HIGH ACHIEVERS: Early-morning practices, all-around support fuels Merivale to historic OFSAA boys’ AAA field lacrosse silver medal

By Martin Cleary

It’s February and winter has its cold and snowy claws firmly in the city’s psyche.

But if you’re a member of the Merivale High School Marauders boys’ field lacrosse team, that was OK. The 22 student-athletes had a unique way of dealing with the second-half of winter as they had their eyes focused on field lacrosse success in May and June.

For three mornings a week, their alarm clocks sounded before 5 a.m. and they were good with that. Really, there were.

By 5:45 a.m., the players were at the school and preparing for the 6 a.m. practice in the Merivale gymnasium, which would be filled with light and youthful life surrounded by an outside community about to open its eyes.

Head coach Ian Garrison ran his meaningful practices for 90 minutes to help build a team that he saw had potential for great success this spring. Following practice, the players had 40 minutes before the start of their academic classes.

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“I’d love the city to know we practised three times a week at 6 a.m. We were dedicated and focused. We were totally committed,” Garrison said in a phone interview earlier this week.

“We built a strong culture around family. We had team lunches, watched videos, analyzed other teams. We had a moderate-sized roster, but we were always very competitive. But it was clearly our year to succeed. This was our time.”

Garrison, who has a full understanding of the sport from his 15 years experience as a professional referee in the National Lacrosse League, did realize the ultimate goal of his game plan coming to fruition through the student-athletes who were on the same wavelength.

The Marauders not only went undefeated in their dominating National Capital Secondary School Athletic Association OFSAA tier season with an 8-0 regular-season and playoff record (106 goals for, 17 goals against), but also they gave an historic performance at the OFSAA boys’ AAA field lacrosse festival in Whitby.

Merivale became the first NCSSAA school to win a medal at the provincial high school field lacrosse championships, which are generally dominated by Greater Toronto Area schools.

The Marauders brought a whole new level of respect to the Ottawa high school field lacrosse scene, when it won three straight games in commanding fashion and earned a silver medal in the championship game against two-time defending champion Brooklin.

“We obviously would have loved to hoist the trophy,” Garrison added, “but this (silver medal) is a gold medal for us.”

While Ottawa has played host to three boys’ AAA and two A/AA OFSAA field lacrosse festivals, the NCSSAA representatives haven’t been considered strong contenders nor received a lot of respect, since provincials started in 2007.

But Garrison and his dedicated and determined student-athletes gave Ottawa and Eastern Ontario a whole new look, especially after scoring an impressive 14-10 win over Orangeville in the semifinals to send an NCSSAA team to its first-ever OFSAA boys’ AAA field lacrosse tournament final.

“When you look at the sport, it’s GTA centric,” explained Garrison, who was hired last year by the Ontario Junior A Lacrosse League as its referee in chief and advisor to the commissioner’s office.

“Ottawa is an outlier. But we put Ottawa lacrosse on the map. We took that mentality to OFSAA. Orangeville has many players going to (American) prep schools. Orangeville is riddled with junior A, B and C players. We had one junior C player.

“We were heavily undermatched. But we built our team on family and a game plan. We’re not doormats. We want to grow.”

When Garrison returned to teaching at Merivale in 2020 after a seven-year hiatus, he reinstated the boys’ field lacrosse program with a goal of putting an Ottawa high school team in the OFSAA spotlight.

In the first year of the plan, Merivale won the NCSSAA Tier 2 championship. That success created a foundation and the excitement and momentum started building. Playing in the OFSAA Tier in 2025, Merivale posted a 4-2 record in the regular season, but lost to St. Francis Xavier in the semifinals.

Garrison, however, could see all the pieces of the puzzle snapping together for the Marauders this season and he believed it was their time to succeed against NCSSAA and OFSAA competition.

While the players, who have known each other through elementary and high school, were all-in on practices and team building, their parents were equally enthusiastic to contribute to the team success.

The community also “heavily subsidized” the team and played a significant role as a dozen sponsors helped Merivale follow its dream. School administrators showed their full support and the more than 1,400 high school and intermediate students closely followed the Marauders’ progress at critical times.

That overall support followed them to Whitby for the OFSAA festival and the Marauders’ play was over-the-top impressive in the first three games and for the start of the gold-medal match.

In its opening game, Merivale recorded a rare shutout in field lacrosse with a 13-0 decision over Nantyr Shores. Captain Bruce Allen, who is a candidate for an NCAA athletic scholarship, and Isaac McMillan scored four goals apiece, while Andy Francescut counted three goals.

The Marauders’ second preliminary game was equally impressive as they turned back Neil McNeil 18-3. The same three players led the offensive parade as Allen scored seven times, McMillan three times and Francescut twice.

In the semifinal, Orangeville led 3-2 after the first quarter, but Merivale won the second quarter and led 6-5 at halftime. The third quarter decided the match as Merivale scored six against Orangeville’s one for a 12-6 lead. While Orangeville won the fourth quarter 4-2, Merivale moved into the final as 14-10 semifinal winners.

It looked like the gold medal was within reach early in the final for Merivale as the game against Brooklin was deadlocked 3-3 in the second quarter.

But Brooklin, the two-time OFSAA boys’ AAA field lacrosse champion which has three players with Team Canada experience, took control the rest of the way. Brooklin scored 10 straight goals spanning the second, third and fourth quarters for an insurmountable 13-3 advantage.

While Merivale outscored Brooklin 2-1 in the fourth quarter, Brooklin earned its third consecutive title with a 13-5 victory.

“We ran out of gas. Brooklin has a phenomenal team. There’s no dissatisfaction. They have a well coached team. Our bench depth was not there,” Garrison explained.

Allen finished the provincial field lacrosse festival with 15 goals and three assists, while McMullin registered 12 goals and two assists and Francescut notched nine goals and two assists.

“I’m a teacher first and a coach second,” Garrison said. “But I couldn’t be more proud of this team. They exemplified what student-athletes should be.

“It was a tremendous ride. The team knows we will not do this again. This was an all-in group of family and friends. There is no disappointment.”