What began with 20 schools from across the province ended with the Holy Trinity Tigers wearing gold medals around their necks Saturday as they beamed with joy.
The Holy Trinity Catholic High School team won seven games over three days to be crowned the 2022 OFSAA AA girls soccer champions.
What made it extra special was the fact Holy Trinity won at home, with Bradford being named the host community for the championships earlier this year.
“We are going to celebrate Bradford, our kids and our community,” head coach Denny De Oliveira said at the time. “We are going to celebrate who we are now and who we were in the past.”
De Oliveira’s team did just that as it brought home gold while surrounded by friends, family and alumni at Henderson Field this weekend.
After sweeping pool play by beating Lorne Park Secondary School 5-1 and Crestwood Preparatory College 4-0 on Thursday, and Our Lady Queen of the World Catholic Academy 7-1 and Korah Collegiate and Vocational School 2-1 on Friday, Holy Trinity advanced to the playoffs as the one seed in Pool B.
In their first playoff game Friday evening, the Tigers defeated Holy Trinity Courtice 6-3 in the quarter-finals to ensure a spot in a medal game Saturday afternoon.
With a gold-medal game bid on the line Saturday morning, the nail biting began for Holy Trinity as they took on École secondaire catholique L’Essor from Tecumseh.
Just under 60 minutes into the game, Holy Trinity took a 1-0 lead, but L’Essor tied it less than 10 minutes later on a free kick. They went on to play two scoreless 10-minute overtimes.
With a trip to the gold-medal game on the line, the match headed to a penalty kick shootout, and Holy Trinity outscored L’Essor 4-1. After nearly two hours of soccer, the Tigers were set to play Thomas A. Blakelock High School from Oakville later that day.
Just before halftime in the gold-medal match, the Tigers scored on a through ball to take a 1-0 lead into half. Holy Trinity added to that lead with a second goal set up by a cross-field pass where the initial shot was stopped before they scored on the rebound.
A few minutes later, Thomas A. Blakelock cut the lead to one with a goal to make it 2-1 off a corner kick. Despite a late push from the opponent, Holy Trinity went on to win OFSAA with a 2-1 victory.
“As much as I want to tell you about OFSAA, I want to tell you about this team,” said De Oliveira at Holy Trinity’s spring OFSAA celebration on Monday. “I will tell you 100 per cent, and I’m not insulting anyone here ... this isn’t the best girls’ team we’ve ever had, but … this is the team that I am most proud of because every coach said that this is all heart, this is all skill, this is all team.
“In 23 years, I’ve never had a team like this that believed in themselves, believed in each other, and played. They won OFSAA based on them. You guys are unbelievable. I hope you realize that. You guys were the class of the tournament. You guys deserved everything you got. From Day 1, these girls bought into two-a-days and never complained once. As coaches, we’re over the moon for all of you guys.”
The Holy Trinity Tigers finished their OFSAA season undefeated at 21-0 and became Holy Trinity’s first girls’ team to win a gold medal.
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