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42 - The Oakville Beaver, Friday July 11, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com Coach stands by protest Continued from page 41 "Last year, we kind of came out and choked, didn't win a game. This gives us a lot of experience," said the 18-year-old. "We know what it takes to win now." Brad Gillies had Oakville's other goal, scoring early in the second period. Cam Watts stopped 27 of 34 shots to earn the victory in net. Buzz forward Joel Zalesky was forced to miss Tuesday's game with a concussion suffered in Game 4. He is, however, expected to be back for the start of the Mimico series. The OLA had ruled Game 5 was to be played on a neutral floor after the Buzz and Lightning were unable to agree on a series schedule. Told before the series began that the Lightning was having arena availability issues, the Buzz agreed to play two games at home and then conclude the series with three games (if necessary) in Akwesasne. That changed when Oakville gener- al manager Ken Gillies heard that the Akwesasne arena may have been available for the first two games after all, and the Buzz refused to play Game 5 in Akwesasne Monday. "The way this thing turns out in the papers and in the lacrosse community, we look like the guys who took our ball and went home after Game 4," Brown said. "That's not really the case, but it will never look any different. We'll take the heat for it but, as the first-place team, we're entitled to home floor advantage. We stuck by that, protested it (to the OLA) and got it overturned. The players settled it on the floor." Mimico defeated Oakville in two of three meetings between the clubs this season, though the Buzz posted a 14-7 win in the most recent clash June 6. Game 2 of the Eastern semifinal series will be played Sunday in Mimico, a 7 p.m. start, with Game 3 back in Oakville 8 p.m. Tuesday. DEREK WOOLLAM / OAKVILLE BEAVER HAT TRICK: Harry Hristopoulos came through with three goals for the Buzz in Tuesday's must-win game against the Akwesasne Lightning. Minor peewee Rangers yard sale The Oakville Rangers minor peewee AAA hockey team will hold a yard sale tomorrow (Saturday) to raise funds for the upcoming season. The sale will run from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 1297 Ingledene Dr., located in the Falgarwood area of town. Sporting goods, books, furniture and baby items will be among the items on sale. Cassidy headed to Paralympics Oakville wheelchair racer Josh Cassidy has been named to the Canadian team that will compete in the upcoming Paralympic Games in China. Cassidy was one of 143 athletes, competing in 17 Paralympic sports, to make the team, which was announced last week. "It's a huge relief, just being able to have it officially in the books," said Cassidy, 23. "In the last Josh Cassidy month, I knew my chances were pretty good, but it was still pretty stressful because of the criteria and because the competition is so tough." Cassidy will compete in the 800-metre, 1,500m and 5,000m distances in Beijing. He won all three distances at the Canadian championships in Windsor last week. "This year I'm in the best shape I've ever been, and I can still even get better," the Sheridan College student said. Cassidy is currently ranked second in the world in the 1,500m distance, and sixth in the 800m. In order to qualify for the Paralympics, Cassidy had to earn points by meeting standard times as often as possible, maintaining high world rankings and performing well at certain meets. He will be one of the few first-time competitors in wheelchair racing at the Paralympics, but that doesn't mean Cassidy hasn't set his sights high for Beijing. "I'm one of the newest guys on the international scene, but I know, based on competitions this year, I'm surprising a lot of people," he said. "There are guys ahead of me I know I can beat, and there are guys behind me that I know can go faster than me too. It will be very interesting to see what happens." The Paralympic Games will run from Sept. 617, following the Olympic Summer Games. -- Jon Kuiperij Hard work, training pays off for Venom Continued from page 41 Sacrament 34-29 in the semifinals of the Ontario Cup provincial championships on the way to the Eastern Canadian title. "They have a storied history of being the strongest team (in Ontario) and over the years we've had a rivalry where normally we've come out on the losing end of it. This year our girls have just kind of turned the corner and the dynamics have changed a little bit," said Traynor. CARRIERS WANTED The Oakville Beaver The Venom dominated league play as well, posting a record of 37-3 in regular-season action. Cyrus attributes much of her team's success to the hard work and specialized training they put in throughout the season. "We brought in a lot of outside training. We brought in Lyndsey (Medders, a former NCAA Div 1 player, WNBA draft choice, and instructor) from Point Guard College. Point Guard College doesn't normally let anyone under Grade 9 do their camps, but we got special permission from them, and they worked with us for two weeks," Cyrus said. Rounding out this year's Venom squad were Nina Guzina, Leah Fleming, Rachelle Cyrus, Jovana Momic, Courtney den Elzen and Emily Join our carrier club Wilk. Earn extra money and win prizes The Eastern Canadian championships marked the end of season for Many routes still available the Venom, which will continue to Call immediately for more information practice, perched in attack mode, in 905-845-9742 anticipation of its next battle.