Second Titans Title for Jr. Soccer
By Larry Moko
The experience of losing can be a powerful motivator.
Such was the case for the Bishop Tonnos Titans junior boys' high school soccer team.
Last season the Titans dropped a heart-breaking decision to the St. Jean de Brébeuf Braves in the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic championship game. But Wednesday, Tonnos got to the title match again and capped an undefeated season by downing the visiting Bishop Ryan Celtics, 1-0.
The game was scoreless after 80 minutes of regulation time plus two 10-minute overtime periods. The Titans then prevailed, 4-3, in the penalty shootout.
It was Tonnos' first junior league championship since 2022.
"The boys knew this was an incredible opportunity for them," Tonnos coach Angelo Beatrice said. "They took advantage of it.
"We have a lot of experienced Grade 10 players on the team who wanted redemption. They felt they needed it after losing the final last year to Brébeuf. There was that emptiness, right? The players had a goal and they were together as a team."
Titans goaltender Noah Campli-Furness was key to the victory. The Celtics had a slight territorial edge in play throughout and put more dangerous shots on net.
During the penalty shootout, he stopped two of BR's five attempts.
"Noah is a leader and one of our captains (along with Aidan Angemi and Renton Leighton)," the Tonnos coach said. "When his moment came I believed he would step up. He did exactly that. We had a conversation before PKs and I said 'this is your time."
With the Titans ahead 4-3, Campli-Furness made an acrobatic block of a high shot to his left to end the contest.
Said Beatrice: "Making saves in a penalty shootout is the biggest high-pressure situation you can face as a "keeper. I felt like he dealt with it so comfortably. He was calm, cool and collected. He made great saves to keep us in the game today."
Campli-Furness was a 'keeper in the 2024 final, too.
"It was hard on everyone when we lost last year," Campli-Furness said. "We couldn't let it happen again.
"I just needed to be confident and make everyone else confident."
Tonnos shootout goals went to Yazan Alghizzarri, Leighton, Xavier Cacciacarro and Daniel Iantomasi.
Omar Agha, Nolan Pond and Angelo Hanna connected for the Celtics.
"It was a tightly-contested game," Celtics coach Sandra Vieira said. "The teams were evenly matched."
First-place Tonnos was 6-0 in the regular-season standings before downing the St. Thomas More Knights, 3-0, in a semifinal.
The second-place Celtics were 4-2. They then got past the Cathedral Gaels, 6-2, and the St. John Henry Newman Cardinals, 4-0, in preliminary playoff rounds.
Tonnos edged BR, 2-1, in their meeting during the regular schedule.
Vieira coached Bishop Ryan to its most recent championship two years ago. Many of those players, now, have graduated to the Celtics senior squad which qualified for the 2025 provincial AAA high school tournament in Kingston.
"It's great to see those boys at OFSAA," Vieira said.
According to Vieira, the current BR juniors get consistently positive comments about being "classy" on the field.
Beatrice and Edwin Suva coach both the Tonnos junior and senior teams.
"We're trying to build a culture here at BT," Beatrice said. "This is not the end. It's just the beginning for this group. We'll learn and grow together. We have very high expectations for them."
Other Tonnos players included Nate Castro, Cole Derkach, Luca Caruso, Francesco Montecchia, Noah Tapping, Daniel Alfieri, Ilyas Shaipi, Mykah Suva, Stefan Bratovanov, Alexander Akamphuber, Max Faggion, Gianluca Ciavarra, Giancarlo Falletta, Carmen Palazzo and Gianluca Bombardieri.
Photos by Richard Andoga
More photos on HWCDSB Athletics Facebook page
