If the coaches of the St. Thomas Tommies all went away on an end of season fishing trip, they might each have a story about a big catch.
Henri Mallet and his men’s volleyball team landed the Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association championship banner, their third in four seasons of play (the 2020-21 season was lost to COVID) and earning them a trip to Nationals.
Men’s soccer coach John-Ryan Morrison could look to third-year centre back Josh Oakes, who was named Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association player of the year, the first time a St. Thomas athlete has been chosen for that honour in any sport. The team’s conference awards are another highpoint: Oakes was ACAA Player of the Year, Morrison took home Coach of the Year, and first-year player Mees Van Nouhuys was Rookie of the Year.
Men’s basketball coach John Hickey could certainly weigh in: senior post Geoffrey Lavoie was named the league’s player of the year for the second straight season and he and teammate Noah McCarthy were named to the first all-star team.
Fred Connors’ women’s basketball team featured Paige LeBlanc as the league’s rookie of the year; Kylee Roi as the defensive player of the year; and Celine Sterckel as the winner of the Rod Shoveller Memorial Award, given annually to an ACAA men’s or women’s basketball player who has contributed to sport and society through excellence in academics, athletics, leadership and sportsmanship.
Hockey coach Peter Murphy would have something to say too: his team rebounded from missing the Atlantic University Sport playoffs for the first time in his career to finish a strong fourth in the final standings, and goaltender Katie Sweeney and defender Aislynn Byers were named second team AUS all-stars.
Rookie coach David Itoafa’s women’s soccer squad included first-team all-star selection Caitlyn Steeves and veteran Abby Cameron as the winner of the Gerry LeBlanc Award, given annually to the female soccer player in the ACAA who best combines qualities of leadership, sportsmanship, enthusiasm and ability, both on and off the field.
Women’s volleyball coach Don McKay rode off into the coaching sunset after 11 seasons with veteran Kathleen Boyle earning first team all-star status.
Rachel McDonald and Madi Walsh were ACAA All-Conference selections from coach Becca Baker’s women’s rugby side.
Cross-country coach Nick Larade saw his team’s roster fill out to be the biggest since before the pandemic.
Amidst these big catches, however, there may also be stories of the ones that got away.
Morrison’s men’s soccer team tore through the competition in the regular season, completing their third straight unbeaten regular season with a 10-0-2 record, outscoring opponents 49-7 along the way. Oakes, the 22-year-old centre back, led the conference in scoring with 13 goals and contributed to nine shutouts. In addition to CCAA Player of the Year, he was also one of seven ACAA all-stars on the Tommies roster.
But the Mount St. Vincent Mystics of Halifax stunned the Tommies in the semifinal of the ACAA championship tournament, posting a 3-0 win.
“We did not deliver to our lofty expectations,” Morrison said. “Despite an amazing regular season, we let ourselves down in the playoffs.”
Likewise, Hickey’s men’s basketball squad were among the favourites to win the ACAA championship and represent the conference at the national championship tournament being hosted by the Mount Allison Mounties in Sackville this season.
They delivered as advertised: a 15-3 regular season record, ranked as high as third in the nation at one point in the year, in keeping with coach Hickey’s ambitions.
“We want to make noise nationally,” he indicated in the preseason. “I always want to be the team to beat.”
In the ACAA tournament…they were beaten.
“We fell short of our goal,” said Hickey. “We spoke all year of not only winning an ACAA Championship, but medaling at CCAAs. Do we feel as though this was a realistic goal? Yes, we do...and we didn't achieve it.”
It took a dramatic three-pointer by Vince Lyttleton in the dying seconds for the Tommies to eke out an 81-80 win over the Mounties in the semis. In the ACAA final, the Mount St. Vincent Mystics topped the Tommies 91-90 in overtime in a game considered an instant classic.
“Obviously, ACAA Championship weekend is a weekend that won't be forgotten,” Hickey said. “We got both ends of it. We won a game that we should've lost and lost a game that we should've won. That's sport...that's why we play the games.”
But in a season full of highlights, Hickey chose one: “Honestly, the highlight of this season for me was coming to practice every single day,” he said. “To watch this group compete at the highest level every single day was an absolute pleasure. I was proud to be a small part of that.”
And then there was Peter Murphy’s hockey team, who had a surprising season and then a disappointing ending.
First the good news: after missing the playoffs for the first time in his 22-year career with the Tommies in 2022-23, Murphy’s Tommies bounced back this season. They won six more games, scored 27 more goals and allowed 23 fewer than last year’s team.
That sent them into a first-round playoff series against the Universite de Moncton. Katie Sweeney turned in back-to-back shutouts as the Tommies posted a pair of 1-0 wins to advance to the AUS semifinal against the league-leading St. Francis Xavier X-Women. The best-of-five series went the distance, the Tommies leading 2-1 at one point, thanks to 44 saves from Sweeney and a penalty shot goal in overtime from captain Ekaterina Pelowich to give the Tommies the series lead.
One more victory would have sent the Tommies on to the AUS final against cross-campus rival University of New Brunswick Reds, and automatically on to Saskatoon and the U Sports national championship tournament for the first time since the Tommies hosted the tourney in 2013-14. But the X-Women spoiled the script, posting consecutive wins to take the series.
So while everybody in the green and gold got at least a nibble on this voyage, more than one big fish wriggled off the hook this season. Still, a memorable season for St. Thomas sports, a solid foundation on which to continue building, and the promise of more to come in 2024-25.
In men’s soccer, Morrison and the Tommies are guaranteed another crack at national glory. Tommies will host the CCAA championship tournament November 6th-9th on the Grant-Harvey turf, one of two national championships the Tommies will host next season. The CCAA women’s basketball championships will be here in March, with Fred Connors’ Tommies welcoming Canada’s best to the Richard J. Currie Center.
Before looking ahead to an exciting season in 2024-25, the Tommies will first be celebrating their achievements at the annual STU Athletics Banquet on April 3rd.