WATERLOO REGION (May 26, 2016) – St. Mary’s are the new district 8 boys soccer champions after defeating St. Benedict’s by a score of 2 – 1 in a thrilling final.

Although these two teams were seen as underdogs entering the playoffs after finishing third and fourth in the District 8 division respectively, they caught fire at the right time in the playoffs and were able to unseat the top two teams (Resurrection and St. David’s) and make their way to the championship game.

St. Mary’s got outstanding performances by Michael Halapir and John Lwis who each scored one goal to help their team to the championship victory.

St. Benedict’s played a strong game as well, with their lone goal being scored by Umberto Piraino-Craden.

In the girls’ league, Resurrection defeated St. Mary’s by a score of 1 – 0 to claim the championship and finish a fantastic season of soccer.

St. Mary’s and Resurrection finished at the top of the standings during the regular season, with St. Mary’s having a slight lead in the first place. You could say that the championship was a battle of the giants so to speak. It certainly played out that way as it was a very close and competitive match with not many offense of chances and some tight defense.

In the end it was the Phoenix who overcame their archrival with a late goal from Emily Buttinger to be crowned champions.

The first ever District 8 boys rugby final was played out the same night across town with the St. Mary’s Eagles completing their perfect season by winning over the Resurrection Phoenix by a score of 41 – 5

The Eagles played strong all season, barely showing any signs of weakness throughout. The same can be said in the championship game as with the great team effort St. Mary’s was able to cap off the remarkable season with the championship.

Craig Ryan led his team to the victory with an impressive 11 point performance. The other scorers that helped bring home the championship were Brennan Haddad, Jack Burdey, Noah Ross, Nathan McLean, Pride Nkomo and Jake LeBlanc all of whom had five points in the victory.

The Phoenix played hard, but were unable to surpass the heavily favored St. Mary’s. Juan Alamada scored the lone try for Resurrection in the loss.

Story by Keenan O’Donoghue