Westgate captured their first senior soccer title since 2019 on Saturday with a 44-14 win over the St. Patrick Preventing Saints.
THUNDER BAY – The Westgate Tigers senior soccer group accomplished their goal for the 2024 Superior Secondary Faculties Athletic Affiliation season on Saturday afternoon at Fort William Stadium.
After shedding final 12 months’s last by a rating of 14-7 to the Hammarskjold Vikings, the Tigers had been capable of elevate the league championship trophy with a dominant 44-14 efficiency over the St. Patrick Preventing Saints.
That accomplished an ideal 8-0 marketing campaign for the Tigers and gave them their first metropolis crown since 2019.
“We had a core group here that were on the wrong end of things in the final last year that wanted to get back to this moment and hold that trophy,” Tigers head coach Mike McNally stated.
“We’ve been pushing towards this for the last couple of seasons,” Tigers quarterback Mitch Papineau added. “We got better in every practice and we all gelled together. We’re just one big group here.”
The Tigers offence received rolling early on Saturday as they scored touchdowns on their opening three drives.
Grade 12 Z-back Tyler Rose led the best way with three touchdowns on the bottom. He scampered into the endzone from a yard out within the second quarter and adopted that up with 18- and 25-yard scores within the last body.
“I give all the credit to the offensive line,” Rose stated. “They’ve been amazing all year.”
Papineau threw two touchdowns within the first half. He linked with Matt Smelow on a short-yardage cross within the opening quarter and connected with Cole McVety on a 33-yard strike earlier than halftime.
Lance Basalyga opened up the scoring with a three-yard landing run after 64 seconds of play. The Tigers additionally received two factors on a conceded security within the second quarter.
The Saints had been led on offence by quarterback Boston Bortolin. He linked with Thomas Hardie on a 90-yard landing late within the first quarter after which discovered Nicolas Lento on a 30-yard scoring play within the third quarter.
“The guys played their hearts out today,” Saints head coach Mike Marcon stated.
“This group has gotten so significantly better because the 12 months has gone on. Our Grade 12’s hadn’t received a senior sport till this season so to get thus far was an enormous success.
“We’re ahead of schedule here as we have the players from our championship-winning junior team coming in to join us next year.”
The Tigers are actually gearing up for the Northern Bowl, which will likely be held at midday on Tuesday, Nov. 26 in Windsor.
Westgate’s opponent for that sport will likely be from the Japanese Ontario Secondary College Athletic Affiliation, which options faculties from Kingston and the encompassing space. Their playoffs wrap up subsequent weekend.
“We’ve never played another team besides the ones from here, so we’re super excited about that opportunity,” Rose stated.
“We’re lucky to have members of our coaching staff who have gone down to those bowl games so we have an idea of how to plan for travelling down there and booking practices,” McNally added.
“The number one thing though is having game tape on our opponents and we’re going to be searching for that right away.”
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