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38 Sports Oakville Beaver SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 255) Fax 905-337-5567 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · FRIDAY, MAY 5, 2006 STA seniors sharp to start soccer season By Matt Civak SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER BARRIE ERSKINE / OAKVILLE BEAVER TOUGH GOING: Jordan Nix of the Oakville Trafalgar Red Devils attempts to break through the hold of several Holy Trinity Titans players during the teams' Halton high school senior boys' rugby match Wednesday at Trinity. OT downed the Titans 52-5. OT hopes to continue rugby tradition By Jon Kuiperij BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR It's got a tough act to follow, but Oakville Trafalgar's senior boys' rugby team believes it's up to the task. The Red Devils easily defeated the Holy Trinity Titans 52-5 Wednesday at Trinity despite playing with a relatively inexperienced lineup. OT lost regulars Chris Dickenson, Tom Labensky and Mike McManus, amongst others, to injury in a game versus perennial provincial powerhouse Saltfleet last week. In addition, this year's squad is trying to overcome the loss of four notable players. National under-19 team players Will Simpson, Alistair Clark, Andrew BuxtonForman and Andrew Bimm, who helped OT win bronze at last year's Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations tournament, graduated last summer. Still, the Devils appear to have more than enough firepower to dominate Halton once again. "We recognize the tradition. Everyone thinks about it year-round, it's just so engrained in us," said 18-year-old Grade 12 student Stefan Rinas, who scored three trys for the Devils Wednesday. "From Grade 9, it's drilled into us. We see the grades above us playing at such a high level and have great role models to look up to, so we all know what we have to do to be the best." well." Wednesday was the first actual game of OT coach David Schaffler highlighted the season for OT, which claimed a default returnees Mike Scholz and Ben win Monday against E.C. Vandervliet as key veterans "From Grade 9, it's Drury when the Spartans didthat will likely lead the way for n't have enough players to drilled into us. We the Devils this year. all know what we field a team. "They're not necessarily the The Red Devils, however, have to do to be (highest) skill level but they're have seen a fair bit of action the best." good, hard players who set the this year already, preceding tone for everybody," he said. their exhibition game against OT rugby player Also scoring trys against Saltfleet with a trip to the Stefan Rinas Trinity were Justin Kim, Dave United Kingdom. McLean, Brennan Bird, Lee "We didn't win our games but it really Parkhill and Marko Cirovic. brought us together as a team," Rinas Rob McLeod was good on six of eight said. "We got to know our coaches really convert attempts. With Wednesday's solid 3-0 win over Holy Trinity, St. Thomas Aquinas' senior boys' soccer team appears well on its way to repeating last year's success. Last year's Ontario Federation of School Athletic Association silvermedal winners have started their 2006 season by winning the Pearson tournament and their first two games of their regular season for a total 5-0 record. The Raiders coach, Peter Szpakowski, credits his team's balanced attack and teamwork for its early success. "It's a matter of team play," Szpakowski said. "We play a real balanced attack. We move the ball, switch the ball, use the whole field. There's strength on both sides from us and strength in the back." In the Pearson tournament, the Raiders beat Lorne Park 2-0, Milton District 6-0 and Robert Bateman, in the finals, 3-0. Raiders striker MacKenzie Wilde has led the way in scoring so far this season for Aquinas, netting three goals in its first two regular-season games plus three more in the Pearson tournament. Aquinas took the lead early in Wednesday's game against Holy Trinity and never looked back, shutting down the Titans offence, preventing any attempt at a sustained attack. When challenged, Aquinas keeper Giovanni Cardillo was able to come up with the save and preserve his seasonlong shutout streak. "I think (Aquinas) played the ball See OFSAA page 39 Russell, Derbys seek national hockey title Oakville's Scott Russell hopes history will repeat itself this week. Russell is a 20-year-old defenceman on the Streetsville Derbys, who are host team for this week's Royal Bank Cup in Brampton. Last year, the host Weyburn Red Wings won the national junior A championship despite being given little chance against the four regional champions that were also vying for the title. Like Weyburn last year, the Derbys bowed out in the opening round of the playoffs. Unlike the Red Wings, who were a sub-.500 team during the regular season, Streetsville actually had a winning record despite playing in the tough Provincial Jr. A West Conference. The Derbys were 25-21-3, finishing sixth but were just five points out of third place. Russell began his junior career with the Oakville Blades before being traded to Streetsville during the 2002/03 season. Russell played the next two seasons at Norwich University before rejoining the Derbys this season. The 5-foot11, 185-pound defender played 45 games, scoring three goals and adding 16 assists while accumulating 114 minutes in penalties. Streetsville opens the tournament Saturday against the Burnaby Express and faces the Central Canada champion Fort William North Stars on Sunday. Tuesday, the Derbys take on the Yorkton Terriers and wrap up the round-robin on Wednesday against the C.R. Joliette Action. All games are 7:30 p.m. starts at the Powerade Centre in Brampton.