HAMILTON-WENTWORTH CATHOLIC DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD
Celtics score indoor soccer championship win

Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic high school soccer has returned to action after a LONG off-season.

As a result of COVID-19 restrictions, the sport was shut down for over two years. An indoor soccer tournament involving all seven schools kicked off on April 4, however, and it concluded with playoff rounds at United Soccer Centre on Monday (April 11).

The Bishop Ryan Celtics faced the Bishop Tonnos Titans in the boys' final with the Celtics taking the title, 1-0, on penalty kicks.

It was Bishop Ryan's first indoor championship since 2017 and the outcome snapped St. Jean de Brebeuf's two-year hold on the trophy.

"We haven't really played soccer in three years, so it was nice to see everybody come out," Bishop Ryan coach Joe Cvitak said.

Games were played on the full field for a duration of 30 minutes each.

"We knew a half-hour game would be tight," the Celtics coach said. "The guys played good defensively. We had some opportunities that we didn't capitalize on, but we took some great penalty shots. We deserved the win."

The Celtics connected on all five of their penalty kicks, while Tonnos scored on its first four. A fifth attempt narrowly rolled wide of the post.

Although neither team had scored during regulation time of the final, Tonnos coach Edwin Suva replaced his starting goalkeeper, Francesco Romano, with Xavier D'Arcangelo a few minutes prior to the final whistle.

"In the previous game (a 1-0 semifinal win over the St. John Henry Newman Cardinals) that keeper (D'Arcangelo) made a PK stop to get us to the final," Suva said. "We're kind of rotating through keepers."

Said D'Arcangelo: "We're a three-keeper team. So it's going to be hard to split playing time.

"Coming second isn't the greatest thing in the world but it's something to be proud of. The boys all played their hearts out for it."

The Tonnos coach described the fast-paced contest as "very physical."

"These guys have some, I don't know if you want to call it, pent up aggression from not having a league the past two years," Suva said. "The kids want to play. There's a lot of school pride involved. I'm glad they got the opportunity."

Suva didn't know what to expect from players who came out for the team after such a long absence.

"I was unsure about the calibre of the players and how deep we were going to be," he said. "So it was a pleasant surprise how well we did. We can only build from here."

The Bishop Ryan roster was comprised of Justin Porco, Alex Tolos, Juan Vasquez, Joshua De Abreu, Christian Cappelli, Gianluca Muraca, Zachary Lopez, Michael Horvat, Jack Shedden, Justan Malkowski, Sean Underhill, Hayden Brindle, Zack Pereira, Sherwin Chen, Ayden John, Jacob Klakulak, Lucas Fox, Niko Juvincic, Luke Pacenza, Anthony Ragonetti, Idrissa Bah and Jeshua Cubillos.

In the consolation final, Marcus Aviles scored to lift the St. Jean de Brebeuf Braves to a 1-0 decision over the Cathedral Gaels.