Patriots set bar high for OFSAA
The Saint Paul Patriots have high hopes once again at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) AA boys soccer championships June 6-8 in North Bay.
The defending champion Patriots enter OFSAA as the No. 1 seed, but coach Aldo Seca said the ranking can be a mixed blessing.
“It’s an honour to be ranked No. 1 but at the end of the day we know the seeding doesn’t mean much,” Seca said. “You have that bullseye on your back, everyone is looking to take down No. 1”
Seca knows the road to gold isn’t always an easy drive.
“We’re happy to have a chance to defend our title,” Seca said. “A gold medal is something we can definitely achieve. Obviously, it will be a very difficult task. We lost 12 players from last year’s team so we have a different look but still a lot of key players back that know how to win and know what it takes to win gold.”
The Patriots qualified for OFSAA defeating Dundas 3-1 and Sir Winston Churchill 3-0 to capture the Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association (SOSSA) championship.
“The boys played very good,” Seca said. “We hosted SOSSA so it was nice to win the championship on your own pitch which was great because last year we had to go to Sir Winston.
“Both games were somewhat challenging, more so the Sir Winston game, and then we opened it up in the second half.”
The Patriots finished the regular season with a 5-1-1 record and tied for first place with Saint Michael.
“It’s a great group of kids,” Seca said. “We give them a system of play and they buy into it. We play a very simple 4-5-1 which is geared toward more of a defensive formation. Our back line is very solid and our middle of the park is our strength. We don’t score a ton of goals but we defend nicely.”
Members of the team are: Christian Folino, Luke Berezowski, Sandro Elia, Dante DeBenedetti, Nick DiSanto, Michael Vetera, Michael Lamascese, Max Hawryluk, Gianluca Arghittu, Carter Jackson, Marco Grousso, Petar Andonov, Andrew Villegas, Matheus Ferraz, Joseph Bernard, Ben Stewart, Daniel Robayo, Luka Lipinski, Michael Shramm.
Coaches: Aldo Seca, Julio Candeloro.
Manager: Michael Schramm.
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