20 17 25 24 46 16 20 24 36 25 26 39 56 13 9 16 14 33 23 29 25 5 22 29 30 17 29 20 35 13 31 -25 -19 12 19 10 -3 4 -42 32 14 12 -1 -2 -7 -9 -39 17 17 8 6 -18 -6 -14 -10 40 -7 -15 -18 13 -5 11 -19 3-4-0 (L2) 2-5-0 (L2) 2-5-0 (W1) 1-6-0 (W1) 7-0-0 2-4-1 1-3-3 1-4-2 5-1-1 3-3-1 3-4-0 1-4-2 (W7) (L1) (T1) (T1) (L1) (W1) (W1) (L1) This ad is courtesy of ­ Proud Supporters ­ &