Phoenix blank Eagles to advance to SOSSA
The St. Francis Phoenix arrived a little earlier than expected this season.
The rookie-filled Phoenix showed good progression throughout the season before hitting their stride in the playoffs.
The Phoenix punched their ticket to SOSSA with a 1-0 victory over the Grimsby Eagles for the Zone 4 high school senior girls AA soccer championship Monday at Kiwanis Field.
The Phoenix now advance to the Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association AA playdowns Thursday at West Park and Pearson Park. The championship final is 1:30 p.m. at Pearson Park.
“We’ve gotten more consistent as we’ve gone on,” St. Francis coach Madison Maurice said. “They’ve really developed into great players and it’s been great as all the grades mixed together.
“It’s been really great to watch them.”
One of the Phoenix top rookies is striker Ella O’Connor, who netted the lone goal of the game less than three minutes in.
“She’s got the speed and she’s got the size, which is surprising for a Grade 9, but her speed has been leading her the whole year,” Maurice said. “It’s been awesome to have that force on the right side.”
O’Connor had several point-blank chances to score and ran miles up and down her wing.
“I’m pretty tired but I’m used to it playing two sports,” said O’Connor, who plays rep soccer for Club Roma and travel basketball for Niagara JUEL Prep.
O’Connor’s goal came as she raced past a Grimsby defender and powered a shot past Eagles netminder Delaney McLeod, who had no chance on the play.
“It helped a lot to get the early goal because we had it for the game,” the 15-year-old said.
The Phoenix kept pressing, but weren’t able to add an insurance goal.
“We wanted to get another goal to secure it but we still won,” O’Connor said.
Maurice said the plan was to keep the pressure on, even after the early goal.
“We wanted to add on to it but we were struggling finishing. We definitely didn’t want to sit back but we had to hang on.”
Maurice said there was no grand strategy against the defending Zone 4 champion Eagles.
“We focused more on us,” she said. “We didn’t even really talk about them at all.
“All of our girls are in Grade 9 so they really didn’t know. We brought our game and were able to play well.”
Maurice said the experience of SOSSA will be a big plus for her players.
“It’s awesome. It’s exciting. I know the girls are really excited, especially the young ones who haven’t done this before,” she said.
The Eagles, meanwhile, pushed hard in the second half and had several good chances to score, but came up short.
“It just wouldn’t go in,” Grimsby coach Erika Smith said. “This game really came down to luck of the bounce. We’ve been used to teams scoring early on us and then coming back, but it just didn’t happen today.”
The Eagles were without Sahara Lingano, which Smith said really hurt their offence.
“She’s a phenomenal player. She really helps things get going with the communication,” Smith said. “There was a gap there.”
Smith then tipped her cap to the Phoenix.
“Take nothing away from St. Francis. They were neck-and-neck with us there the whole time.”
Phoenix 1 Eagles 0
Johnny Rocco’s/Mick and Angelo’s Star of the Game: St. Francis striker Ella O’Conner with the lone goal of the game.
St. Francis Phoenix: O’Connor.
Grimsby Eagles: No scoring.
Up next: The Phoenix advance to the Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association (SOSSA) AA playdowns Thursday at West Park and Pearson Park. The final is 1:30 p.m. at Pearson Park
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