LOCAL SPORTS

Cougars scoring leaders helping team towards playoffs against Milton Menace

by Steven McGoey

4 January 2026

BURLINGTON - As the holiday break wraps up and the Ontario Junior Hockey League returns to

play the Burlington Cougars sit sixth in the Western Conference with 40 points and a record of 16-

13-3-5. The Cougars have maintained a balanced and tight-checking style of play.

They currently sit 13th in the league with 116 goals for and have allowed the 10th least goals

against with 108. The team continues to be led by defenceman and captain Reid Forster who is tied for the team lead with 29 points in 36 games. Forward Ethan Brassard, who was acquired in October, has 18 points in 22 games with the team and 29 points in 36 games on the season. General Manager and Head Coach Mark Jooris completed two trades since our last update, acquiring forward Daniel Vasic from the Haliburton County Huskies and forward Vasily Serov from the Pickering Panthers. Both players have made an immediate impact, Vasic has seven goals and one assist in seven games with Burlington, while Serov has three assists in three games with the Cougars. Ben Trebicky has remained a reliable offensive producer with 25 points in 37 games while Artem Narbekov has 19 points in 23 games since arriving in a trade from the King Rebellion. 17-year-old Sean Matthew-Goyette has continued to emerge as one of the best young defenders in the league and has 16 points in 27 games this season.

Burlington has received fantastic goaltending all season from their duo of Carter Vicente and Connor Haffner. Vicente has a 7-8-3-1 record with a 2.68 GAA and .921 save percentage while Haffner has a 9-5-2-2 record with a 2.90 GAA and .921 save percentage. The reliability from the tandem is evident as their save percentages are tied as the 11th best in the OJHL. The team has five players participating in the OJHL Prospects Game - Trebicky, Matthew-Goyette, Haffner, Devon Arthurs and Hayden Bondy. 

At the time of writing the Cougars have 18 games remaining on their regular season slate and are currently on pace to play the Milton Menace in a best-of-seven first round matchup. The Menace eliminated the Cougars in the first round last season. Catch the Cougars at Central

Arena at 7:30pm on Jan. 9, 16, 23, 27, and 30.

High school winter sports season on 

by Russell Harness

4 January 2026

BURLINGTON - The HSSAA’s winter high school sports season is well underway and there is lots

of exciting action to cover from the month of December with young Burlington-area athletes

taking part in a wide range of different sports. Seeing that the winter sport that comes to mind

first for a large portion of Canadians is hockey, let’s start there and take a look at how our local Burlington-area teams are faring early on in the season.

On the senior girls side of things, Burlington Central is off to a strong start going 2-1 in their

first three games, scoring nearly twice as many goals as they are letting in. Nelson, having played

one more game, is sitting right at the .500 mark, coming off of a tight 2-1 loss to Garth Webb just

before the Christmas break. 

On the senior boys side, Nelson and M.M. Robinson are both off to really strong starts. Nelson, coming off a 5-3 win against Garth Webb just before the break, is sitting comfortably in third place in the standings with a 4-2 record. M.M. Robinson, having played one less game, are right behind

Nelson in the standings sitting at 3-2, including three consecutive wins after a tough first two games. Aldershot is a bit further down in the standings but has won two straight games to bring their record up to 3-3 for the season.

In bantam girls volleyball, Nelson is doing quite well with a 4-1-1 record, placing them in third place midway through the season, while M.M. Robinson and Aldershot are having rather disappointing

seasons thus far, winning only 2 of 14 total games combined.

In the junior girls volleyball, Nelson and Aldershot have both started off the season undefeated

with 6-0 and 5-0 records respectively, while M.M. Robinson and Burlington Central are having a

tough time gathering any early-season momentum.

In senior girls volleyball, Nelson and Burlington Central are off to hot starts, while M.M. Robinson

and Aldershot are struggling.

In bantam boys basketball, Aldershot is the only Burlington team with a positive record, as

Nelson, M.M. Robinson, and Burlington Central are all having a tough time getting things going.

The only Burlington school active in the junior boys basketball category is Nelson, but they are

sitting at 1-4 to start out the season unfortunately.

Thankfully things are looking much better for Burlington-based senior boys basketball teams, as

M.M. Robinson, Burlington Central and Aldershot have only lost a total of 3 games (out of a combined 19 games played to start the season), putting them all right at the top of the standings, with Nelson lagging a bit behind with a 3-3 record, but with lots of time and games left to climb their way up the standings.

‘Key to the City’ for Vicky MBoko

by Don Wall

5 December 2025

BURLINGTON - Burlington’s latest global newsmaker was honoured with the key to the city recently, and the tennis phenom responded by publicly recognizing the hometown supporters and coaches who enabled her early development.

The city provided her with a springboard to success, said Victoria Mboko, now the 18th-ranked women’s tennis player in the world. As a result, she said, she has set a goal to create similar opportunities for others. 

“Moving to Burlington with my family as a young girl, back in 2009, growing up here, ever since, I was very privileged to enjoy a wonderful childhood,” said Mboko, now 19, who this summer won the WTA National Bank Open in Montreal as an 18-year-old and later took the Hong Kong Open title. She started the year ranked 337th.

“I have been and continue to be so blessed to live here and have had the opportunities my family continue to create for me.”

Mboko received the civic recognition at a public event attended by about 100 including major media Nov. 21 at the new Robert Bateman Community Centre on New St. The designer of the award, artist Teresa Seaton, was on hand and Mayor Marianne Mead Ward served as host. Among the speakers was Eva Havaris, senior vice-president with Tennis Canada.

“She embodies our Canadian elbows-up spirit, ready to step into tough spaces, advocate for herself

and her sport, and take her place on the world stage with confidence,” said Havaris.

Mboko pointed to several contributors to her early success from the podium including her “favourite teacher” at St. Anne’s Catholic elementary school in north Burlington, supporters at the ACE Tennis Academy and coaches Pierre Lamarche, Mike Hall and Doug Burke, among others. She noted she never went to a sports school but instead attended regular classes at St. Anne’s and took

off early each day for practice. Mboko was born in North Carolina and moved to Canada with her

family when she was under a year old. The youngest of four siblings started training with the academy from age four.

Praising the academy, Mboko said, “I feel for my growth as a player and as a person, it really helped me tremendously with providing all the aspects I need to be a great player.”

Von Boetcher said in an interview Mboko’s “dedication to the sport at that young age was amazing.”

The teacher laughed recalling the final day of school. St. Anne’s invited the media to watch the students run out of the building and Mboko, only in grade two, was the first to sprint out.

“She was always a humble, lovely girl, just as she is now.”

Jr A Cougars climbing the standings

by Steven McGoey

5 December 2025

BURLINGTON - The Burlington Cougars are officially halfway through their Ontario Junior Hockey

League season. Since our last update the Cougars have gone 5-3-0-1 and have a record of 13-9-1-5 on the season. They remain in seventh place in the Western Conference. Despite this, the team

has a +12 goal differential and have allowed the ninth-least goals in in the league.

Defenceman and captain Reid Forster has continued to impress and carry the team from the blue line. The 19-year-old is tied for the team lead in scoring with seven goals and 23 points in 28 games while playing lots of minutes.

General Manager and Head Coach Mark Jooris made three trades in October and all have had a major impact on the team since their arrivals. Since coming over from the Toronto Patriots, forward Ethan Brassard has five goals and 12 points in 13 games, while forward Artem Narbekov has six goals and 13 points in 15 games since arriving from the King Rebellion. Defenceman Boston

Bourque has added size and toughness to the back end, notching two points and compiling 24 penalty minutes in nine games with the Cougars.

16-year-old forward Benjamin Trebicky has continued his strong rookie junior hockey season. His 22

points in 28 games sits tied for this among all 2009-born players.

Goaltending remains a bright spot for Burlington, Carter Vicente’s strong season has continued, he now has a 6-6-3-1 record with a .928 save percentage, ninth best in the OJHL.

16-year-old Connor Haffner is also having a great rookie season, he has a 7-3-2 record with a .918 save percentage. In recent performances, the Cougars dropped a 5-1 game to rival Milton Menace on Nov. 23, a 5-4 win over the Mississauga Chargers in front of 300+ home spectators on

Nov. 21, and a close 4-3 loss to the Buffalo Jr. Sabres on Nov. 16. The Cougars play seven games in

December with their final game of 2025 taking place on Dec.19. They then go on holiday break until Jan. 3, 2026. The next chance to see the Cougars at home comes Dec. 5 at 7:30pm at Central Arena.

High school roundup: Champions

by Russell Harness

5 December 2025

BURLINGTON - With the fall high school sports season coming to a close, let’s take a look back and see how our local Burlington schools fared in the post season of girls basketball, boys football, and boys volleyball.

Starting with junior girls basketball, both Nelson and Burlington Central finished out incredible seasons, going 8-0 and 9-0 respectively, finishing first in their respective tiers. M.M. Robinson had a season to forget with a disappointing 2-7 regular season performance. In the playoffs, both Nelson and Burlington Central destroyed their semi-final opponents and faced off against tough teams

in the Tier 1 and 2 finals. In Tier 2, Burlington Central took home the championship with a decisive 51-30 scoreline over White Oaks, and Nelson managed to sneak out a Tier 1 championship beating Iroquois Ridge 45-39.

In senior girls basketball, Nelson, M.M. Robinson, and Aldershot all had less-than-stellar regular seasons, with Aldershot finishing in last place in tier 2 with an 0-10 record, and M.M. Robinson and Nelson finishing close to the 0.500 mark in the middle of their respective divisions. Both Nelson and M.M. Robinson were knocked out in the quarter finals, and the senior girls will have to

wait until next fall to try again. 

In junior boys football, M.M. Robinson had a tough regular season, going winless with five losses, while Nelson was clearly the second-best team all year, finishing with a solid 4-1 record, and putting themselves into a semi-final matchup with third-seeded Georgetown. Nelson played extremely well, notching 45 points and shutting out the visitors, but unfortunately ran into the number one-seed Frank Hayden Secondary School in the finals, and fell just shy of a championship.

It was a similar situation in senior boys football, with Nelson having a great campaign (6-0 record, good for first place in the league), and Aldershot having a difficult year finishing with a 1-5 record in 9th place. Aldershot did manage to make the playoffs, but fell to 8th-seeded Garth Webb in the quarter finals. Nelson kept up their undefeated play, beating the number-five seed Iroquois

Ridge 51-0 in the semifinals, and then managed to take down second-seeded Georgetown quite comfortably 35-14 to win the HSSAA championship.

U22 Barracudas dominate rival Hornets by Don Wall

BURLINGTON - With top scorer Caileigh Tiller on the sidelines, the U22 Burlington Barracudas relied on contributions from other core players and also a less likely source to shut out local rival Oakville Hornets 2-0 in Ontario Women’s Hockey Association action Oct. 19, 2025.

The line of Addi Butler, Hayley Thompson and Keelin Song of the hometown Barracudas pressed

Oakville from the opening whistle. The pressure paid off immediately, at the 29-second mark, when a seemingly innocuous point shot from defender Addyson Lee found the back of the net behind a screened Oakvlle netminder Chloe Smith.

The one-goal margin held for the next 57 minutes of play despite the Barracudas outshooting the Hornets by a three-to-one ratio – the final count was 45-15. Finally, during another typical Burlington blitz, Aubrey Biase buried the puck behind Smith at 17:37 of the third period with Chelsea Tiller and Gabrielle Catalano earning assists. As of Oct. 20 Burlington was listed as tied for seventh in U22 OWHL standings among 25 teams with a record of 8-4.

Team captain Chelsea Tiller, 17, the twin of Caileigh Tiller, said the team stuck to its systems to grind out the Oct. 19 win. The steady rearguard noted Burlington was missing

several others besides her sister. “It’s important, when we have a key player out, that everybody else

steps up,” said Tiller. “It’s nice to see that on the scoreboard. It’s a bunch of other people’s names on the board, and it’s distributed evenly.”

Her sister was suspended due to rough play during a recent game and was due to return the next week. Caileigh Tiller had counted 17 goals and 31 points after 20 games played in the regular season and tournaments, while Catalano, only 15, entered the game with just three points.

Midway in the first period Catalano stood her ground during a collision with an opponent, sending her victim crumpling to the ice. She said she’s still adjusting to the pace of U22 play.

“For me as a small player, they might think, Oh, I’m easy to push around,” she said. “I’m going to

work as hard as anyone.”

Even though Oakville is rebuilding and low-ranked in the standings, Catalano said, “You have to play hard, even though it’s a scrappy game. But we pulled through and we did what we needed to do to win.”

‘Cudas head coach Kevin Greco said goaltender Riley Manna stepped up when required despite going long stretches without being tested. As for Catalano, Greco said, “Gabby’s been great. She’s a young player, she’s probably one of the hardest workers on the team. Her compete level is off the chart.

“She battles the biggest and strongest of players out there, and she’s very offensively creative.”

Jr A Cougars showing defensive skills

by Steven McGoey

BURLINGTON - The Burlington Cougars Junior A hockey club are officially more than a third of the way through their season. The team sits seventh place in the West Conference with a record of 8-6-1-4. The team has allowed just 53 goals in 19 games, seventh least in the league. The league consists of two conferences with 12 teams each, the top eight teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs. A relatively inexperienced team coming into the season, the Cougars have played

extremely tight checking in their recent stretch of games, including a 1-0 overtime win over  the Collingwood Blues, the second-place team in their conference. At the time of writing their last three games had gone to overtime, with two going to double overtime. “I’ve been very happy with our teams compete over the last five games, our commitment to playing better defensively has been very noticeable, highlighted by the shutout of Collingwood,” Cougars Head Coach and General Manager Mark Jooris told The Independent.

Jooris has been active in the trade market, acquiring forwards Artem Narbekov from the King Rebellion and Ethan Brassard from the Toronto Patriots. They also added defenceman

Boston Bourque from the CCHL’s Kemptville 73’s. Narbekov has made an immediate offensive

impact, recording four goals and six points in seven games as a Cougar.

Brassard has two points in four games with Burlington, his 13 total points on the season tie him for the team lead with Colin Ronalds. “We are getting contributions from different players offensively,” said Jooris. Goaltenders Carter Vicente and Connor Haffner have been fantastic for Burlington to begin the season. Vicente has the second-most games played, has played the most minutes,

and has faced the second-most shots against in the OJHL. He has a 5-5-4 record with a .924 save percentage, seventh best in the league.

“Both our goalies have been exceptional. Carter has been a great role model for Connor,” Jooris noted.

Just 16-years-old, Haffner has a 3-1-1 record and .921 save percentage in his first junior season.

Jooris said he was not surprised by anyone’s performance so far but stated, “upfront, (Hayden) Bondy, (Benjamin) Trebicky, and (Matthew) Campanella have been noticeable. Our D have been good, led by our captain Reid Forster, he’s been very consistent so far.”

Eagles, Bulldogs, Jr. Raiders house league seasons underway

by Steven McGoey

BURLINGTON - The minor hockey season is well underway in Burlington. The Burlington Eagles are Burlington’s premier and most recognizable minor rep hockey organization.

Members of the Ontario Minor Hockey Association, the Eagles field teams from U7 through U18 age groups. This season the Eagles are fielding eight MD level teams in the U7, U8 and U9 age groups. They have nine A level teams from U10-U18, eight AA teams, and eight AAA teams. This means more than 550 players and 150 volunteer coaches and staff are registered with the

Eagles for the 2025-26 season.

They also operate a Jr. Eagles program for players under the age of seven to learn hockey skills. There are six Jr. Eagles teams this season. On the ice, the organization is off to a good start, they have an overall record of 199-122-34 as of Oct. 30. Recently, the U13 AAA Eagles took

home the championship in the Barrie Peewee Challenge Cup on Oct. 19.

The Burlington Lions Optimist Minor Hockey Association (BLOMHA) are members of the Alliance

Hockey organization. Operating since 1951, BLOMHA is one of the oldest youth organizations in the city and operates the city’s most popular house league hockey program. This includes a U6-U8 initiation program and U9-U19 house league. The Bulldogs operate MD/B/BB/

Select teams at all ages. Unlike the Eagles level of hockey, there is no longer bodychecking at the B/BB/Select level. With all their programs, BLOMHA relies upon 500+ volunteers

and operates more than 100 teams with 1,800 registered players. Coming in November is the Bulldog Challenge Cup, a tournament hosted in Burlington at all levels of Bulldogs hockey.

A recent addition to the minor hockey scene in Burlington is the Halton Senators. Run out of Conacher Hockey at Wave Sports by Burlington native and former NHLer Cory Conacher, the Senators are a U7, U8, and U9 AAA development program.

The Burlington Jr. Raiders are also run out of the Wave. Like BLOMHA, the Jr. Raiders are members of Alliance Hockey. There are 11 Jr. Raiders teams competing at BB/B or AA/A from the U10 through U16 age groups this season. They have an organization record of 23-46-4 as of

Oct. 30.

Victoria Mboko wins National Bank

by Steven McGoey

BURLINGTON - Burlington tennis star Victoria Mboko defeated former WTA No. 1 and four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka at the National Bank Open in Montreal on Aug. 7.

The 18-year-old Mboko began the season ranked 333rd in the world and was 85th by the time

the Open began. Her win made her the second-lowest ranked player to win a Tier 1 tournament

and her world ranking shot up to 24.

Mboko’s parents emigrated from the Democratic Republic of Congo and she was born in

Charlotte, N.C., before moving to Burlington at the age of four. She trained at Burlington’s ACE

Tennis from age four until the age of 12 under partners and former professionals Doug Burke and

Pierre Lamarche. “From the word ‘Go’ she had incredible competitive spirit, she wanted to beat everyone, she wanted to beat her siblings even though they were eight or nine years older,” Burke told The Independent.  Her passion for the game was evident from a young age.

“She loved being on the tennis court playing, she couldn’t get enough. When she was out there

she was zoned-in and unusually focused for someone so young,” said Burke.

Throughout the tournament Mboko was constantly coming from behind, including a 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (4) win in the semis against Elena Rybakina.“What struck me the most was her composure in tough situations through the tournament...she was almost itching to come back and fight.”

“Her power and ball striking are exceptional, her timing is so good and she has so much power that I think after a while it wears on her opponents,” said Burke.

After picking up her first WTA Tournament win Burke thinks the sky is the limit, “I don’t think

there’s a ceiling, I really don’t... she has a strong belief in herself, she doesn’t get rattled easily and

she seems to have a really good team around her. I think as long as she stays healthy there’s no

limit where she can go.”

Despite a straight sets loss in Round One of her first U.S.Open appearance, Burke does not think

it will impact her long term - and that it might be good for Mboko to get some rest. She was plagued by a wrist injury.

As for what Mboko’s rise means for tennis in Canada? Burke is already seeing an impact at Ace.

“They’re more excited about tennis and the possibilities, for young Canadians, especially females. I

think it does give them the belief that they can go far in this game.”