Bigside soccer makes CAIS tournament quarter-finals

Trinity College School’s Bigside boys soccer team travelled to Stanstead College, in Stanstead, Quebec, to compete in the annual CAIS Soccer Tournament from October 13th-16th. The tournament, hosted by a different member school each year, welcomes teams from across the country to compete in the four-day event.

TCS players hopped on a bus on Thursday, October 13th and made the long drive to the Eastern Townships. After a night at a Sherbrooke hotel, the team arrived at Stanstead College and prepared for its first game against St. John’s-Kilmarnock (Waterloo, Ontario). The Bears made short work of SJK, with a decisive 4-1 victory. That afternoon, the team squared off against St. Andrew’s College (Aurora, Ontario) and, despite playing a spirited and physical match, dropped the game 2-0 to the eventual tournament champions. 

The following day the Bigside boys played two more significant matches. The first, against host school Stanstead College, was another difficult battle between two very comparable teams. Though Stanstead scored first, the TCS boys battled back and were eventual victors on the strength of goals by Daniel Morra and captain Henry Cranfield. The Stanstead victory qualified TCS for the tournament quarter-finals.

The same afternoon, the TCS boys settled into a long, cold and wet match against Ashbury College (Ottawa, Ontario) in the quarter-finals. David Sonaiya scored early for TCS to put the Bears ahead. Through the rain, the teams battled back and forth and Ashbury was eventually able to tie the score. In extra time, Ashbury scored a golden goal, ultimately eliminating TCS from contention. Extra kudos to Jonas Koch, the team’s defensive pillar, who left the game after being kicked in the face and later returned to finish the game, having been stitched up in the school infirmary.

The boys played exceptionally well, represented the School with class, and left everything they had on the field. They returned to TCS on Sunday night weary, but very happy with their efforts at the tournament. 

- By David Ingram and Blair Keiser, coaches