It is one of the oldest rivalries in Canadian high school sports. An athletic competition that dates back to the turn of the century.
Thursday at Richardson Stadium in Kingston, the Regiopolis Notre Dame Panthers took to the field to play the Kingston Collegiate Blues for bragging rights in senior boys soccer.
The Panthers prevailed in a hard fought contest 1-0 on a goal by Nick Elliot to capture the Kingston-area Secondary School Athletics Association championship.
“I barely looked at the net. I just knew where the corner was and kicked it in,” said Elliot, a grade 12 student at Regiopolis.
Elliot may have been the hero of the game, but he deflected the praise and called it a huge team victory.
“We have so much depth, and that’s what separates us from everybody else in the league. Winning a KASSAA title was a team victory and that showed today with solid defence and goaltending.”
The Panthers last line of defence is goalkeeper Ryan Ralph, and he was called upon to make a number of key saves.
“We settled in after scoring that first goal,” said Ralph, a four-year soccer veteran at the school.
“Everyone had a lot of fun in today’s win. We knew what we came here to do and we managed to do it.”
Regiopolis will now represent the Eastern Ontario region at the provincial high school championships, June 7-9 in Thunder Bay.