HIGH ACHIEVERS WEEKEND WRAP: Gold-medallist Gloucester Celtic leads parade of teams chasing fall championships

By Martin Cleary

The charge to the championship, the fall version, is in full swing for Ottawa teams and athletes.

In some cases, championships have already come and gone, but are still fresh in our minds, like Gloucester Celtic winning the Canada Soccer men’s amateur Challenge Trophy for the third time since 2013. Or like the world No. 2-ranked Canadian women’s 15s rugby team losing the close gold-medal match to No.1-ranked England in the WXV 1 tournament in Vancouver.

Other teams are on the verge of playing a trophy tilt as the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees will face Université Laval Rouge et Or on Saturday in the RSEQ women’s rugby final. The Gee-Gees will play host to the final at 1 p.m.

The Ottawa Sooners stood tall in their 2024 Ontario Junior Conference football quarterfinal, but must travel to face the first-place and undefeated St. Clair Saints for a Sunday semifinal.

And then there are teams that are anxious to start their playoffs, such as the Carleton University men’s and women’s soccer teams and the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees women’s soccer squad.

CELTIC CAPTURE THIRD CANADIAN CROWN

The amateur outdoor soccer season concluded Thanksgiving Monday in Vancouver with a full-slate of age-group, women’s and men’s medal matches at the Toyota National Championships.

The most significant championship match from a local perspective involved the Gloucester Celtic, which entered the six-day nationals undefeated at 21 wins and one tie. Celtic signed off its final playoff series without a loss (four wins, one tie), boosting its overall 2024 record to 25 wins and two ties.

The Celtic, which is linked to the Ottawa Gloucester Hornets Soccer Association, survived a late push by Nova Scotia’s Suburban FC of Bedford to earn a 1-0 victory in the gold-medal game.

Joey Kewin scored the only goal in Celtic’s fourth win over six days, while the shutout went to Anton Favre. Stefan Karajovanovic was Celtic’s top goal scorer with three and was selected the most valuable player in the national championship.

In its four round-robin games, Celtic defeated Whitehorse Yukon Selects FC 1-0, Coquitlam Metro-Ford SC 3-1 and Vancouver United FC 3-2 before tying Edmonton Scottish FC 1-1 to finish first in its pool.

Celtic capped its unblemished 2024 season by celebrating four major titles. After winning the Ottawa-Carleton Soccer League men’s Premier Division in the regular season as well as the Ottawa Cup and the Bob Rathwell Cup for the seventh time, Gloucester captured its fifth Ontario Cup, which qualified it for the Canadian championship tournament.

At nationals, Celtic has represented Ottawa well, winning the title in 2022 and 2013 and earning the third-place bronze medal in 2016. In between Celtic’s two national championships, the West Ottawa Warriors emerged as the 2023 gold medallists.

Ottawa St. Anthony was the 2006 champion and the 2019 runner-up. The other two silver-medal winning teams were Ottawa Royals in 2004 and the Ottawa Maple Leaf Almrausch in 1980.

3 OTTAWA RUGBY PLAYERS NARROWLY MISS WORLD TITLE

Despite holding leads of 5-0 and 12-7 in the WXV 1 championship match, world No. 2-ranked Canada couldn’t hold that advantage to the end as No. 1-ranked England rallied for a 21-12 decision in the gold-medal game.

Alex Tessier led the Canadian scorers with one try and one convert, while Justine Pelletier counted the game’s opening try.

Pamphinette Buisa of Ottawa Irish and Claire Gallagher, a former University of Ottawa standout, started for Canada. Alexandria Ellis of the Barrhaven Scottish entered the final in the 68th minute.

GEE-GEES PLOW FORWARD TO RUGBY CONFERENCE FINAL

The defending champion University of Ottawa Gee-Gees surged into the RSEQ women’s rugby final with a convincing 62-12 semifinal win over the Carleton University Ravens.

Ketsia Kamba scored 15 points off three tries, while Anna Dodge added two tries, Victoria Hough had one try and two converts and Aurora Bowie kicked four converts. Single tries were counted by Tylo Borsboom, Nev Dubois, Sydney Noseworthy and Deborah Oyetoran.

Carleton’s points came from Zoe Nield, one try and a convert, and Jayden Spence, one try.

Laval defeated the Concordia University Stingers 17-7 in the other semifinal.

SOONERS SOLID IN JUNIOR FOOTBALL PLAYOFF WIN

After finishing 4-4 in the Ontario Junior Conference regular season, the Ottawa Sooners started their playoff season with an impressive 38-9 quarter-final decision over the Hamilton Hurricanes.

The Sooners head into their semifinal against the powerful St. Clair Saints, after having seven players named to the Ontario conference all-star team – Christian Phillips, running back (three-way tie); Hayden Murray, receiver; Ryan Gerrard, offensive lineman; Nedi Mesinga, defensive lineman; Noah Nelson, linebacker; Thomas Emmett Daley, linebacker; and Aidan Wallace Blackett, defensive back.

GEE-GEES WOMEN LEAD LOCAL U SPORTS SOCCER HOPES

The Carleton University Ravens and University of Ottawa Gee-Gees completed their regular-season soccer schedules and will now enter their OUA playoffs at various stages.

The Gee-Gees women’s team blanked Royal Military College Paladins 6-0 and Queen’s University Gaels 2-0 to win the East Division pennant with an 11-1 record, which earned them a bye into next week’s semifinal round.

The Ravens turned back Trent University Excalibur 7-0 and tied Ontario Tech Ridgebacks 0-0 to finish sixth in the East at 5-4-3. Carleton will face Queen’s in Kingston on Friday in an East quarter-final match.

Eva Bouity scored two goals in the 90th minute to end the Gee-Gees’ scoring against RMC, after Cassandra Provost, Elianne Gervais, Katie Brzozowski and Sabrina Mangiaracina counted the first four goals. Laura Salgado didn’t need to make a save for the shutout.

Provost and Gervais contributed second-half goals as the Gee-Gees got past Queen’s. Cassidy Joslin had the three-save shutout for Ottawa.

The two goals by Provost allowed her to win the OUA scoring title with 13 goals in 12 games. She also was No. 1 in OUA shots at 52 and second in points (goals and assists) at 15. Joslin was the No. 3 OUA goalie, allowing only three goals in 10 games for a goals-against average of 0.35.

Carleton’s Sydney Atwell scored a pair of second-half markers against Trent to complement the first-half goals by Selena Moussa, Ava Mills, Lauren Illman, Mikayla Moser and Quinn Snell. Chloe Lachance-Soulard and Tyler Dukart shared the shutout.

Lachance-Soulard played the entire 90 minutes against Ontario Tech and stopped all four Ridgeback shots for the shutout.

The Carleton men’s soccer team will return to the field on Saturday for an OUA East quarterfinal against the Laurentian University Voyageurs.

The Ravens wrapped up their regular season in contrasting style with a 7-0 decision over Trent and a 1-0 win against Ontario Tech.

Darren Bouaziz was a three-goal scorer and Mohammed Bouzidi added a pair for Carleton against Trent. Single goals went to Brady Cukkovic and Adrijan Vranjkovic, who also added two assists. Eric Yoseke shared in the scoring with three assists. Roberto Paguaga-Frankovich had a one-save shutout.

Tyler David made four saves for the shutout and Vranjkovic scored in the 89th minute as the Ravens blanked the Ridgebacks.

SOPHIA JENSEN DOUBLE CANOE MEDALLIST AT HANGZHOU SUPER CUP

Sophia Jensen of the Cascades Canoe Club ended her 2024 sprint canoe season in fine style, winning two medals at the International Canoe Federation Hangzhou Super Cup in Hangzhou, China.

The regatta featured a rare display of canoe competitions in the disciplines of sprint, slalom, marathon and polo.

In a fun event to showcase China’s newest canoeing venue, Jensen and Serghei Tarnovschi won the C2 mixed 500-metre final by a margin of 1.81 seconds in one minute, 52.938 seconds. Tarnovschi is a Ukrainian-born Moldovan sprint canoeist and a two-time Olympic bronze medallist.

Jensen finished third behind two Chinese canoeists in the C1 women’s 500-metre final in 2:12.275 for the bronze medal. In the C2 women’s 500-metre medal race, Jensen and Virag Balla of Hungary were a distant fourth in 2:08.617.

TEAM HOMAN SAYS GOODBYE TO NEW COACH BRENDAN BOTTCHER

Rachel Homan suffered a rare loss, although it came off the ice when newly-named coach Brendan Bottcher stepped down to accept a position (second) with the team skipped by Brad Gushue, a five-time Canadian men’s champion.

However, Homan and Bottcher, who won the Canadian men’s title in 2021 as a wild card, will continue training and competing in mixed doubles.

“A heartfelt thank you to Team Homan for trusting me as their coach,” Bottcher wrote on social media. “It has been an incredible experience to collaborate with such talented athletes and I am truly grateful for the opportunity.”

Team Homan wished Bottcher success with the Gushue rink.

“We appreciate having (Bottcher) on board as a coach early this season and wish him all the best on his new team. Congratulations,” Team Homan wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

LAST, BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST

· Ottawa’s Jonathan David scored the winning goal in the Canadian men’s soccer team’s 2-1 victory over Panama in an international friendly match that had its unfriendly moments Tuesday night in Toronto. David’s 87th minute marker will allow Canada to jump ahead of Panama in the next FIFA world rankings, having trailed the Central Americans by one spot in 38th position. Ottawa’s Theo Bair also featured in the match, playing the final 11 minutes plus added time.

· The Ottawa Jr. Riders need to win their final regular-season game in the Quebec Major Junior Football League to avoid a rare losing season. The Riders improved to 3-4 after a 16-9 win over ARFLL Wildcats, and must beat second-place North Shore Broncos to finish 4-4. Ottawa has played in the league in nine of the past 14 seasons and has never been worse than 5-3. The Riders didn’t play in the league from 2014-16 and the 2020 and 2021 seasons were cancelled by the COVID-19 pandemic.

· Sledge Hockey of Eastern Ontario products Rob Armstrong, Tyrone Henry and Anton Jacobs-Webb earned Canada’s third consecutive silver medal at the International Para Hockey Cup in Czechia. Canada fell 5-3 to the United States in the championship game, following a 1-0 overtime win over the host Czechs in the semi-final, and two wins (3-2 over Czechia and 9-0 over Italy) and a loss (2-1 defeat to the U.S. in overtime) in the preliminary round.

· Goalkeeper Barclay Frost of Munster, ON., has been named to the Canadian team for the USA/Canada Hockey Challenge for hockey players 80 years old and older. The two games will be played in Burlington, ON., Oct. 23 and 24;

· Ottawa’s Veronika Podobed, a second-year industrial engineering student, was on the University of Toronto Varsity Blues team, which won the OUA women’s tennis final 7-0 over McMaster University Marauders. Podobed posted wins in her doubles and singles matches. The University of Western Mustangs defeated Toronto 4-2 in the men’s final and Ottawa’s Rassam Yazdi, a sixth-year aerosciences student, was on the Toronto roster. Yazdi accounted for both Toronto points, a singles and a doubles win, and also was named an OUA all-star in Toronto’s ninth consecutive OUA men’s tennis final appearance.

· The second-place University of Ottawa Gee-Gees, 4-1, defeated Carleton University Ravens 41-10 in RSEQ men’s rugby. Ben Holahan led the Gee-Gees with one try and two converts, while Emmett Rahiri had one try and one convert. Will Corry, Ben Davis, Brett Middleton, Sean Millar and Ryan Plunkett had one try each. Maxwell Magnusson and Ryan Sweetnam counted the Carleton tries.