The Flames have lived up to their name, lighting up the competition as they roared to their third-straight provincial field lacrosse championship in Peterborough.
The girls from Patrick Fogarty Catholic Secondary School in Orillia executed the three-peat Friday, when they defeated Brooklin High School in a nail-biter of a Trillium Cup final.
“It’s almost unprecedented in the history of girls lacrosse. One other team has won it three times in a row,” said Curtis Columbus, who coaches the team with Pat Morris. “Our girls were able to pull it off.”
Sinclair Secondary School in Whitby is the only other team to capture the cup three years in a row. In fact, it won four consecutive Trillium Cups — a feat the Flames will be fighting to achieve next year.
Tournament play got underway Thursday, when the Flames sent the host city’s Adam Scott Collegiate and Vocational Institute team packing after an 18-5 victory.
They followed that up with a 13-7 hammering of Sinclair, sending the Flames to the quarter-finals.
In that game, Fogarty defeated Welland’s Notre Dame College School 14-2.
The Orillia team found the competition to be tougher in the semifinals, but one of the Flames’ key players delivered a stellar performance.
In the match against Maxwell Heights Secondary School of Oshawa, the Flames’ Hannah Morris won every draw, helping her squad to an 8-6 win.
“She really stepped up for us,” Columbus said.
The championship game against Brooklin was even closer.
Down 6-3 at the half, Pat Morris fanned the Flames.
“He was telling the girls, ‘You’re really good lacrosse players. Just go play some lacrosse.’ It was that simple,” Columbus said.
The girls took it to heart and rallied to tie the game 8-8.
Knotted up with two-and-a-half minutes remaining, Pat Morris pulled out his crystal ball, anticipating what it would take for the Flames to win. Kassidy Morris received a pass from Jerica Obee and broke through three opponents to take the lead for the first time in the game, and that was enough for the win.
“That last play is something Pat drew up on the spot,” Columbus said. “He had an idea of what was going to happen.”
It was a “total team effort” in the final game, he said, noting Hannah Morris, usually a “quiet leader” on the team, became more vocal, while Obee netted five of the Flames’ nine goals.
The Flames went into the tournament as the No. 1 seed. They now sport a 49-2 record, having won 42 games in a row.
