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www.insideHALTON.com |OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, April 7, 2017 |32 Oakville Hornets hand Sabres first loss to win LLFHL bantam AA title By Herb Garbutt Burlington Post staff The Stoney Creek Sabres were not going away. Twice the Oakville Hornets took the lead. Twice the Sabres tied the score. The Hornets killed a penalty in overtime to get the game to a shootout, where Sarah Boucher scored to again give Oakville the advantage. But Stoney Creek' s final shooter scored to send it to sudden death. In the Hornets net, Morgan Damery made her plan. "I knew I had to challenge them, then move back with them and stay big," she said. It worked as she took away just enough space that the Stoney Creek shooter bred her shot off the post. Damery then watched as teammate Alyssa Machado scored to give Oakville a 3-2 win and the Tower Takes Fe male Hockey Teague bantam AA champion ship. "It was kind of shocking," the Hornets netminder said. "We were very happy and excited." As they should have been. Stoney Creek had yet to lose a league game heading into the final. The Sabres had beaten Oakville in all four of their meetings heading into the championship weekend, but a 2-2 tie to open the round-robin gave the Hornets a boost. "We have been telling our team that Tie Oakville bantam M Hornets won the Lower Lakes bantam AA championship. Team members include Sara Di Filippo, Alyssa Macha do,Sara Boucher, Erin McPherson, Quinn Kolwich, AlexsandraYoung, Annabel Child, Quinn Dawson, Mattie Base, Rachel D'Armiento, Sophia Lombardo, Sophia Palucci, Morgan Damery, Gabby Noordijk, Katie Bouwman, Emily Davis and Leah MacSween. Coach Stacey McConnell, assistant coaches Gerry Bouwman, Daniel Child, Pino D'Armiento, Grant Dawson, Darryl Giancola and manager Rob McPher son. | photo submitted they are one of the top teams in the coun try," said coach Stacey M cConnell. "After that game, they started to believe it. They started to believe they could beat Stoney Creek. In the final, Sarah Boucher gave Oakville the lead in the opening minutes. Stoney Creek tied the game but Annabel Child put Oakville back in front before the end of the period. Sophia Tombardo and Mattie Base set up the Hornet goals. It remained 2-1 until the Sabres scored a power-play goal with three minutes to play in the third to tie the game. It was a hard fought game, but the Hornets had grown used to that. Oakville finished third in the Tower Takes' West Division with a 13-6-3 record. "We play in one of the hardest divisions," McConnell said. "We have to bring our A game every night. And playing those top teams, our girls are used to high-tempo games." According to MyHockey Rankings of mi nor hockey teams across Canada, six of the country' s top-12 teams play in the division, including Stoney Creek (No. 1), Oakville (No. 2) and Ancaster (No. 4). The Hornets eliminated Tondon (No. 12) and Ancaster in the Tower Takes playoffs with goalies Damery and Sophia Palucci re cording five straight shutouts. "They've really responded well in those pressure moments," McConnell said. "They've kept the kids calm with some big time saves." Oakville began the Tower Takes champi onship weekend with three straight ties, 2-2 against Stoney Creek, 1-1 against Scarbor ough and 3-3 against Etobicoke. Needing wins in their last two games to advance to the final, Oakville used its speed to beat a physical Napanee team 2-1 and then held off Sudbury for a 1-0 victory. "They stayed calm and composed and with the mayhem that happens at the end of games like that," McConnell said, "they handled it with poise." Other members of the Hornets team are: Sara Di Filippo, Erin McPherson, Quinn Kolwich, Alexsandra Young, Quinn Daw son, Rachel D'Armiento, Gabby Noordijk, Katie Bouwman, Emily Davis and Teah MacSween and coaching staff Gerry Bouw man, Daniel Child, Pino D'Armiento, Grant Dawson, Darryl Giancola and Rob McPher son. l£ a i I f - 1111 · i w* ^ j £ £ / V [ f '* ·· * T' :i "j* ' ^ TOP2$ C A N A D IA N IM M IG RA N T IT'S TIME TO VOTE! We received hundreds of truly inspiring nominations for Canadian immigrants who have made a significant impact since their arrival. Now it's your turn to help choose this year's winners. Vote Today canadianim m igrant.ca/rbctop25 Title sponsor: Presented by: Media sponsors: Royal Bank CANADIAN P 9 K Bo o jk . # IMMIGRANT