Former ECFC Captain Signs First Pro Contract With Islandic Soccer League

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Former Electric City Football Club (ECFC) captain Holly O’Neill is headed east as she signed her first professional soccer contract with Iceland’s Íþróttabandalag Vestmannaeyjar Football Club (IBV) of the Pepsi Max League announced on Tuesday.

O’Neill (left) was second in scoring for ECFC in their inaugrual year behind Kayla McQueen. PHOTO courtesy of Electric City Football Club.

The IBV women’s soccer team has won the Islandic Cup twice, in 2004 and 2017.

“Super excited to announce the signing of my first official professional football contract with IBV in the Pepsi Max League in Iceland Playing professionally had long been a dream of mine and I’m ecstatic to take this next step in my football career and see where it takes me,” said O’Neill in a tweet.

The 24-year-old attacker is from St. John’s, Newfoundland. As ECFC captain, she scored nine goals in 18 games, only second behind Kayla McQueen with 13.

In 2021, O’Neill led all scorers in the Atlantic University Sport (AUS) conference with 12 goals— including six game-winners, the most in Canadian Universities — in 12 regular-season contests. Her performances led to O’Neill being named an AUS First Team All-Star and the Conference’s Most Valuable Player.

At the National U Sports level, O’Neill’s great 2021 season at Memorial University saw her finish 3rd in the country in scoring, was selected as a First Team All Canadian and was nominated for U Sports Female Soccer Player of the Year.

O’Neill played her youth soccer for the St. John’s Soccer Club from 2006-2016 and also represented the Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial team from 2012-2016. She also played on Team Atlantic in 2013 and 2014.

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Peterborough Petes Fall to Kingston Frontenacs From Strong Goaltending, 2-1

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Peterborough’s offence couldn’t solve Kingston Frontenacs rookie goalie, Mason Vaccari twice with 45 shots as the Petes lost 2-1 at the Peterborough Memorial Centre (PMC) on Monday night.

Photo courtesy of Kenneth Andersen and the Peterborough Petes.

The game was a make-up game rescheduled from Dec. 17 due to the passing of London Knight’s player Abakar Kazbekov.

Peterborough peppered Kingston and Vacarri in the opening period with 19 shots but Kingston wound up on the board first as Christopher Thibodeau tipped a point shot past Petes goaltender Michael Simpson for a 1-0 lead into the second.

Vaccari continued right where he left off, stopping another nine shots, shutting out Peterborough for a second straight period. Gregory Soto scored the only goal of the period on the powerplay to put Kingston up 2-0 into the third.

Dallas Stars prospect Gavin White broke the shutout for Peterborough under four minutes into the third as he went end-to-end and scored from a sharp angle to cut the deficit in half (his first goal as a Pete). Peterborough tested Vacarri heavily in the third with 17 total shots but the latter stood tall and shut the door for a Frontenacs 2-1 win. The Kingston netminder received first-star honours for his 44-save performance.

The Petes’s next game is Thursday when they host the rival Oshawa Generals at the PMC.

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Local St. Peter's Secondary School Student Signs Commitment to Virginia Women's Hockey Program

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Lynchburg, Va. is the next stop for 18-year-old St. Peter’s Catholic Secondary School (SPCSS) student Ava Flint this September as she signed a commitment to Liberty University and their hockey program on Monday.

Ava Flint (middle) fresh off signing her commitment to Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. with her sisters Rhaea Flint (left) and Talia Flint (right) and her parents. She will be attending the university for the 2023-24 school year in September. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The signing was made at the SPCSS gymnasium in front of Flint’s family, friends and coaches.

“It's really overwhelming, it's been a long time coming,” explained Flint. “I've been playing hockey my whole life and this is what I always wanted to do, is go to university and play hockey.”

Flint has been playing hockey since she was three years old. She has played with the Central York Junior Panthers of the Ontario Women’s Hockey League for the past two seasons. She was a member of the Peterborough Novice Ice Kats up until Midget. In her final year (Midget) as an Ice Kat, she scored 13 goals and 17 assists in 59 games.

She plans to enroll in the University’s education program with being a physical education teacher as a possibility. She visited the campus in the fall and felt it was the best place to continue the educational and hockey phases of her life.

“I met with their team, all the players seem wonderful and I just think it'll be a great place to start my new pathway and I think it fits what's best for me,” explained Flint.

Flint is currently enrolled at SPCSS in Grade 12 on her victory lap.

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Photos: Christopher Fee Cup Kicks Off 63rd Liftlock U11 Hockey Tournament

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Kicking off the 63rd Liftlock U11 Hockey Tournament, the first game of the tournament saw the Central Ontario Wolves AAA take on the Peterborough Petes Major AAA 4-0 for the Christopher Fee Cup at the Peterborough Memorial Centre on Friday morning.

The cup is a feature opening game against a visiting team against the host Petes team since 1997. Callum ‘Coach Cal’ Perks performed the ceremonial puck drop and helped present the post-game awards to the two teams. The Wolves defeated the Petes in a 4-0 shutout to win the 2023 Christopher Fee Cup.

The tournament features 87 teams in 11 divisions playing throughout 10 arenas in Peterborough and the Kawarthas.

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CMHA Hosting Eight-Hour Relay For Mental Health and Supporting Housing Program On Jan. 22

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The Canadian Mental Health Association Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (CMHA HKPR) is hosting an eight-hour Ski Relay for mental health on Jan. 22 at the Kawartha Nordic Ski Club from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. announced on Friday.

Photo courtesy of Peterborough Kawartha Nordic Ski Club

The relay is in collaboration with Wild Rock Outfitters and Peterborough Kawartha Nordic Ski Club with the opening ceremonies prior to the relay.

Proceeds go towards CMHA HKPR’s Garden Homes Project through the Supportive Housing program. The project supports vulnerable individuals who are at risk of homelessness in the Peterborough area by providing affordable, small homes. Small, custom-built housing for individuals or small families within Peterborough.

“Much of our community has been challenged with access to affordable housing. Through the support of this fundraiser, we hope to develop creative solutions to a highly complex issue in our region,” says Mark Graham, CEO.  “With low vacancy rates and many people facing homelessness, this initiative is needed now more than ever.”

“As a worker in Peterborough’s downtown, I walk from my home in East City on my commute to work and have seen the struggles of people experiencing homelessness. The Garden Homes Project will be a step forward in addressing the housing crisis in the area,” said John Hauser, ski relay organizer.  “The relay seemed to be a great way to bring community together to raise funds for this much needed cause.”

The event includes food, music and games. You can register as an individual or as a team; or donate to the cause online. For more information contact event organizer John Hauser at johnh@wildrock.net.

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Petes Snap Eight-Game Winning Streak; Successful Homecoming For Peterborough's Nolan Burke

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It was the homecoming that Peterborough’s Nolan Burke wanted as he and the Sarnia Sting snap the Petes winning streak at eight with a 4-2 win at the Peterborough Memorial Centre PMC on Thursday.

Photo courtes of Kenneth Andersen and the Peterborough Petes.

The first period was quiet in the score sheet but not in action as a total of 21 shots came from both teams (13 to Sarnia and eight for Peterborough) as it was back and forth.

Peterborough had a productive second period, scoring the first two goals. J.R. Avon had some fancy deking gaining the offensive zone before passing the puck for Tucker Robertson on an easy tap-in goal. Minutes later, Johnathan Melee tipped in his goal after a Jax Dubois shot for a Petes 2-0 lead. The tip would find it’s way past Benjamin Gaudreau to extend the Petes lead to 2-0. Sarnia got on the board on the power play as Sting defenceman Christian Kyrourifled one past Michael Simpson to make it 2-1 going into the third period.

Sarnia continued their momentum with another power play goal as Marko Sikic deflected a shot past Simpson to tie the game at 2-2. Four minutes later, Peterborough’s Nolan Burke got the go-ahead goal, corralling a rebound shot and backhanding it for a 3-2 Sarnia lead. Cooper Way sealed Sarnia’s victory with an empty-net goal to snap Peterborough’s winning streak at eight with a 4-2 score.

Burke was credited with the game-winning goal over Peterborough and was awarded the first star of the game in his final game at the PMC.

The Petes next game is Pride Night against the Niagara IceDogs this Saturday.

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Hometown PTBO: Owen Beck Joining the Peterborough Petes and Winning a Gold Medal at the World Juniors

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This week on Hometown PTBO, Pete Dalliday talks with newly acquired Peterborough Petes player Owen Beck about how it feels to play for a hometown team, family ties in and around Peterborough and his World Juniors experience winning a gold medal.

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Peterborough's Shawn Evans Scores His 1,300 Career NLL Point

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Peterborough and Vancouver Warriors’ Shawn Evans has reached his 1,300th career National Lacrosse League point after scoring five points against the San Diego Seals on Saturday.

File Photo.

He got his milestone point by assisting Keegan Bal’s goal 6:56 into the fourth period. He made the primary assist, leading Bal with a pass just in front of the crease. Bal was able to beat Christopher Origlieri over the top for Vancouver’s 10th goal of the game.

Evans’s had two goals and three assists for five points putting him exactly at 1,300 career NLL points. He is sixth in all-time NLL points scored with 459 goals (tied 9th all-time with Mark Steenhuis) and 841 assists (fifth all-time).

The Warriors were unable to seal a win, losing to San Diego 16-11.

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Peterborough Petes Host To Auction Special Jerseys For Pride Night This Saturday

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Rainbows are filling the Peterborough Memorial Centre (PMC) this Saturday as the Peterborough Petes and Sport A Rainbow are hosting Pride Night with a specially-designed jersey auction announced on Thursday.

Peterborough Petes staff, Scotiabank representatives and Rose Powers (third from left) unveiling the pride jersey. Scotiabank is primary sponsor of Pride night for Saturday’s game. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The Petes are wearing the jerseys in support of the 2SLGBTQI+ community at Saturday’s game. All proceeds of the jersey auctions go towards Sport A Rainbow and take place in the PMC lobby after the game.

Rose Powers, operator and founder of Sport A Rainbow helped design the jersey that includes waved flags by a silhouetted crowd on the bottom. She said that the plan for the jersey was not to just have rainbow colours but to be able to tell a story.

“The first thing I thought of was flags because people who want to feel included in part of the 2SLGBTQI+ community, they also want to have their own representation,” said Powers. “The two-spirit Indigenous queer flag is the beginning of that. It actually was here before we had our traditional Pride flag. We want to make sure youth know that they're seen, you're recognized and we're standing with you.”

Sport A Rainbow strives to encourage everyone to be respectful and kind to each other in spite of anyone’s differences according to a press release.

“I think that visibility is so important and I love that the Petes are willing to stand up and make change,” said Powers. “I hope that everybody comes out to see what the Petes have done to make this an important and Prideful night.”

The Petes Pride Night game is Saturday against the Niagara IceDogs at 7:05 p.m.

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U14 Peterborough Petes Take Home Gold in Aurora Hockey Tournament

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The U14 Mader Property Maintenance AA Peterborough Petes secured the gold at the 52nd annual Aurora minor hockey tournament over the weekend.

Photo courtesy of Craig Meredith.

In their first game, the Mader Property Maintenance boys played the Toronto Royals. Peterborough entered the third period down 2-1 but mounted the comeback, scoring three unanswered goals for a 4-2 win.

Their second game against the Aurora Tigers had the Petes down 2-1. The latter willed back into the game with a late third-period goal just 25 seconds after Aurora took the lead with the teams, ending in a 2-2 tie.

In the third of the tournament’s games, the Petes took on the Ottawa Sting. Peterborough held a lead late into the third period but an unfortunate bounce off a Petes player tied the game and eventual final score of 2-2.

The Petes faced off against the London Knights in their fourth game. The 2-1 score for the Knights eventually jumped to 5-1 as some penalty problems troubled the Petes in the third period resulting in the team’s first loss of the tournament but made the playoffs anyhow.

Their semifinal playoff match saw an immediate rematch against the Knights. The Petes got revenge for their prior loss, keeping their penalty troubles in check and securing the 2-1 win into the finals.

“Great effort all around from top to bottom as Peterborough put the (earlier Knights game) result behind them and played a full game,” said Craig Meredith, assistant coach. “Coaches (are) so proud.”

In the finals, the Petes had a good start, leading 1-0 against the Flamborough Sabres going into the second period. Peterborough rode their momentum in a big way, scoring five goals against the Sabres for a 6-0 lead. The Sabres’ fighting spirit was valiant, scoring two goals late in the third period but ultimately fell short of the wide margin and Peterborough came out as champions with a 6-2 win.

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