The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

20 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday January 3, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com Belleville ends minor midget A Rangers' streak Oakville's 11-game unbeaten run snapped in tourney final By Jon Kuiperij BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR White Oaks rink advances to regionals The White Oaks Secondary School girls' curling team won the A division at a recent competition in High Park, qualifying the rink for the upcoming regional championships. SPORTSBRIEFS Emily Lindsay, Katie Lindsay, Lynsey Jackson, Sarah Sinclair and Jen Fairfield will represent the Wildcats in Sutton Feb. 3-4, with the top two rinks at regionals advancing to the Provincial Gore Schoolgirl Championships the following month in Ottawa. With the bulk of their team finally intact, the Oakville minor midget A Rangers are reaping the benefits. Unbeaten in regular-season action throughout the month of December, Oakville carried that momentum into last week's Richard Bell Memorial International Minor Hockey Tournament, going 3-0-2 in its first five games before bowing out to the Belleville Bulls in the final. "The boys played pretty well, considering there were 15 teams in our division and the competition was pretty stiff," Rangers coach Larry Bennett said. "It was a little disappointing to lose in the final but it was a pretty awesome tournament for us anyway." Oakville started slowly in Saturday's championship game at Dominion Twin Rinks, trailing 3-0 after two periods. Kyle Adams scored early in the final frame, depositing a rebound off the end boards after Matthew Hand's point shot missed the net, but the Rangers were unable to narrow the gap any further in a 3-1 loss. "They all had a couple friends or family members come out and they were extremely excited about it, maybe too much," said Bennett, who was particularly pleased with the tournament play of Greg McManus, Stephen Forster and Taylor Rivers. "I think they succumbed to a bit of pressure, being the hometown tournament, and they would probably be the first to admit they all came out a little flat." In round-robin play earlier in the competition, Oakville earned wins against Rosedale and Clarington while posting ties versus Lorne Park and Stoney Creek. The Rangers then defeated Chedoke 2-0 in the semifinal. Hampered by injuries and sickness at the beginning of the year, Oakville has picked up the pace in recent weeks and carries a 12-9-2 record into tomorrow's game against Fergus (7:40 p.m. at River Oaks Recreation Centre). The returns of goaltender Scott Redshaw (flu), Matthew Ylkos (collarbone) and Hand (foot) helped the Rangers to a 5-0-1 mark last month. "They know what they have to do to win," said Bennett, who missed a bit of time himself recently due to illness. "As long as they can all perform at that level (they played at in the tournament), we should do quite well in the playoffs." Locals help MAC win gold Two local elementary school students helped the Mountain Athletic Club (MAC) 14-and-under boys' volleyball team finish with an undefeated mark in McGregor Cup Tier 2 play, earning the squad a Tier 1 14U position in the Ontario Volleyball Association. Ben Altman of River Oaks Public School and Stevin Folino of Captain R. Wilson Public School were part of the MAC team that defeated Ganaraska, Port Perry and Niagara Rapids in straight sets to earn McGregor gold. Meanwhile, the MAC 15U girls' team won bronze at the McGregor Cup. The club, which includes River Oaks student Mira Krunic, lost in the semifinal to Northumberland but bounced back to defeat Oshawa DRVC in the bronze-medal game. HERB GARBUTT / OAKVILLE BEAVER LONE RANGERS GOAL: Kyle Adams of the Oakville minor midget A Rangers (in white) watches his shot elude Belleville Bulls goaltender Matthew Smith for the Rangers' lone goal in Saturday's Richard Bell Memorial International Minor Hockey Tournament final at Dominion Twin Rinks. Belleville won 3-1. Rangers' offense dries up against North York Continued from page 19 raced out of the net to poke the puck away just in time. North York then came back down the ice and scored the tying goal. The goal provided a boost to North York, which took the lead before the end of the period with a power-play goal. North York would put the game away with a shorthanded goal. Despite its best efforts, Oakville could not reignite its offensive game. "We played very well. We just could- n't score," MacDonald said. "Against the English team (in the final roundrobin game) we had 30 shots and only got two goals." That game was the start of Oakville's offensive woes. It had scored 11 goals in its first three games (4-2 wins over Bay County and Niagara and a 3-1 victory over Binghampton). Despite the loss to North York in the final, MacDonald is happy with the strides his team is making and expects that progression to continue in upcoming seasons. "This will be a team to be reckoned with in years to come," he said. Editor's note: The minor bantam AAA and minor midget A Rangers were two of five local squads to reach a final at the Richard Bell tournament. The minor atom A and minor peewee AE Rangers won their divisions Friday while Oakville's minor peewee A entry lost its championship game. Coverage of those finals appeared in Saturday's edition of The Oakville Beaver. Metroland Request your copy of... Canada's FILL OUT THIS BALLOT FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN! or you can enter online at contests.metroland.com MAIL ENTRIES TO: SEARS TRISHA ROMANCE CONTEST, Metroland Corporate Sales, 10 Tempo Ave., Willowdale, Ontario M2H 2N8 Live It! NewHealth and Wellness Magazine www.live-it.ca For more information call: 416-493-1300 ext 335 or email: info@live-it.ca NAME: ADDRESS: POSTAL CODE: EMAIL: TELEPHONE: Yes, I wish to receive information from Sears on upcoming specials, contests, promotions & events. CONTEST RULES: Contest opening date: Monday, December 4, 2006 12pm. Closing Date: January 12, 2007 12pm. Residents of Ontario may enter, except employees and immediate family members (and/or persons domiciled with) of Metroland Printing, Publishing & Distributing Ltd., the prize sponsor and/or any employees of their affiliated companies. Entrants under 18 must have parent/guardian consent. Chances of winning the random draw depend on the total number of entries received. Prizes must be accepted as presented with no cash substitutions. Prize winners will receive their prize by the mail. Winners consent to having their names and/or photos appear in Metroland Community Newspapers. The decision of the contest judges is final. No purchase necessary. A limit of one qualifier per person, per household, one entry per e-mail address. 5 prizes each valued at $100.00. In order to be eligible to win, the selected contestant must correctly answer a skill-testing question which will be administered upon notifying the winning entrant. For full contest rules visit: contests.metroland.com Metroland Media Group Ltd. Enter for your chance to 1of 5 Sears Trisha Romance $100 Gift Cards Win