The Patrick Fogarty Catholic Secondary School boys’ field lacrosse team captured their third straight Georgian Bay Secondary School Association (GBSSA) title earlier this week.
The Flames had to play in hostile territory to defend their back-to-back crowns and did just that as they earned a hard-fought 10-6 victory over host Huntsville Secondary School to net the title.
“The offence moved the ball really well and had excellent spacing,” said Flames coach Dave Pellarin. “We went to something early and it worked well, so we stayed with it until they figured out how to stop it.”
Mitchell Pellarin exploded for seven goals in what was a tour-de-force performance from the team’s offensive star.
“In terms of Mitchell's goal total today, he definitely presents match-up problems for teams,” said the coach. “But if you over-commit to one player in this group, the others will hurt you.”
In addition to Pellarin’s seven tallies, Liam McCrimmon, Ben Trumble and Noah Quarrington scored for the victors. Justin LeBlanc won some huge face-offs for Fogarty, allowing the visitors to initiate possession, which is very important in field lacrosse.
Fogarty netminder Tyler Gysbers had an excellent game in backstopping his team to the title.
“Gysbers gives us a whole other dimension because he is so mobile with the ball,” said Pellarin. “It gives teams fits that our goalie can break out the ball and run the field so well.”
But for a team to win a championship, the defensive corps must stand tall – something Fogarty accomplished.
“I am really proud of the way our defence played today. They have been working hard on their footwork and it really paid dividends,” said Pellarin, who noted Huntsville only scored one goal in their half-field offence despite having some quality forwards.
Pellarin credited the work of defence coach Genicko Galvan. “He has done some great work with the group,” said the coach, explaining the team’s long-pole players (defenders) stand, on average 6’4” tall. “Genicko has them moving extremely effectively. A tip of the cap (goes) to Max Crowder, Blake Griffiths, Matt Bunker and Logan Matthews.”
The team’s third straight GB title caps an impressive season that saw Fogarty compile an 8-2-1 record. That includes winning the All-Catholics Championships in Georgetown and a top-four finish at the Trent University Tournament.
The team is not done yet, however. The Flames hope to put an exclamation point on their season when they travel to Ottawa June 3-5 to compete in Ontario Federation of School Athletics Associations (OFSAA) provincial championship tournament.
“Our team goal from the outset was to qualify for OFSAA and get into the final group of five on the last day,” said the long-time coach. “From there anything can happen.”
