Photo Credit: Freeze Frame Photos

Just one week after a tough 23-16 regular season loss to the Sudbury Spartans on home turf, the Sault Sabercats U18 ‘AA’ squad returned the favour in dominant fashion. On Saturday, July 12th, under the lights at James Jerome Sports Complex in Sudbury, the Sabercats came out strong and punched their ticket to the OSFL semi-finals with a 29-15 win over the Spartans in quarter-final action.

The Sabercats’ offence ignited early with Windsor OUA Lancer commit Nathan Guizzetti finding the endzone on a powerful rushing play. Kicker AJ Coccimiglio added the extra point to give the Sault a quick lead. The Spartans fought back and held a 15-7 advantage in the second quarter before the Sabercats stormed back.

Ethan Carchidi responded with a rushing touchdown of his own, followed by quarterback Alex Hayes calling his own number for a two-point conversion to tie the game at 15-15. From that point on, the Sabercats never looked back.

Guizzetti continued to dominate on the ground, adding two more rushing touchdowns to complete a three-score night. With Coccimiglio converting both majors, the Sabercats sealed a 29-15 win and completed the revenge story from their regular season finale.

Saultsports asked coach Jamie Antonello about bouncing back after the final game of the season against the Spartans, Antonello said “we certainly did that! We battled back from being down 15-7 at halftime and overcame some very key injuries both last week and today as well. I don’t think I’ve ever been as proud of a group as I was today. Seeing how our athletes came together and played a complete game in the second half was incredible.”

With the victory, the Sabercats advance to the 2025 OSFL U18 ‘AA’ semi-finals, where they await the winner of the Scarborough Thunder vs. Huronia Stallions matchup.