Neil McNeil hockey team unable to advance past the first round at OFSAA championships
By JACK SKINNER
After finishing third in their four-team pool, the Neil McNeil Catholic High School Maroons Senior boys’ hockey team will not be advancing to the second round of this week’s Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFFSA) AAA championships.
Other teams in the Maroons division at the tournament taking place in Durham Region were Uxbridge, St. Michaels (Niagara), and St. Peter’s (Barrie). Those teams all played each other in the first-round to see which teams would earn one of the top two spots and move on to the medal round.
The Maroons finished the three-game round-robin with a win, a tie and a loss. The two teams advancing to the medal round from the division were St. Peter’s and Uxbridge.
Neil McNeil started the tournament with a 1-1 tie in their first game against St. Michaels on the morning of Tuesday, March 19. That was followed by a game against St. Peter’s the same afternoon which resulted in a 4-1 loss for the Maroons.
Going into the second day of the tournament Wednesday, March 20, Neil McNeil needed to win against Uxbridge and a loss for St. Peter’s to advance the Maroons into the quarterfinals.
The Maroons did their part this morning by beating Uxbridge 7-2. However, St. Peter’s faced off against winless St. Michaels which resulted in a 5-2 win for St. Peter’s — pushing them and Uxbridge into the quarterfinals and ending Neil McNeil’s hockey season.
In the first game against St. Michaels, the lone Neil McNeil goal was scored by Finn Donnelly.
In the following game against St. Peter’s Matthew Dymond scored the only for the Maroons in the 4-1 loss.
In the last game against Uxbridge, Neil McNeil saw Finn Donnelly, Hunter Peyton and Riley Misa all score two goals each while Noah Mcpherson notched one.
Neil McNeil qualified for OFSAA by winning the TDCAA (Toronto District Colleges Athletic Association) city championship with a 3-0 victory over Bishop Allen Academy earlier this month.
