HIGH ACHIEVERS WEEKEND WRAP: Jonathan David reaches century-goal mark, ranks 2nd all-time for Lille

By Martin Cleary

If there is one sport jersey number that indicates star stature, it has to be No. 9.

Here are some Hall-of-Fame examples: Gordie Howe, Maurice Richard and Bobby Hull in hockey, Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio and Reggie Jackson in baseball, Dwayne Wade and Tony Parker in basketball and Sonny Jurgensen in football. Wayne Gretzky wore 9 until he doubled his love of the number.

It’s now time to consider a rising star for the list of Noteworthy Nines – Ottawa soccer player Jonathan David, who made history Friday, while wearing his red No. 9 jersey for the Lille Olympique Sport Club in France. Lille is nicknamed Les Dogues (The Mastiffs).

David, who turns 25 on Jan. 14, reached the personal century-goal mark for Lille in a 3-1 victory over Brest in Ligue 1 McDonalds, a team Les Dogues hasn’t lost against at home since 1989. Ligue 1 is one of the top five European leagues.

The win extended Lille’s unbeaten streak to 10 games and has Les Dogues in fourth place with seven wins, five draws and two losses. Paris Saint-Germain is at the top of the standings at 10-4-0.

David was the man of the match by scoring two goals against Brest, which were the 100th and 101st of his career with Lille. He also set up the second Lille goal by Iceland’s Hakon Haraladsson. His first goal came off a penalty, which gave him his eighth goal this season in that one-on-one confrontation with the guessing goalkeeper. He has 17 goals in 23 league and Cup matches for Lille.

That two-goal effort also lifted him into first place in the Ligue goal-scoring standings with 11 and puts him one ahead of Mason Greenwood of Marseille and Bradley Barcola of Paris Saint-Germain. His 11 goals have come off 31 shots, including 18 on target. He’s projected to score 27 goals this season and could win his first league Golden Boot award.

Entering Lille’s next Ligue 1 game on Saturday against Marseille, David has scored 48 per cent of the goals for Les Dogues. Lille’s next scheduled game is Wednesday against SK Sturm Graz in the UEFA Champions League.

Overall in 2024, David has scored 22 goals in 37 games, which includes 14 international games for Canada. He has five goals for Canada this year, giving him 31 goals in his national senior men’s career from 59 games.

By breaking the century mark, David is edging closer to becoming the greatest goal scorer in Lille history. Andre Strappe, who played for Lille from 1948-1958, is that man at the top of the scoring list with 112 goals in 318 game appearances.

David has needed only 206 appearances over 4½ seasons with Lille to become only the second player to eclipse the 100-goal standard.

“It’s not every day that you score 100 goals for a club,” the calm and humble David said in an interview with French TV station TF1, according to the Ligue 1 official website.

“This award is a pleasure, it’s a great story,” he said, after the game. “I’m happy to have been able to score my 100th and 101st. Beyond that, the season is long and I hope to continue scoring even more goals and help the team win as much as possible.”

David was born in Brooklyn, New York, after his parents moved to the United States from Haiti. At age six, David’s family moved to Ottawa and he played his youth soccer from 2010-18 with the Gloucester Dragons, Ottawa Gloucester Hornets and Ottawa Internationals.

At 18, he signed his first professional career with KAA Gent in Belgium and was a prolific scorer with 30 goals in 60 appearances. He counted 18 goals in the Belgian Pro League and was tied for the most goals that season. Lille was his next destination as Les Dogues paid a Canadian record transfer fee at the time of $46.5 million for his rights.

David’s five-year contract expires at the end of the 2024-25 season and where he plays next year will be up to all-around striker, who thrives on equal parts offence and defence. There was plenty of speculation David would be on the move last summer, but he stayed with Lille.

During his time with Lille, David has won a Ligue 1 title in 2021, which included a game-winning goal against Paris Saint-Germain and one against Marseille. He made his UEFA Champions League debut the next season and for the past two seasons was one of the league’s top scorers with Kylian Mbappe and Alexandre Lacazette.

In 2024-25 Champions League play, David has made a big impact against major clubs. He scored the only goal in a 1-0 decision over Real Madrid, counted two goals in a 3-1 decision over Atlético Madrid and notched the lone marker in a 1-1 tie with Juventus. Lille is 3-1-1 in the Champions League.

“It’s always nice to score against big clubs,” he told The Athletic in a recent interview. “It’s the best feeling you can have in football. But for me, every goal is important.

“On the outside, it means a lot more. I could score a hat trick on the weekend against Le Havre, but I score one goal against Real Madrid and in two, three weeks, that’s the goal people will be talking about.”

Lille head coach Bruno Genesio praised David for more than just his goal-scoring ability. His teammates refer to David as a defensive striker.

“Scoring 101 goals speaks volumes,” Genesio said, after the win over Brest. “But it’s not just goals for me with Jona. He’s a player who plays a big part in the game and above all, a player who’s full of selflessness. He works enormously for the team. We all make an effort, but he’s the perfect example of our team at this level.

“To have a top striker who makes as many runs and shows as much generosity as he does, that’s pretty rare. I think he’s one of the best (in Ligue 1).”

“I think many teams would like to have a striker like him, who does all that defensive work,” explained defender Bafode Diakite. “He helps to move up the block. There aren’t many like him. We’re really happy to have him. I’ve always been impressed by his ability to repeat the runs, the efforts he makes.”

RAVENS, GEE-GEES SPLIT WOMEN’S, MEN’S BASKETBALL GAMES

The first of two meetings between the Carleton University Ravens and the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees women’s and men’s basketball teams gave each school something to brag about over the Christmas break.

Their second and final meeting will be the Capital Hoops Classic Feb. 7 at The Arena at TD Place.

Strong performances by Tatyanna Burke and Jacqueline Urban allowed the Ravens to turn back the Gee-Gees 81-59 in the women’s game, which Carleton led 46-33 at halftime. Burke counted 23 points, six rebounds and two steals, while Urban had 18 points, seven rebounds and three steals.

Natsuki Szczokin was Ottawa’s top player with 21 points, six steals, five assists and two rebounds.

Carleton remains undefeated and in first place in the OUA East Division at 11-0, while Ottawa is second at 10-2.

The Gee-Gees men’s team received a 29-point effort from Ankit Choudhary and 13 points and four rebounds from Jacques-Melanie Guemeta en route to a 71-62 victory over the Ravens.

Emanuel Milon led the Ravens with 13 points and six rebounds.

Queen’s University Gaels are first in the OUA East men’s standings at 9-1, while Ottawa is second at 10-2 and Carleton holds third at 9-2.

CANADA TOPFLIGHT ACADEMY PUSHES NO. 2-RANKED TEAM TO OVERTIME

Canada Topflight Academy made its debut in the Elite Prep League in the United States and showed it fits in well, despite losing all three games.

During the league’s opening session at Mt. Zion Prep in Lanham, Maryland, CTA lost 74-70 to Winston Salem, 84-80 to The Skill Factory and 87-79 in overtime to the nationally No. 2-ranked Mt. Zion Prep.

Caleb Osman hit a buzzer-beater shot to tie the game 71-71 and force overtime against Mt. Zion. Logan Miller had 16 points and five rebounds for the Ottawa-based team, while Devan Jagpal added 12 points.

Waris Njoya scored 16 points for CTA against Winston Salem and had 19 points in the game with The Skill Factory. Dylan Kayijuka had a team-high 22 points against The Skill Factory.

“CTA National had three tough losses in inaugural @ElitePrepLeague, proved we more than belong. See you in January,” CTA posted on X, which is formerly Twitter.

HOMAN, BOTTCHER REACH MIXED DOUBLES QUARTERFINALS

Rachel Homan of the Ottawa Curling Club and Brendan Bottcher of Edmonton lost in the quarterfinals 9-7 at an Olympic mixed doubles curling regional event in Banff, AB.

Homan and Bottcher, who had already qualified for the Olympic trials at the end of December through a regional meet in Guelph, ON., won four of six preliminary matches and defeated Kayla Skrlik and Jeremy Hardy, both of Calgary, 7-5 in the round of 16 before meeting Peterman and Gallant.

The Olympic trials will be Dec. 30 to Jan. 4 in Liverpool, N.S. The winner will advance to the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milan-Cortina, Italy.

PAMPHINETTE BUISA SCORES TWO TRIES FOR CANADA

Canada finished fifth at the HSBC SVNS women’s rugby sevens tournament in Cape Town, South Africa, and Pamphinette Buisa of Gatineau played a significant role in that result.

After defeating Brazil 43-17 and losing to Australia 26-10 in the preliminary round, Canada dropped into the consolation round, but defeated Great Britain 27-12 and Japan 22-7 to finish fifth.

Buisa scored a try in each game against Brazil and Australia.

SKI BINDING ISSUE HURTS STEWART-JONES IN WORLD CUP SKIATHLON

A top-15 result was in sight, but it never materialized for Katherine Stewart-Jones of Chelsea, PQ., and the Nakkertok Ski Club during the women’s 20-kilometre skiathlon at the World Cup cross-country races in Lillehammer, Norway.

Stewart-Jones entered the transition area in 15th place, after the opening 10-kilometre classic, but lost significant time because of a binding issue with her free-skate skis.

She finished a frustrated 39th in 1:00:15.0, which was 5:43.5 behind winner Therese Johaug of Norway, who finished in a commanding 54:31.5.

Antoine Cyr of Gatineau was 27th in the men’s 20-kilometre skiathlon and Pierre Grall-Johnson of Ottawa was 58th in the men’s sprints.

LAST, BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST

· The 2025 Richmond Road Race will be staged Jan. 26 and all donations will go to support pancreatic cancer research at the Ottawa Hospital in memory of the courageous Sindy Hooper, who passed away Sept. 13. South Carleton High School will be the focal point for the race.

· The U19AA Force and the U19AA Charge, a pair of Eastern Region teams, will play a fundraising game Dec. 23 at the Nepean Sportsplex’s Yzerman Arena at 5 p.m. to support the upcoming 2025 Canadian ringette championships. General admission is $5 (cash) or $2 for players wearing a jersey.

· After winning its pool at 2-1, Ava Acres of the RCMP Curling Club lost 3-2 to Katelin Langford of the Lindsay Curling Club in the semifinals of the U20 Sapphire Junior Slam Series championship at the Dundas Valley Golf and Curling Club. Huntley Curling Club’s Katrina Frlan finished third in her pool at 1-2. Nicholas Rowe of the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club was 0-3 in men’s pool play.

· Greater Ottawa Kingfish Swim Club’s Regan Rathwell will represent Canada at this week’s world short-course swimming championships in Budapest, while the University of Ottawa’s Hashim Haba will swim for Iraq in the men’s 100- and 200-metre butterfly.

· Four local soccer players were among the 16 selected in the Canadian Premier League’s U Sports draft. Jason Hartill was the top pick of the trio, going sixth overall to his hometown club, and Atlético Ottawa again bought local with Carleton University’s Adam N’Goran in the second round. Mehdi Essoussi was chosen 10th by Vancouver FC and Maxime Filion went 15th to Forge FC.

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