Soccer has become an escape for Miguel Martin.

The 16-year-old, Grade 10 student immigrated to Canada with his father from his native Colombia four years ago, leaving behind the only world he knew.

“I’ve been through a lot because I left a lot family and friends in Colombia,” Martin said. “I miss them.”

Soccer has given Martin a much needed respite.

“Playing soccer, I forget about everything. Everything else goes away when I play soccer,” Martin said.

Martin was front and centre Tuesday helping the Holy Cross Raiders to a 3-1 win over the St. Jean-de-Brebeuf Lynx 3-1 in the A/AA senior boys championship final at the 10th Annual Niagara Cup held at Youngs Sportsplex in Welland.

“I scored some goals, made some passes and made some good plays and some good go-through balls,” Martin said. “I played for my team.”

Raiders coach Marc Ferretti is a big fan of Martin.  

“He’s small, but what a heart,” Ferretti said. “He’s a good young man. I’m very, very proud of him. He plays with a big heart.”

Ferretti said Martin has made significant progress since last season.

“He has a great touch and finish. He’s been doing well for us. He played on the outside for us last year and this year he’s developing more of the offence.”

The Raiders won all four of their games to capture the title, their second at the Niagara Cup since 2017.

“It’s one of our missions,” Ferretti said. “Every year we have a few missions and one is to gather team chemistry. We’re usually one of the top teams so we try and push that and we also have a tough regular season in our league.

“Our mission was to play some good D, get some chemistry and obviously the added bonus is winning the title.”

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