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Beavers to OFSAA soccer final
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Nolte scores late and Brown makes big stop as Beavers win quarterfinal
June 7, 2024
By Rob J. Ross
ST. THOMAS - The Dorchester Beavers are playing for an OFSAA AA girls soccer medal.
Bella Nolte scored late in the second half, lifting the Beavers pass the defending champion Blakelock Tigers from Oakville, 3-2, in as OFSAA AA girls soccer quarterfinal Friday evening at Athletic Park.
Beavers keeper Makenna Brown made a superb save in the final minute preserving the one goal lead.
Dorchester faces Hamilton St. Mary Crusaders in the semifinals, at 9 a.m. Saturday, while Bradford Holy Trinity Tigers (2022 champ) take on MacDonell. Both games at Athletic Park.
The winners play for the high school provincial championship at 3 p.m., while the bronze medal match is at 1 p.m. Both medal games at Password Park.
For the second year in a row, the St. Joseph's Rams' season ended in the quarterfinals.
Guelph Bishop Macdonell Celtics scored with five minutes remaining in the second half and added a buzzer beater, to defeat the host Rams, 4-2.
Brooklyn Roskamp and Kylie Todd scored for St. Joe's.
Dorchester faces Hamilton St. Mary Crusaders in the semifinals, at 9 a.m. Saturday, while Bradford Holy Trinity Tigers (2022 champ) take on MacDonell. Both games at Athletic Park.
The winners play for gold at 3 p.m., while the bronze medal match is at 1 p.m. Both medal games at Password Park.
Julia Ritchie scored twice against Blakelock, opening the scoring for Dorchester, before giving the Beavs a 2-1 lead, off a corner kick by Bella Nolte.
"Definitely most intense, but all of the girls rose to the challenge," Ritchie said. "(Scoring first) sets the tone for the game. It gets the girls hyped up and ready to play. It sends a message to the other team we're here to be serious."
Nolte scored the winner on a break with less than five minutes remaining in regulation time.
"That was a really great game against a really great team, so back and forth the whole time. It feels good to prove we are one of the top teams, single A, double AA, doesn't matter," Nolte said. "I was thinking, I need to score, and I shot it with my left which is my bad leg right now. I've been kind of avoiding my using my left leg, because I don't want to hurt it, but it (the shot) was there. I was like, I need to hit this."
Ritchie and Nolte are the Beavers' goal leaders and the two players many times, set up each other for shots.
"Our dynamic together, us finding each other every game has been amazing for this team," Ritchie said. "My go to is Bella and as soon as I know she's got a good sport in the box, I place it to her and I have full confidence she's going to score every time."
Dorchester advanced to their fifth consecutive OFSAA quarterfinal appearance earlier in the day, finishing pool play at 3-1.
"We have a group of girls that come together and play for each other every time," said Ritchie. "We're coached by an amazing coach (Andreas Nolte), who finds a way to make every player, no matter where they came from, no matter what position they've played, be able to show how well we play together on the pitch."
Ritchie, Megan McLachlin and Faith Synders scored a 3-0 blanking of Barrie Joan of Arc.
Friday morning, Sault Ste Marie St. Mary's College blanked Dorchester, 1-0.
The Beavers, OFSAA 1A champs in 2022 and 2023, advanced to the 1A quarterfinals in 2018 and 2019, before COVID cancelled the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
St. Joe's finished pool play at 3-1.
Avery Dowson with two goals, and an own goal, credited to Abi Faris, gave the Rams a 3-2 win over Tecumseh Vista, in their fourth pool game.
Whitby Anderson CVI blanked the Rams 1-0.
In other quarterfinals, Sabrina Lascano and Vanessa Miranda with the game winner, scored as Holy Trinity edged last year's silver medalist, St. Mary College, 2-1.
Four players remain from Holy Trinity's 2022 OFSAA champion team.
Caitlyn Gratton scored twice in overtime and keeper Kassandra Aidonis the shutout, as the St. Mary Crusaders blanked Whitby Anderson, 2-0.
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