St. Joseph's Catholic High School's Varsity Boys celebrate their win at the Upper Ottawa Valley High School Athletic Association's "Frozen Four" tournament in Renfrew
A handful of Ottawa Valley schools took a page out of the NCAA playbook on Monday to earn the right to represent the area at Regionals.
Renfrew’s myFM Centre hosted what St. Joseph’s Catholic High School coach Stacy McGregor called a Varsity Boys and Girls “Frozen Four” mini-tournament, featuring teams from Arnprior High School, Fellowes High School, Bishop Smith Catholic High School, Mackenzie Community School, and Opeongo High School all fighting towards the same goal.
With regional and possibly provincial opponents awaiting the winners, McGregor says the Upper Ottawa Valley High School Athletic Association event is the payoff to the time and effort student athletes have put into the local high school league since it got underway in October.
His team held high expectations going into the morning, but McGregor says his coaching staff and the St. Joe’s athletics department have hammered home a mentality that he hoped would keep them steady on the ice.
In the Varsity Boys Final, the St. Joe’s Jaguars beat the Bishop Smith Bears, 3-0. Meanwhile, the Varsity Girls Jaguars fell to Bishop Smith in a 5-1 loss. Both teams will head to the Eastern Ontario Secondary School Athletic Association’s tournament next week in Kingston.
(written by Kasey Egan)
