Tagwi, La Citadelle win EOSSAA junior ‘A’ football championships

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This article has been edited to correct the spelling of Mirka Franche’s name.

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ALEXANDRIA — Not even a tornado watch could stop SDG’s two junior champions, the Tagwi Warriors and La Citadelle Patriotes, from winning their EOSSAA boys and girls soccer titles on Monday.

Fortunately for them, the turbulent cell that spawned a twister near Rigaud, Que., bypassed the Alexandria Island Park field to the north.

This early allowed the Patriots to rally from a 1-0 deficit to beat the Notre Dame Celtic Warriors (Carleton Place) 3-2.

As the Pats celebrated around their girls’ ‘A’ trophy, the rain intensified as the Warriors squared off with St. Joseph High School Jaguars (from Renfrew, Ont.) on the adjacent south field.

In the final, the La Citadelle players continued to improve their game in the second half, going up 2-1 on a long and high free kick by Kira Bombardier that caught the top right corner of the net.

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It was an unusual penalty that helped set up the eventual game-winner for La Citadelle. With a Patriote one step ahead of a defender for a loose ball, the Notre Dame goalkeeper ran to block it, missed and ended up catching a bit of a La Citadelle player.

That led to the referee ruling the obstruction, awarding the Patriots a free kick.

The ball didn’t get past the wall of Celtic defenders but rebounded to the foot of Annabella Curtis who found a seam that led to the back of the net. Curtis said the 0-1 deficit caught her team’s attention after La Citadelle steamrolled their preliminary opponents earlier in the day.

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“It was scary, but we had a good game the rest of the game,” Curtis said.

Head coach Mirka Franche dismissed the importance of the unsafe pitch, instead citing the behavior of her opponents.

“It was a tough game because the other team was really tough,” said Franche, who opined that Notre Dame “never played their game, but we played our game.

“We play fair and with each other, and that made the difference.”

The Patriots tied the score at 1-1 when Ella Masterman’s low shot from the right side had enough steam to dribble into the net despite a glancing shot by the Celtic goalkeeper.

As the jubilant winners left their ground, the Tagwi boys were still locked in a 1-1 draw with the Jaguars after 10 minutes of extra time.

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Jesse Leroux gave Tagwi a 1-0 lead in the first half when his corner kick was luckily deflected into the net by the keeper.

The Renfrew team kept up the pressure, winning the tie in the second half.

With the game kicking off in the 75th minute, the Warriors defense finally collapsed, allowing clear openings for Renfrew to take the lead for the first time.

Whether it was the relief of finally taking the lead or the Warriors’ sense of conservation, less than two minutes later, Tagwi pressed, putting the ball right in front of the Jaguars’ cage.

In the confusion, Leroux got the ball first.

“I had to score,” he recalled, admitting he doesn’t consider himself a pure scorer. “And shot it along the ground.”

The Warriors tied it up again, sending the game into a shootout.

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Buoyed to shake off the loss, Tagwi’s marksmen Kayden Ladouceur, Vinny Anderson and Leroux powered through the first three tries, taking an early lead when Warriors goalkeeper Marc Labossiere stopped the Jaguars’ first try.

“To save the first penalty kick, it changed the whole dynamic,” Tagwi head coach Andrea Despatie said.

Shayne Gagne sealed it with a fourth strike, winning what very well could have been the first Eastern Ontario Junior Secondary School Athletic Association title.

Both teams advance to the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations ‘A’ football championships – both teams will head to Lincoln, Ont. (Niagara Region) will play June 6-8.

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