The Holy Cross Crusaders have won the Kingston Area Secondary Schools Athletic Association boy’s hockey championship.
On Monday afternoon, almost 1,000 fans crammed into the Invista Centre to watch the Woodbine Road warriors beat their west-end rivals, the Frontenac Falcons 4-1.
Jack White led the Crusaders with two goals. Singles went to Peyton Clarke and Andrew Botting. The only Falcon to beat Holy Cross netminder Nolan Chin was Carter Sedgewick.
“It was a great game in a great environment,” said Crusaders defenceman Adam Nuttall.
The Grade 12 graduating student says it was it was high school hockey at its very best.
“Frontenac gave us all we could handle,” continued Nuttall.
“It’s really fun to play against them because we all know each other. The fans got both teams pumped up and I think we gave them a good show. That early goal by Peyton calmed everybody down and it allowed us to play our game.
“It was my last game at Holy Cross and it’s one I will always remember.”
If students paid a toonie to charity, they were allowed to leave school early to watch the game.
“What a crowd and what an atmosphere,” said Crusaders forward Boden White.
“I’ve never played in front of so many people. We had incredible support from the school and we gave them what they wanted, a KASSAA championship. This is a great team. It’s too bad we can’t play for an OFSSA title.
Because of COVID-19 concerns, the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations decided to cancel the provincial championship tournament.