Holy Names senior girls’ soccer accomplishes rare feat

The final whistle blew and the crowd erupted at St. Clair College’s Acumen Stadium as Holy Names earned the OFSAA championship for a second straight year, beating a talented St. Thomas Aquinas team 2-0.

“It feels good that we were able to represent Windsor,” said Anna Pozzi, who scored both goals for the home team.

For some, the idea of being back-to-back champs is still sinking in two days later.

“It's like really mind blowing to…think that we actually did it and we went back to back and we surprised so many people,” said Pozzi.

Stacey Ditchfield wore two hats during the tournament, co-coach and convener of the tournament.

“I soaked it in this morning when I walked in and every teacher, every EA, all of the students, whether it was a thumbs up, a clap. Now it's like, well, we won again,” Ditchfield said.

The Knights were loaded with grade 12 players when they won last year. Nine starters graduated, leaving a big hole coming into this season.

“I feel like a lot of people thought maybe we couldn't do it again this year, but just proved them wrong and it just feels even better,” said graduating player Mya Mascaro.

As hosts of the provincial championships, Holy Names was guaranteed a berth at OFSAA, but earned their way into the tournament winning the city and regional titles.

“We had to work harder,” Pozzi said. “We had to fight harder and we did it and it feels good that it worked out. But it wasn't easy.”

The 15 year old led the way offensively with five goals in the final three games of the tournament.

There is a lot of excitement for girls soccer at the school and that will likely amplify after this.

“In February, we had 50 girls that came out. There’s excitement now for girls soccer,” said co-coach Marc Leonardi.

Many teams have repeated as the champs throughout the years, but Holy Names now has the distinction of being the only Essex-County soccer team to go back-to-back on the girls side and on the guy side.

It's a soccer feat and season the girls will never forget.

“We made sure that the girls stuck together and we did as much as we could as a team,” Ditchfield said. “Whether it was in the classroom or whether on a rainy day we were in the gym or we did a spin workout, we were always doing something as a team and no one was left.