Holy Cross lacrosse team misses trip to provincials

With exactly half of the 26-man roster hailing from Niagara-on-the-Lake, the Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School Raiders boys lacrosse team could easily be considered the town’s unofficial high school team. 

Led by NOTL residents such as Kaleb and Liam Dietsch, Noah Ostromecki, Lucas Williams, Dylan Price, Cohen Alexander and Jack Marotta, the Raiders captured the Niagara Catholic Athletic Association AA championship with a decisive 12-3 win over Saint Francis on May 16. That punched their ticket to the Southern Ontario Secondary School Association final four last Thursday. 

The win against their north St. Catharines rivals capped an undefeated Niagara Catholic season for Holy Cross. It’s an achievement for which head coach Corey Quinn gave the NOTL contingent lots of credit. 

“The NOTL kids are a nice mix of offence and defence,” Quinn told The Local. “We have leaders, we have bench players. Some are Grade 12 kids who have been playing junior and intermediate lacrosse (outside of school). They provide structure for our younger kids. Remember, we lost two years to COVID. Because of that, the younger guys like Williams and Price have been playing significant minutes this year, and contributing greatly.”

Last spring, the Raiders kept things close with the Governor Simcoe Redcoats, holding them to a 3-3 tie before the Redcoats, the eventual provincial secondary school silver medalists, ran away with the Southern Ontario title in the fourth.

“We were looking like we could have won it last year,” says Jake Cook, who debuted with the Raiders that year, having never played the game before. “But penalties got to us. We couldn’t keep our mouths shut and we ended up losing.”

The Grade 10 student was encouraged to try out in 2022 by his NOTL friends and classmates. 

“I learned a lot, even though I rode the bench last year,” said the defender, who went to St. Michael Catholic Elementary School. “I’ve had a lot more field time this year. It’s great to play with all these guys I’ve known and grown up with.”

Though the Raiders don’t play Governor Simcoe in the NCAA, this season they drew the Redcoats in a sixes tournament (a hybrid of field and box lacrosse played outdoors on a smaller field) and defeated them. That gave Cook and the others hope that they could knock off the hosts last week. 

They made quick work out of the E.L. Crossley Cyclone in the morning’s semi-final game. The dominant Holy Cross offensive attack enabled them to jump out to a 5-0 lead in the first period with goals from Price, Marotta, Williams, Kaleb Dietsch and Ostromecki. 

Williams, who played in the 2022 Under-17 field lacrosse nationals for Team Ontario, opened the second period with a shot that beat the Bulldogs goalie on the left side of the net. After giving up a goal to the Cyclone, Holy Cross went on another run. Goals by Liam Dietsh, Kaleb Dietsch and Ostromecki gave the Raiders a 9-1 margin at half time. 

Joey Young, the only Raider not from NOTL to score in the game, made it 10-1 early in the third. Forty seconds later Ostromecki fought off three defenders to pop his third goal into the Crossley net, and Williams completed his hat trick with five minutes left in the period.

With a 12-1 cushion to begin the fourth period, Quinn rested his starters. The Cyclone capitalized on a less-experienced lineup by scoring three times in three minutes, before the Raiders tightened up on defense to shut them down. Price scored his second of the game with just under five minutes left to give Holy Cross a 13-4 victory and a chance to avenge last year’s SOSSA final loss against the Redcoats, who beat Sir Winston Churchill 13-5 in the other semi-final. 

In front of a crowd of almost 200 Simcoe students and staff, Ostromecki got the Raiders on the scoreboard first just 55 seconds into the game. Simcoe responded with two goals of their own to go up 2-1, then Kaleb Dietsch tied it up when he ran from behind the Redcoats net with the ball, circled around the front and unleashed a low shot that fooled goalie Oliver Vanyo. With just a minute left, Kaleb put the Raiders back on top 3-2, beating Vanyo on the right side. But the Redcoats tied it up with just 20 seconds remaining in the period. 

Governor Simcoe shut down the Holy Cross offence in the second period, holding them scoreless for the full 12 minutes. The Raiders showed their frustration, taking unnecessary penalties and being forced into costly turnovers which led to the Redcoats taking a 6-3 lead into the half. 

Liam Dietsch closed the gap 2:30 into the third period, but Simcoe netted three more to go up 9-4 by the end of the third. They added a 10th goal before conceding markers by Price and Young late in the game. But time ran out on the Raiders, their provincials dream dashed with the 10-4 loss. 

Addressing the team after the loss, Quinn admitted the outcome wasn’t what he had hoped for, but thanked his players for a phenomenal season, and for putting a scare into the highly-ranked Redcoats for the second straight year. 

“The second half got away from us,” Quinn told The Local. “I would say we outplayed them in the first quarter, but we took too many penalties that cost us in the second quarter. We found ourselves on the defensive end way too much, and when we got on offense we rushed it. Simcoe is a very good team, with a deep bench, and they were a lot more composed than us.”

Quinn expressed disappointment that he wouldn’t be able bring the team, with six Grade 12 students who potentially will not be returning next spring, to the Ontario championships. 

“And they had a shortened high school career,” he said of his seniors. “Both of those years ended on Simcoe’s field, too. We do have some really great players coming back next year, though. Half of our defence was Grade 10s, so we have a lot to build on for next year.”

Though 16-year-old Kaleb Dietsch could be back next year, he may be attending school in Ottawa, if he makes the roster of the Ontario Hockey League’s 67’s, who drafted him in the third round in April. 

“We left it all out there today,” he said following the game. “It’s disappointing. We worked really hard the last three months. I’m definitely going to miss these times, and I’ll miss playing with my brother. Lots of great memories, lots of good times with everyone.”