By Larry Moko
St. John Henry Newman coach Christine Simard sensed something about her field hockey team when it played a tournament game earlier this season against the Oakville Trafalgar Red Devils.
"It was there I knew this team had it (ability)," Simard said in reference to the Cardinals. "We only lost 1-0 to them. Their coach came over and shook our hand saying, 'really good game."
Red Devils are the defending OFSAA champions.
Over the course of the 2024 Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic league season, third-place Newman won seven of its nine starts including a 2-0 championship game decision over the visiting Bishop Tonnos Titans on Wednesday.
Goals went to Lily Farago, in the first half, and to Mairead McConville, with 10 minutes remaining.
It was the Stoney Creek school's first title in the sport since 2018.
"Our team has grit," said Simard, who coached Newman to back-to-back Hamilton high school championships in 2017 and 2018. "We have a lot of fresh players that really picked up the game quickly. They're skilled athletes in other sports like hockey and soccer.
"There's a lot of team spirit. They work really hard together and discuss plays. They are very advanced in their positioning and understanding of the game."
Grade 11 hockey star Farago went on a brilliant solo run for the opening goal and a clever crossing pass from Grade 9 forward Nadja Alihodzic to McConville completed the scoring.
Both Newman and Tonnos scored upset semifinal victories. Fourth-place Tonnos nipped the previously unbeaten St. Mary Crusaders, 1-0, while the Cardinals got past the second-place St. Thomas More Knights, 3-2 (PS).
"It wasn't our day today," Tonnos coach Christina Barbati said. "That's OK. Newman earned it. They played harder than we did."
The Titans were 5-3 entering the gold-medal contest.
"We're happy to be here," the Tonnos coach added. " Our regular season was mediocre. It was quite a surprise that we were the No. 4 seed and we beat the No. 1 seed, St. Mary."
Barbati said she's disappointed with the fact that many of her players are in Grade 12 and will be leaving.
Tonnos' captain and MVP this season was Barbati's daughter, Kiki.
Other Newman players included Brooklyn Wintemute, Nikki Staley, Chloe Achim, Ashtyn Adamo, Marley Batista, Vivian De Faveri, Skye Farago, Avery Goemans, Lauren Guidolin, Julia Kavanaugh, Jessica Krakar, Abby Lancia, Rosa Pietrantuon, Teagan Preyma, Ava Rodrigues, Avery Sakaluk and captain McKayla Sayers.
Newman's GHAC semifinal is Tuesday in Oakville against the winner between undefeated Trafalgar and the Blakelock Tigers.
"I know our girls will put up a good fight," Simard said. "If we win that game we're going to OFSAA, so that's a big incentive for us.
"Our board hasn't been to OFSAA for field hockey since the 90s. It's been that long."
This year's OFSAA field hockey tournament will be Nov.7-9 at Ridley College in St. Catharines.
Photos by R.F. (Bob) Butrym, RFB Sport Photography
More photos on the HWCDSB Athletics Facebook page here
