The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

40 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday April 23, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com Canadian squad has shown it can compete with world's best Continued from page 39 VENOM DEADLY AT PROVINCIALS: The Oakville Venom bantam girls 1 team defeated Brantford 36-17 to win the Ontario Basketball Association Division 1 championship. Team members are: (front row, from left) Leah Fleming, Sarah Traynor, Kayla Davis, Courtney Chambers, Rachelle Cyrus (back row, from left) head coach Pat Traynor, Jovana Momic, Emily Wilk, Nina Guzina, Alex Ruscica, Courtney Den Elzen, Rasheeka Gunn, assistant coach Cassandra Cyrus. Venom wins elusive provincial gold By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF It was a scene that had played itself out too many times for the Oakville Venom. Medal contenders in each of the last two years, Oakville had failed to reach the playoffs by the narrowest of margins. "The provincials have been a heartbreaking trip for us," said Venom coach Pat Traynor. "The last two years we finished tied for first in our pool and got eliminated on aggregate score. Unfortunately, it just hasn't worked out for us." So when this year's Basketball Ontario provincial bantam girls' tournament in Niagara Falls began with a 34-32 loss to Brantford CYO, it was easy to see the same scenario unfolding in front of them. Forced into a mustwin situation, the Venom reeled off five straight victories, capping the tournament with a little payback as they won a rematch with Brantford 36-17 to capture the provincial title. "Everyone expected us to win," Traynor said of his team which had been ranked number one all season. "The kids were thrilled and the coach was relieved. We were all just happy to get it and accomplish that goal we had set." Oakville left nothing to chance in the final, roaring out to a 19-4 lead at the half, on its way to a 36-17 victory. Oakville's Rasheeka Gunn was named the tournament's most valuable player. Brantford had killed the Venom with three pointers in the round-robin game so Oakville focused on taking those shots away. "They are a good shooting team so as long as we denied them the opportunities for threes and made them move the ball around "Everyone expected and keep us to win. The kids them out of were thrilled and range, we the coach was knew we could beat relieved." t h e m Oakville Venom because we're just coach Pat Traynor too strong inside," Traynor said. "We frustrated them offensively." But it was Oakville that nearly had its frustrations continued. They came into provincials with a 24-2 record. They had won every tournament they entered until the last event before provincials when they fell to Windsor in the final of the Blessed Sacrament tournament in Hamilton. Then came the loss to Brantford in the opening game of the provincials. "No doubt, there was lots of concern," Traynor said. "The girls were nervous but we sat down after that game and I said, `If I told you at the beginning of the year that you had to beat these three teams to get to a medal game, would you have been OK with that.'" They were, and the team delivered, knocking off the Amherstburg Lady Gens 37-30, the KW Lightning 69-40 and Welland Saints 40-24 to finish second in their pool and advance to the playoff round for the first time. In the semis, the Venom met its biggest rival, the Blessed Sacrament Yellow Jackets, who had finished first in their pool. Oakville pulled out a fivepoint victory, 34-29, to guarantee a medal and set up a rematch with the Brantford. Traynor said the bantam age group is particularly strong with three successful rep teams at that level. "We've got 34 rep level player. The goal is to try to get all these kids playing for their high school teams. "That's been the goal. They are in Grade 7 now so they're still a couple of years away. Hopefully now they'll go into those tryouts with a little more confidence. The provincial title qualified Oakville for the Eastern Canadian Championships in late June in Montreal. finish at the Women's World Cup, which today remains the program's high point. Everything seemed to be falling into place until Mexico upset the Canadian squad 2-1 in the semifinals of the qualifying tournament, denying the team a trip to Athens. "Definitely not qualifying four years ago was huge motivation for us," said Lang. Lang scored in a 6-0 win over Trinidad & Tobago and Canada followed that up with a 1-0 win over Costa Rica. Canada then delivered a little payback, dominating Mexico -- though the final score only read 1-0 thanks to a couple of crossbars -- in the semifinals to secure its Olympic berth. "I can't really describe the feeling," Matheson said. "We were so excited. We were just running around hugging one another for about 20 minutes after the game." The Canadian squad also feels it has something to prove after failing to make it out of its group at last year's World Cup. "We were very disappointed where we finished in the World Cup," Matheson said. "This is a little redemption for us. It's not something we've talked about as a group but I'm sure everyone feels the same way." In the qualifying tournaKara Lang ment final, Canada met the reigning Olympic champion, the United States. Although the Canadians' goal had already been achieved, it was anything but a meaningless game. "Absolutely not," Lang said. "We want to perform every time we step on the field. If we're going to prepare, our performance is important, especially against a team like that." Canada has definitely showed it can compete against the world's best. In the qualifying tournament final, the game was scoreless through regulation and the teams traded goals late in overtime before the game was settled in a shootout. Lang was Canada's final shooter and needed to score to prolong. She delivered to send it to sudden death, where the U.S. prevailed 6-5. Canada also pushed the U.S. to the limit in the Gold Cup final, where the U.S. scored a controversial goal in the final seconds of overtime to edge Canada. "It's definitely good for our confidence," Lang said. "We know how good of a team they are, but they're not unbeatable. That bodes well for us." While there was much controversy over the lack of games for the national team leading up to the Women's World Cup, the summer is shaping up to be a busy one for Canada. It already has a series of friendlies set up with the U.S., it is expected to play in the Peace Cup in Korea and "hopefully, some games at home," leading up to the Olympics, Matheson said. SUMMER NON-CONTACT H · Non-contact · Prime time games at River Oaks Arena · Trophies · Individual entries ADULT OCKE LEAGUE McParland shines in Blades' victory over Dryden Y Continued from page 39 HALTON MEN'S HOCKEY LEAGUE 25 th SUMMER SEASON! · Balanced teams · Excellent officiating · Sweaters/socks provided · 19 game schedule, no weekends or Fridays INFORMATION AND/OR REGISTRATION BY PHONE www.hmhl.bizland.com (905) 849-9712 McParland completed his three-goal effort with 9:02 to go in regulation, pulling the puck through the skates of an Ice Dog defenceman and then beating Dryden goaltender Graeme Harrington five-hole. Cimadamore notched his second of the game with 1:55 to go, completing the scoring. Luke Moodie picked up three helpers and Chris Haltigin set up a pair. "When we get a lead, we start playing with confidence, and confidence is a big thing in this game," said McParland. "It changed the whole game." It wasn't always easy for the Blades. Dryden captain Colin McIntosh scored on a shorthanded breakaway midway through the second, tying the game 1-1, and the Ice Dogs rode the momentum to dominate play for a five-minute stretch. Blades' netminder Scott Greenham made several stellar stops to keep the game tied 1-1 before McParland took over. "(Greenham) played unreal," said McParland. "He comes to play every night. He's a role model for us all. Guys have off- games, but he does not have off-games." Following today's game, the Blades will close out their round-robin portion of the tournament with a 7:30 p.m. game Thursday against the host Newmarket Hurricanes. The top three teams advance to the playoff round and Tuesday's win almost assures the Blades of a spot in at least the semifinal. McParland said Oakville is gunning for first and bye into the final. "Five games in a row is crazy when you're playing three 20 (minute periods)," he said. "We want to win four straight."