Oct. 23 Ridley roundup
Prep Boys Hockey
The Prep Boys Hockey team faced strong opposition in games at Windsor and Michigan.
The Tigers dropped a 4-2 decision to A21 Academy, lost 4-1 to Edge School, were blanked 3-0 by Victory Honda U18 AAA , but later defeated Victory Honda U18 AAA 4-3.
The Tigers are now 11-4-1-1 overall.
Colton Chipman and Luke Haymes each had two goals while Spencer Desveaux, Nick Athanasakos and Kilian Schwarz each had one goal.
Goaltender Carlo Muraro recorded the lone win.
“This weekend was a great test for us, and while we may not have gotten the results we would have liked, we were pretty happy with the way the boys played,” head coach Mike McCourt said. “We try our best to make our preseason schedule as competitive as possible, which we believe best prepares us for the regular season. This weekend was a great example of that, and we’re now a better team because of it.”
Up Next: Home versus Blyth Academy Burlington Wednesday at 4:30 p.m.
First Boys Soccer
First Boys Soccer dropped a 1-0 decision to BCS at the CAIS Nationals in the last group game before seeding into the playoffs.
In a windy early fixture, BCS capitalized and maintained an early goal. The Tigers tried to break the line and hit the back of the net throughout and had some chances toward the last kick of the game. Their effort was great.
The Tigers rebounded with a 5-2 win versus SJR.
Noah Booker collected two goals while Todun Akinyelure and Mackenzie Kemp-Griffin also scored. One goal was credited to Ridley as their own goal.
The Tigers began well, applying strong pressure and maintaining their awareness. Their efforts lead to a good lead in the first half through goals from senior Todun Akinyelure and middle classman Mackenzie Kemp-Griffin. Senior Noah B. would double his efforts to keep the Tigers active in the Group seeding for the Gold Division elimination rounds.
The Tigers then dropped a 4-3 decision on penalty kicks in the Silver quarter-finals.
Ridley scorers were Brendan Ng, Nestor Aristiguieta Frias (brace).
The First Boys found themselves down two goals early on with the opposition, The York School (TYS) taking its chances well and deservedly. Senior Brendan Ng would lead the charge from the spot with a well-taken penalty. Senior Nestor Aristiguieta Frias would be introduced in the second half to strike into the top-left corner even the game up. Following a goal by The York School No. 9, with the last kick of the game, the referee awarded an indirect free-kick to the Tigers and with quick thinking by junior Matias Karam Cosculluela, a fast free kick was taken and senior Nestor Aristiguieta Frias slotted home his second past an unready The York School.
The Tigers had opportunities in extra-time to score, but penalties were the decider for this fixture. The first three penalties from either side were well struck, the fourth Ridley penalty was saved and TYS capitalized to score theirs sending Ridley out of the silver bracket.
Brendan Ng scored Ridley’s lone goal in a 3-1 loss to Appleby College.
Early on Appleby opened the scoring with captain Brendan Ng notching a penalty kick to tie up the game. Appleby would forge ahead with a goal before half-time and would add another late in the second. The Tigers on another day could have bettered the result, Appleby though held strong and kept the Tigers attack at bay for the remainder of the game.
The Tigers also defeated Stanstead College 4-0.
Ridley scorers were Desir Gbego Tossa, Joel Andinda (brace), Owen Leach.
U16 Boys Soccer
The U16 Boys Soccer Team dropped a 4-2 decision versus visiting Greenwood.
Diego San Roman Alvarez and Elias Lalos scored for Ridley.
“This was an even game,” coach Geoffrey Park said. “Strangely, when Ridley had their best spells was when Greenwood scored their goals. We were 1-0 down at half, but improved significantly in the second half, tied it up, fell behind 3-1, closed the gap to 3-2 and came close to tying it several times, before a late counter attack sealed the win for the visitors. There are some technical and tactical things to improve, but that is to be expected of a team that is still fairly new. What is pleasing is that we have the mindset to come back from behind. We did it against Hillfield, and almost succeeded again this time.”
The Tigers also lost 1-0 to SJK to fall to 0-3-2.
SJK had a good record, and it was evident immediately why; they had some talented players. Given that we were missing two key starters, there was cause for concern on our part. Instead, the opposite happened. The Ridley boys played their most energetic, tactically disciplined match of the season, taking the game to SJK for extended periods, and competing all over the park. Will Clayton ran the midfield, Jak Gocking stayed with their fast and talented winger, James Xiao shifted position to partner Eman Orim in the heart of the defence and excelled there. The duo of Ignacio Alario and Diego San Roman Alvarez put some incisive passes together and carved out a few good chances. SJK increased the pressure in the second half, and finally broke through. Ridley came back hard, and came close several times in the closing ten minutes, but could not quite finish a chance. A playoff spot is still available, and with this upward trajectory in play, there is a chance to do some damage then.
Up Next: A home game against Pickering College.
Boy’s Rowing
The Head of the Charles Regatta is the largest two-day rowing event in the world. All athletes look forward to the opportunity to race on the Historic Charles River in Boston Mass.
The men’s varsity eight was lucky to receive an entry this year and had the goal of finishing in the top half of an 86-boat field. The field included club level boats as well as the top high school crews from North America and the UK. The team was on pace to achieve this goal, unfortunately, a crew ahead of the Ridley Eight found a bridge abutment impeding their progress. Valuable seconds were lost and the Ridley Eight finished in 50th place. Their time off of first was still very respectable and would have given them a much higher rank in previous years, attributing the high level of competition in the event. The crew looks to learn from the experience this coming weekend with the final regatta of the season at Head of the Fish in Saratoga New York. The boys will have an opportunity to line up against many of the crews they faced in Boston.
The boys and girls team will be taking 65 athletes and eight coaches to the Head of the Fish Regatta this weekend.
Girl’s Rowing
In a return to sweep rowing after last year’s success in sculling, the Ridley Youth Women’s Four (Sophie Sharpe, Charlotte Drennan, Gabrielle Cook, Rylie Wake, Ella McRae) came together to achieve their goal of qualifying the boat for next year, along with a respectable finish of 33rd (of 85) and a standout performance by coxie Sophie Sharpe.
In the post-race debrief, the crew said that she was “electric – you could feel the energy and excitement coming through her voice, and her course was bang on.” With the exception of the last turn under bridge where they were pushed wide by two crews failing to yield, Sophie steered her crew on the ideal line throughout the challenging course.
In the Youth Women’s Single, and having just returned from an injury, Jamie Pritchard was able to execute her race plan, and finished 22nd (of 30). Jamie is still in her first year of rowing, but is demonstrating that she will be a force to be reckoned with in the spring.
Women’s assistant coach Margaret Gralewicz, also raced with Chinook RC and took the win in the Women’s Masters Eights event.
All crews are looking to have a strong showing at Head of the Fish next weekend in Saratoga N.Y., in our last regatta of the fall season.
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