Holy Trinity Catholic High School hosted a Senior Girls Soccer Tournament at the Bradford Sports Dome this week – an “early bird” tourney that saw teams from five area high schools compete for the championship, before the start of the regular season.
In addition to Holy Trinity’s senior girls, there were teams from St. Jean de Brebeuf Catholic Secondary School in Vaughan, St. Joan of Arc C.H.S. in Barrie, Jean Vanier Catholic High School out of Collingwood, and St. Maximilian Kolbe Catholic High School in Aurora.
It was a long day of soccer action that started shortly after 8 a.m on April 10. Each school played the others in round-robin action, which meant that each played four shortened games to determine the standings and who would advance to the final.
In the end, Holy Trinity, with a perfect 4-0 record, faced St. Maximilian, which was 3 and 1 – having lost only to the Holy Trinity Tigers 2-1 in round robin play.
“It’s going to be a good final,” said Holy Trinity coach and tourney organizer Denny De Oliveira, noting it would be the culmination of a long day of end-to-end action, corner kicks, blocks and the occasional yellow card, as players tuned up their skills for the season ahead.
“As long as they have fun!” he added.
The final was a hard-fought battle between two closely-matched and highly competitive teams that saw some incredible saves by the Holy Trinity goalie and defenders, to give the Holy Trinity Tigers a nail-biting 1-0 win.
The high-school tournament was not the only one being held at the Bradford facility in April. There have been two rugby tourneys, and the Junior Girls Early Bird Soccer Tournament will take place under the inflatable dome next Wednesday.
Outdoor sports fields are still half-frozen, or soggy expanses of mud and dead grass. Without the sports dome, said De Oliveira, “none of these tournaments would happen.”
He called the Bradford Sports Dome “awesome... a good community partner.”
