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HALTON TRANSMISSION 559 SPEERS RD., #UNIT 3 905-842-0725 www.haltontransmission.com Jon Kuiperij Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Sports 31 | Thursday, April 3, 2014 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com "Connected to your Community" Oakville to host league final at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex this weekend By Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver staff DaSilva a Chief reason Mississauga will contend for PWHL championship As a seven-year-old playing hockey for the first time, Alysia DaSilva's career path was set in motion very early. Her Oakville house league team rotated players through the goaltending position, or at least it did until DaSilva had the opportunity to don the mask and goalie pads for the first time. After that, it wasn't easy to get her out of the net. That same year, she began playing softball. In the years that followed, most people who found out about her summer pursuit assumed the goalie would naturally gravitate to a spot behind the plate. It wasn't a love of having high-speed projectiles fired at her that DaSilva loved about being a goalie, though. Her choice of position in softball -- pitcher -- tells far more about her reasoning. "I like the pressure," she says. "I like being able to have a positive affect on a team, to have people relying on me." And when teams have relied on DaSilva, she's delivered. She backstopped the Mississauga Braves AA teams to a pair of Ontario Hockey Federation championships, in peewee and atom. She was also a member of Appleby College's first provincial girls' high school hockey championship team. On the softball field, DaSilva helped the Mississauga North Tigers peewee team win the 2010 Canadian Fastpitch Championships. Though the hometown Hornets were knocked out of the playoffs by Durham West, there are still local rooting interests at this weekend's PWHL championship tournament. In addition to the two Oakville players on Mississauga, both Stoney Creek and Brampton have plenty of local representatives on their teams. BRAMPTON CANADETTES Isabella Triolo After scoring three times in a nine-game trial last season, the Oakville Trafalgar student was second among all PWHL blueliners with 10 goals and fifth with 22 points. Katie Bidulka Bidulka went 9-9-2 in her rookie season, posting a .917 Now, having thrown her final pitch to concentrate on hockey, the 17-year-old will try to add one more title to her resumé this week before finishing her junior career. She and her Mississauga Chiefs teammates will head into this week's Provincial Women's Hockey League championship tournament at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex looking to win the team's first PWHL championship. Mississauga finished second in the PWHL with a 325-1 record, just two points back of the frontrunning Nepean Wildcats. "We definitely have a team that can take it all," DaSilva said. "We've got a lot of depth, our defensive game has been really good this year and we have two girls (Victoria Bach, who played high school hockey at Holy Trinity and King's Christian and led the PWHL in scoring, and Ainsley MacMillan) coming back from winning gold at (under-18) worlds." Oakville native Lindsay Agnew has also enjoyed a solid rookie season with Mississauga, with 25 points in 37 games to rank fifth on the Chiefs. She also helped Ontario Blue win a silver medal at the national U18 championships, scoring a pair of goals in a 4-3 win over Team Atlantic in the opening game of the tournament. Like Agnew, DaSilva was just 15 when she made her debut in the league. The Chiefs made the final four in her first two seasons but couldn't get past the semifinals each time. Over her three seasons, she's compiled Oakville's Alysia DaSilva posted the Provincial Women's Hockey League's best save percentage this season (.956). The netminder will look to lead the Mississauga Chiefs to their first league title this weekend as the PWHL championship will be played at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex. Oakville's Lindsay Agnew (far left) is also a member of the Chiefs, who finished second in the PWHL regular-season standings.| photos by Eric Riehl -- Oakville Beaver 38 wins, fourth best all-time and just four behind the all-time PWHL leader (and fellow Oakville native) Nicole Paniccia. "It's crazy how fast it's gone by," DaSilva said. This will be her final chance to win the PWHL title as she heads to Princeton University next year, where she hopes to study economics and social sciences. "As soon as I went to visit the campus and met with the coaches, there was no question," she said. "It's going to be an awesome experience and definitely hockey is one of the things I'm most excited about." And not to put any pressure on her -- not that she'd mind -- DaSilva will play a key role in Mississauga's title hopes. She led the PWHL with a .956 save percentage while going 15-3-1 with a 1.20 goals-against average (third best in the league). And though her PWHL career has flown by quickly, winning the league title in Oakville this weekend would make for a nice lasting memory. "I'm so excited," DaSilva said. "I haven't got to play much in my hometown. We're not the home team, but being in my hometown for my final games should be a lot of fun." The PWHL championship tournament, hosted by the Oakville Hornets, begins Thursday with four games beginning at 7 p.m. Each of the eight teams plays twice Friday with games from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. The teams wrap up the round robin Saturday morning with the semifinals played that evening at 6 and 8 p.m. The bronze-medal game is Sunday at 11:30 a.m. and the gold-medal game is at 2:30 p.m. Admission to all games is free. For a full schedule of the tournament games, visit www.pwhl.pointstreak.com. An alternate captain in her second year with the Sabres, the Blakelock student had a goal and five assists in 36 games and added another goal in a three-game playoff sweep of Cambridge. Nicole Collier The youngest player to ever represent Canada at the world inline hockey championships, helping Canada win gold in 2012, she led all Sabres blueliners with 10 points. Laura Crowdis A key member of the power play, Crowdis was second to Heffernan on the Sabres with five assists with the man advantage. In all, the Loyola student had nine assists in 38 games. save percentage and a 2.00 goals-against average. The Iroquois Ridge student has committed to Minnesota State next year. Alicia Waddingham Waddingham had six goals and 14 points in 31 games in her rookie season, but finished on a hot streak with five goals and 11 points in her final 15 games. Jessica Geddes Playing on both special teams, the blueliner had a goal and 12 assists in 33 games and added four points in five playoff games in a series win over Waterloo. STONEY CREEK SABRES Madison Field The Sabres' leading scorer with 43 points, Field finished third in the league with 27 goals. The 16-year-old Blakelock student won a silver medal at the U-18 nationals with Ontario Blue. Kristin O'Neill The youngest member of Ontario Blue, the Loyola student had 15 goals and 32 points in 33 games in a PWHL rookie season that included a 13-game point streak. Rosie Heffernan An alternate captain and invitee to the Canadian under18 training camp, Heffernan had 11 goals and 27 points in 35 games. In two years, she has 11 points in 11 playoff games. Sarah McDonnell The Sabres' third member of Ontario Blue, McDonnell went 14-4-3 and was seventh in the league in both goalsagainst average (1.45) and save percentage (.934). Taylor McMahon After a six-game call-up last season, McMahon had 11 points in 23 games in her rookie season. She racked up nine points during a six-game Sabres winning streak. Sarah Habal After picking up seven assists in 38 regular-season games, the rookie blueliner picked up her first PWHL goal, and added an assist, in her first playoff game. Maddy Brown