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Notre Dame girls win SOSSA field lacrosse crown

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The Notre Dame Fighting Irish varsity girls field lacrosse team won the Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association championship last Friday at Youngs Sportsplex with a 10-7 victory over McKinnon Park in the championship game.

In the final, Sara Dakin led the way for Notre Dame with six goals. Makenna Patten netted a pair of goals and singles were contributed by Olivia Mete and Alissa Mete. Leading Notre Dame on defence were Caroline Jarrett, Olivia Langan, and Jenni Weller. Faith Asselin recorded the victory in goal.

The Lady Irish were up 5-4 at the half and then had a huge third quarter to lead 9-4 going into the final 12 minutes of action.

Team starters were Olivia Mete, Langan, Jarrett, Dakin, Jorden Mattison, Allison Kerho, Kaitlyn Rubino, Abigale Phillips Patten, Alissa Mete, Asselin and Jenni Weller. Additional varsity team players were Nia Maidens, Sandra Cowell, Kate Popadinac, Emily Burkholder, Shawna Walsh, Jessica Zanuttini and Shelby Broughton

Notre Dame has had an excellent season, winning the Stephen Lewis Tournament in Brampton in April and its own home tournament in May. The team also made a successful road trip with big wins versus Villa Maria Academy in Erie, Pa., and Lockport High School in Lockport, N.Y.

“We have had a great year and continue to build on a great girls lacrosse tradition here at Notre Dame,” head coach Agi Mete said. “We have a nice core group of seniors and some great young athletes that allow us to be competitive every time we step on the field.”

Notre Dame now advances to represent Southern Ontario at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations-sanctioned Trillium Cup 2019 Ontario High School Championships. They will be held June 3 and 4 at Youngs Sportsplex in Welland and will feature the top 12 high school teams in Ontario.

Last year, Notre Dame placed sixth at the tournament in Peterborough and, in 2017, the Lady Irish placed fifth in Oshawa. Notre Dame won silver medals at the event in 2010 and 2013 and gold medals in 2011 and 2012.

Bernie Puchalski, a graduate of Brock University and Niagara College, worked in journalism in Niagara for more than 27 years before taking a voluntary buyout from The Standard at the end of 2016. He started his career as a news reporter for the Niagara Falls Review before switching to sports reporting. He was a sports reporter and sports editor at the Niagara Falls Review before joining the Standard's sports department in 1996. He was named the Standard's sports editor in 2000 and became the regional sports editor, in charge of the Niagara Falls Review, Welland Tribune and Standard, in 2015, a position he held until he left the company. During his time in newspapers, he was a multiple winner and finalist for numerous Ontario and Western Ontario Newspaper Awards for sports reporting, spot news reporting and humour writing. He was a member of the Standard Boys Basketball Tournament committee and co-chair of the Standard Girls Basketball Tournament, helping to raise tens of thousands of dollars for bursaries presented to participants in the tournament. He also served on countless local sports committees both in Niagara Falls and St. Catharines.

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