Ross Cup 2016 Recap
On February 25th to February 27th, The Saints Varsity hockey team travelled to Vancouver Island to compete in the well anticipated hockey tournament known as the Ross Cup. It was the last set of games of the season, and coach Mr. Fredeman had high hopes going into the tournament. The team was seeking revenge for their nail-biting 1-0 shootout loss against Prince of Wales last year.
Saints Varsity started off the tournament against Shawnigan Prep, one of the most prestigious boarding schools in the nation. Coming out strong, Saints had most of the possession in the first period, starting with a 1-0 lead. Although starting off strong, forwards were not helping out on the back check and were unable to support a vulnerable Saints defence that surrendered 3 goals in the second half of the game. Shawnigan’s defence held down the fort extremely well and defended to a 3-2 win.
Coach Mr. Fredeman was not happy with the opening loss. The team would play two more round-robin games before playoff seeding. The two final opponents of the round robin were Francis Kelsey and Kitsilano. Seeking revenge over an embarrassing lost in the first game, Saints came out with an impressive win over local team Frances Kelsey in a 3-1 win. Saints then faced off against long-time rival Kitsilano. Kitsilano started with a commanding 3-0 lead that held up all the way up until the last 4 minutes. Desperate but resilient, Saints fought hard and came back with 3 consecutive minutes in a span of two minutes. Grade 12 player James Houston had one last chance to complete the comeback with a breakaway with two minutes left but just missed the net. Even though the game was finished as a tie, Coach Mr. Fredeman was immensely proud in the way the team never gave up at the end.
Saints finished the round robin finishing 2nd in the standings and matched up against host team Brentwood. Saints had come into the game with a 4-0 record against Brentwood throughout the season, including an astounding 5-0 win in the semi-final of Saints’ tournament; the Pacific Challenge Cup. Saints started the game with a 1-0 score after the first half of the game. Like against Shawnigan, Saints could not hold the lead. Saints was down 2-3 with a couple minutes left but could not convert on golden opportunities. Brentwood scored two more insurance goals and capped off an unfortunate 5-2 loss for Saints.
Brentwood finished off a miraculous run with a with over Kitsilano in the final and won their first Ross Cup Champoinship. For Saints, Ross Cup finished off a roller coaster of a hockey season. Many of the boys were disappointed with the loss, but Mr. Fredeman advised the team to be proud of what the team had accomplished during the course of the year. A round of applause was given to all the staff who helped during the tournament as well as the year, including Mr. Fredeman, Mr. Wyatt, Coach Evan, and finally Mr. Figueroa.
“Obviously, it wasn’t the we wanted to finish the season and it would have been nice to win the trophy, but there were a lot of good things from the tournament. We really came together as a group, especially when we made the comeback against Kitsilano. I thought that was pretty impressive.”- Jamie Ambrose
