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w w w .insidehalton.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, A ugust 4 , 2 0 1 7 | 18 Kevin Nagel, Oakville Beaver Sports Editor, knagel@burlingtonpost.com S p o rts "Connected to your Community " Cam pbell, Base help O ntarioW est reach U15 Field H ockeyCanada cham pionshipgame By Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver staff As a team captain, Sarah Campbell liked being in a position to have a positive impact on her team. "I like to lead by example and encourage my teammates to do their best," she said. She had already done that by scoring the tying goal off a pen alty corner as Ontario West rallied from a 3-1 deficit. Now with her team' s fate resting on her alone, the 15-year-old couldn't help but feel a little nervous. "Oh my god, I was shaking," she said of the penalty shot that would either propel her team into the Field Hockey Canada under-15 championship game or leave the door open for British Columbia to tie the game. "That was stressful." Unlike most field hockey tie breakers she had been in, where players stand stationary and flick the ball toward the net, at nationals the players carried the ball toward the net like a traditional hockey penalty shot. Campbell had watched her three teammates, including Oakville's Halton Field Hockey Club players Sarah Campbell, left, and Mattie Base, along with Oakville's Kyleise Rolf van don Baumen and Imogen Govan, helped Ontario West win a silver medal at the Field Hockey Canada nationals in Surrey, B.C. | photo submitted Kyleise Rolf von den Baumen and Imogen Govan, score by going to their forehand. As Campbell moved toward the B.C. goalie, she also showed forehand, but faked the shot and went to her backhand to score the clinching goal. Campbell turned and rushed to celebrate with her team. It was just the second loss in 15 games by a B.C. team against an out-of-province opponent. The other was also at the hands of On tario West when it edged the B.C. Royal Lions 2-1 on a last-second goal that Campbell helped set up by intercepting a free hit. Though the B.C. Rams would claim the gold medal with a 5-0 win in the final, Ontario West's silver medal broke up a potential podium sweep by the host B.C. teams. "It was a good experience play ing under pressure," Campbell said "It was a lot higher competition," said teammate Mattie Base. "The B.C. teams were really strong." Base, who started playing field hockey three years ago, was a late addition, joining the team as an injury replacement with just three practices left before nationals. Provincial team coach Vince Mascarenhas coached her at the Halton Field Hockey Club and knew she could contribute. "She has a lot of strength. Her sweeping, hitting are strong, she's tall," he said. "They're all advan tages that help her make her pres ence felt." All the Oakville players left their mark on Ontario West' s silver medal, providing three of the four Ontario West goals in the semifinal shootout. Rolf von den Baumen, a long time ice hockey player who started in field hockey three years ago, had an opportunity to give On tario West the lead after B.C. was stopped on its second attempt. "I was a little nervous, but I've done shootouts before so I had an idea of what I wanted to do," she said. "It was a good chance to give us the lead." And Mascarenhas did not hesi tate to give her that chance. "She' s very skilled," the coach said. "Her skill level is beyond her age at this level. Offensively and de fensively, she' s a very mature player." Govan, who shared captain's du ties with Campbell and Ella Mur phy, maintained her team' s lead when she scored in the third round of the shootout. That would be her only goal of the tournament, but Mascarenhas said she was instrumental to the team's success. "She takes charge on the field," he said. "She really controls the play. If the game is going too fast, she can slow it down. She directs the ball in the right direction to put pressure on the other team." And when the pressure was on Ontario West came through, Campbell leading the way. Like Rolf von den Baumen, Campbell made the transition from hockey, which she has played for 10 years, and said many of the skills, like stickhandling, carry over to the field game. She used those to net the clinch ing goal, no surprise to her coach. "Sarah is very talented and has a lot of natural ability. She can fit in at any position," Macarenhas. "Her teammates look up to her. They see her drive and her pas sion. She's just always at 200 per cent." Whitecaps whip Quebec at Canadian Junior Little League championships The Oakville Whitecaps got off to a good start at the Canadian Junior Little League baseball championships in Lethbridge, Alta., yesterday (Thursday). The Whitecaps, representing Ontario, scored three first-inning runs and never looked back, defeating Quebec 19-2. The Whitecaps are back in action today (Friday) at 2 p.m. EDT when they face the host club, Lethbridge Jr. Bulls. Tomorrow B.C. provides the opposition and Sunday Ontario takes on Alberta. On Monday, Aug. 7 Oakville plays the Maritimes representative. The Whitecaps advanced to the Canadians by trouncing East Nepean 15-1 in the pro vincial finals a week earlier. In Thursday' s opener, Ontario clean-up hitter/pitcher Michael Bowman started his five-for-five, three-homer, 10-RBI day with a three-run shot in the first inning and another homer in the four-run second inning by On tario. In the third inning he singled home a run and added a third home run in the fourth inning. He finished the game with a double in the fifth inning. On the mound, Bowman contributed 1 1/3 innings, giving up a hit and striking out two. Other Oakville batters coming up big in the game included Sam Armstrong with three hits and three runs and Travis Winteler and Marshall Williams with two hits apiece. Ontario batters collected 17 hits in the five-inning game. Oakville Rock opens playoff series with triple OT upset a t Six Nations Wesley Berg scored in triple overtime as the Oakville Rock upset the Six Nations Chiefs on Tuesday. Berg's goal 2:25 into the third overtime period gave Oakville an 8-7 in the opening game of the Major Series La crosse playoffs. It was just the second home loss this season for the Chiefs, who are 20-3 1 over the past two seasons at home. Oakville hosted Game 2 of the series last night (Thursday), with Game 3 at Six Na tions on Tuesday, Aug. 8. Tuesday, the teams were separated by more than one goal for less than a minute the entire game. Six Nations capitalized on a penalty shot to take a 6-4 lead late in the second, but Rob Hellyer pulled Oakville back within one 46 seconds later. Ryan Lanchbury tied the game 1:16 into third. Six Nations regained the lead but Brett Ulbikas scored the tying goal for Oakville with 5:40 to play Nick Rose, who finished the game with 47 saves, stopped all 12 shots he faced over the first two 10-minute overtimes. Brett Hickey scored twice and set up Berg' s OT winner, Dan Lomas had a goal and two assists and Bradley Kri also scored for Oakville. Eric Fannell had three assists and Stephan Leblanc had a pair.