Saints fall short in retaining home tournament title

February 3, 2016 · 0 Comments

By Jake Courtepatte

St. Andrew’s College’s pipes and drums band opened the 33rd annual Macpherson Tournament Friday night with a rendition of “When the Saints Go Marching In,” but the Saints marched out on Sunday with a silver medal in their home tournament.

It was a wild and raucous scene at Friday’s opening ceremonies, a standing-room-only crowd at La Brier Family Arena blaring horns and decked out in Saints red and white to watch the varsity hockey squad take on the Notre Dame Hounds of Wilcox, Saskatchewan. Before puck drop, an opening faceoff was held with the familiar faces of Aurora Mayor Geoff Dawe and Headmaster Kevin McHenry, as well as a pair familiar to a majority of the province’s population: former Maple Leafs Curtis Joseph and Wendel Clark.

Clark, the captain of Toronto’s NHL squad for four years, had allegiances on both sides: though he played for the Hounds in the 1980s, his son Kody is now a Grade 11 student on the Saints varsity team.

“Both teams here have similar values,” said Clark following the puck drop. “I know the Saints program is a fantastic one that just continues to grow, and the job they do putting on this tournament is phenomenal. It’s their tournament and I know the guys want nothing more than to win it on home ice.”

Having already downed Shawnigan Lake School 7 – 0 earlier in the day, the Saints handily defeated the Hounds in the late game, a 4 – 1 win to the delight of the home crowd. Notre Dame was held to just twelve shots.

They kept rolling on Saturday, beating Bishops College School by the same score while narrowly edging out Albany Academy of New York in a 2 – 1 game. Mitch Martan, fresh off his commitment to the NCAA DI’s Boston College for 2017, sent the Saints to the final with a late third period goal.

It just wasn’t meant to be this year, the Saints falling to the undefeated Northwood School 7 – 2 on Sunday. Northwood struck seven times before St. Andrew’s notched two late goals. The Saints beat Northwood in the final of last year’s tournament.

The Saints did take home some other hardware, with team captain Reid Yochim earning the Robin Fraser Plaque for leadership and sportsmanship, while Morgan Barron was the lone Saint on the tournament All-Star team with a seven-point effort.

“It wasn’t the result we were expecting or hoping for, but the guys played really well,” said Yochim. “We’re thankful for the support from everyone at the school throughout the tournament though, it’s been amazing.”

In the 33-year history of the tournament, the Saints have won gold nine times, silver eight, and bronze eight.