V 20153‘ lns‘L‘ilfr’a‘nC D rnl/Qro LA _, Proudly Serving Milton Come by our ofï¬ce for a quote on Home, Auto 8t Business Insurance Monday â€" Friday 9 -. 7 Extended hours for your convenience 905-636-8001 0 450 Bronte St. 8. Unit 113 Brok'ersmc. Donning thew rally caps when it Mend most. Milton's A mtnor bantams outdistanced the host Guelph Royals In the championship showdown ofthe Rival Series Tournament. -recruited by a league teammate last sum- mer to try out for the Italian squad. Unlike the other six teams in the women's di- vision, Italy â€" without much presence in the street hockey realm â€" is made up of Canadi- ans with ltalian heritage as opposed to play- ersfrom the actual country. With just enough time to recover from a knee injury before February's tryouts, Mangotich survived three rounds of cuts in Malton â€" among a ï¬eld of roughly 50 capable hope- fuls â€" to crack the 14-member contingent that will kick off the international showcase against Canada Monday. Said the Team Italy winger, "It'll be a weird but enviable position. It’s going to be the only time I don't want Canada to win," said the gritty winger, a reliable scorer who admits she spends a bit too much time in the penalty box â€" something she attributes to the tenac- ity developed trying to hold her own against her brothers. "Most of the team are either my teammates or opponents (in league play). facing Canada ‘weird but enviable posiï¬on’ Minor bantam Mels reign supreme in Guelph WMetsweredown4-1earlymrheï¬nals beheforï¬ï¬edpflchkgfromsurteronydon Rightmyer and some timely hitting M themto outdistanceflnfloyals 9-5. We've had a lot of practices and exhibition games so we've bonded into a pretty tight family... especially with the Italian heritage thing in common." Mangotich ï¬gures her team will be the oldest one in Switzerland in terms of average age, but also feels the overall conditioning is high enough to make a solid showing. And while holding no illusions about reigning supreme in a ï¬eld with Canada, the U.S. and Czech Republic, she doesn't expect Italy to be a pushover either. "l'd say we should ï¬nish around the middle of the pack," said Mangotich, who'll swing over to Italy after the championships to join her father for a quick family vacation. “The Czech Republic team is basically their Olympic hock- ey team that just plays street hockey to stay in shape (for ice hockey). So they’re going to be pretty good... and of course Canada." Steve LeBlanc can be reached at sleblanc@mil- toncanadianchampion.com or on Twitter @Mil- tonOnSports.