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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Friday January 12, 2007 - 37 Sr. Raiders continue to roll By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF RON KUZYK / OAKVILLE BEAVER POWER THROUGH: Aquinas player Tessa Medlock (left) spikes the ball over the block of two White Oaks defenders Wednesday at Aquinas. The St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders have been in the unenviable position of watching other teams celebrate Halton championships the past two years. Now, they hope it's their turn. The Raiders improved their high school senior girls' volleyball record to 6-1 Wednesday with a 25-15, 27-25 home victory over the White Oaks Wildcats. Coach Peter Szpakowski said while other teams have benefited from experience in past finals, the Raiders can now match them in that regard. Asia Saint, a third-year senior starter at power, leads the way as the team's captain. Despite having experienced players, however, this is certainly no last gasp for the team Tessa Medlock, a Grade 10 starter, gives Aquinas some height and a strong blocking presence in the middle while Jess Pecora, who began the year with the Aquinas' junior team, is now logging significant court time with the seniors. The juniors, who are also coached by Szpakowski and his brother Ron, are also enjoying a solid season and providing more promise for the future. Szpakowski feels this year's senior team is more of a two-way threat than it was in the past. "We've always had good defence. Now we've got the offence to go with the defence," Szpakowski said. Although its 6-1 record is impressive, Aquinas is not the only small school making noise in Halton. There are at least four strong contenders for this year's AA title. Acton and E.C. Drury are both 5-2 in the North, a division that includes Halton powerhouse Georgetown, a AAAA school that has won nine of the last 11 Halton titles and is 7-0 this season. In the West, Pearson, which beat Aquinas in last year's AA final, is also 5-2. There are few easy victories for the Raiders in the East Division, home of last year's AAAA champion Oakville-Trafalgar Red Devils, who handed the Raiders their only defeat this season. Aquinas will meet the Devils in the first game back after the upcoming exam break in a game that will likely determine first place as both teams sit at 61. White Oaks, 5-2, isn't out of the picture either if it can beat OT in the regular season finale, as it did in December. "They're a really good team," Szpakowski said of the Wildcats. "They've got a lot of rep players. We had a great attack and threw a lot of different things at them and they just kept digging them." After an easy victory in the opening game, the Raiders had to stave off set point, winning a long rally to tie the second game 24-24 before winning it 27-25. That could very well be attributed to the team's experience shining through, a trend the Raiders would like to continue through to the Halton final. Defensive approach works for Vikings in Faustina tournament Playing their head coach's game plan to perfection, the Oakville Vikings won the minor peewee title at the recent Faustina Hockey Club's Annual Carl Gordaneer Memorial Christmas Tournament in Toronto. Short four players for the championship match against the host Fautina squad, Vikings coach Terry MacDougall hoped his team could score a couple quick goals and then shift into defensive mode. That's exactly what the Vikings did, as Jarret MacDougall and Matt Maloney gave Oakville an early 2-0 lead and the Vikings held on for a 21 win. "I had a good feeling coming into this tournament. These boys have been working hard and the hard work paid off," said the coach. "I'm very proud of their accomplishment." Earlier in the tournament, the Vikings tied Faustina 2-2 (goals by Jarret MacDougall and Sam Drysdale) and Cooksville 1-1 (goal by David Zilkey) before defeating the Oakville Gators 6-3 (Drysdale had a hat trick and singles went to Jack Edwards, Josh Hartford and Kustin Krawczyk, with T.J. Morneau earning the victory in goal). Other members of the team are T.J. Morneau, Justin Glenn, Jeremy Castle, Patrick Rushton, Jake Knox, Harry Neill, Alex Brioux, Mackenzie Calistan and Paul Bruno. The team is also coached by Dave Krawczyk, Doug Knox and Tom Hartford. Glen Gilbertson is the Vikings' trainer. The Vikings are a Minor Oaks Hockey Association house league squad that competes in the minor peewee red division. TOPS IN TORONTO: The Oakville minor peewee red Vikings whoop it up after winning the championship at a recent hockey tournament in Toronto. Lumberjacks impress at Capital Cup The Oakville atom white Lumberjacks got a taste of international competition recently, participating in the 510-team Bell Capital Cup hockey tournament in Ottawa. The Lumberjacks began with a 4-0 loss against the Casselman Predators, then defeated Sandy Hill 5-3 to earn a spot in the first elimination round. Oakville pulled out a 2-0 win over Stittsville and downed the Osgoode Rideau Senators 6-2, the latter game being their fourth time on the ice that day (all teams participated in a skills competition earlier in the tournament). The following day, Oakville was eliminated from the tournament with a 5-3 loss to the South Stormont Selects, finishing as one of the top eight teams in the 74-team division. The Lumberjacks met players from China, Italy and other countries, and traded pins to remember the event. The Town of Oakville, The Office of Kevin Flynn and the Region of Halton supplied pins for the boys to trade. Members of the Lumberjacks are Zachary Ristijovic, Thomas Mathieau, Garrett Fischer, Ryan Boese, Billy Fuse, Jake Ratcliffe, Andrew Butera, Neil Sachdev, Alex Horne, Martin Wisniewski, Scott Lengyel, Daniel Caruso, Scott Dutra, Brendan O'Hara, Alex Chyz, Zachary Testani and Adam Demaine. NEW FRIENDS: Oakville Lumberjacks players Scott Lengyel (second from right) and Garrett Fischer (right) trade pins with Chinese opponents at the Bell Capital Cup.