Saturday, August 12, 2006
Woodbridge wins dramatic soccer final at Ontario Games

OTTAWA- Fourteen-year-old Toba Bolaji of the Woodbridge Strikers soccer team experienced a day he’ll never forget at the 19th Ontario Summer Games which concluded on Saturday.

Bolaji made a remarkable save early in the second half then played forward in overtime and scored the winning goal as Woodbridge defeated the North Mississauga Panthers 1-0 in the boys soccer final. They are two of the top teams in the Ontario Youth Soccer League.

‘’Toba is our back-up goalie and usually plays forward,’’ said Strikers’ coach Tony LaRegina. ‘’But today I just had a feeling he should goal for us. But once the overtime came I knew I had to put him up front. He’s a very strong player and one of the few players that can penetrate Mississauga’s tough defence.’’

Bolaji was all smiles as he celebrated the victory with his teammates.

‘’On the goal I didn’t know what was going on, but one of our players made a great play and made it easy for me to kick it in. On the save I thought for sure it was going in but I dove and it just hit the tip of my fingers.’’

In the women’s soccer final, London Supernova 91 defeated the Oakville Phantoms 2-1.

In basketball, the Tri-County girls team with players primarily from Brantford and Waterloo crushed the Ottawa Capitals 57-27 in the women’s final at Carleton University.

Janssen Jaime of Fergus led Tri-County with nine points. Tri-City led 35-13 at the half. In the men’s under-14 final which pitted two Toronto area teams, the Central-East Region defeated the Kawartha Region 76-47. Champions were crowned in six other team sports in a busy final day at the Games.

The Games attracted 2,500 athletes competing in 20 sports.

Information and full results: http://www.2006ontariosummergames.ca

Media inquiries:
Tracie Taylor-Labonté
Director - Marketing & Communications
2006 Ontario Summer Games
Tel: (613) 715-2305
labonte_t@sympatico.ca