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Novices edged in Horseshoe final By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF 19 · Wednesday, January 6, 2010 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com BURLINGTON -- The third time wasn't a charm for the Oakville Rangers. The novice AAA squad had already delivered some late heroics at last week's Golden Horseshoe hockey tournament. Ty Jackson scored in overtime in a 3-2 quarter-final win over Port Credit, and his goal with three minutes to play gave Oakville a 4-3 semifinal victory over Duffield. That set up a final against the Rangers' nemesis, the host Burlington Eagles. "We knew we were in for a tough game," said Oakville coach Bryan McDermott. "We've played them six or seven times over the last couple of years." But, despite an impressive record of their own (45-4-0), the Rangers hadn't beaten the Eagles, who sport a 44-1-0 record overall this season, since last November. Burlington looked to have put the game away with a pair of third-period goals that broke a 1-1 tie. But the Rangers refused to give in. Matthew Franzoi fired home a rebound off a Dylan Jackson wraparound attempt with 2:20 to play, setting up a frantic finish in which Oakville pushed for the equalizer. But the Eagles would hold them off for the 3-2 victory. "They're a team you can't let up on," said Burlington coach Gary Mitchell. "They have strong goaltending, good defence and three strong lines. I like to think our team is simi- lar." Certainly there isn't much separating the two teams. In their lone regular-season meeting this season, Burlington needed three third-period goals to overcome a 2-0 deficit. And last week, the difference might have been the width of a goal post. Just before Franzoi's goal, the Rangers' Jack Tos fired a shot off the iron. Oakville won seven straight games to reach the final, outscoring its opponents 3510. Along the way, the Rangers beat another familiar foe. Their semifinal game pitted them against Port Credit, a team Oakville had beat in the final of both the Port Credit and Whitby tournaments. Edging Port Credit in overtime, the Rangers moved on to the semis where Ty Jackson scored twice and Ryan O'Hara and Franzoi, who had eight goals in the tournament, had the other markers in a victory over Duffield. Although the final didn't work out the way they hoped, the Rangers -- who will host the OMHA championships in the spring -- hope to see more of the Eagles at the end of the season. "They're a tough team," McDermott said. "Part of (beating them) is a psychological thing, even at eight years old. But we're going to play them seven or eight more times in the regular season and in the OMHAs." That leaves the Rangers plenty of time to figure out their rivals. More medals for OAK swimmers Oakville Aquatic Club (OAK) members continue to pile up the medals as they work towards qualifying for the various shortcourse championships to be held next month. Eleven OAK athletes posted top-three finishes in at least one event at the recent Team Aquatic Supplies Dash for Cash meet in Guelph. Hannah Hunt, Tarrah Price and Dejan Pajovic each brought back a gold; Michael Kalman, Owen Scarrow, Hugo Truong and Aidan Tyrrell won silver; and Alexandra Fabugais-Inaba, Carly Jazbec, Scott Love and David Whiteside collected bronze. A dozen more OAK swimmers picked up medals at the 11th annual Mega City ShortCourse Special in Etobicoke. Mackenzie Martyn was the big winner, earning two gold, three silver and three bronze at the competition. Jordan Pollock, Alyson Smith, Curtis Li and Avery Tronson also won gold, while bronze medals went to Milan Bowie, Madeleine Jeffrey, Chloe Lawson, Bryanna Samuels, Owen Duncan-Snobel, Victor Komadina and Jack Neal. In other club news, OAK swimmers Marni Oldershaw and Annie Harrison were part of the Swim Ontario Youth Tour Team that competed in the Paul Bergen Junior International Invitational last month in Oregon. Oldershaw posted a personal-best and club-record time of 1:03.68 in the female senior 100-metre backstroke and cracked the top eight in two events, including a fourth-place finish in the senior 200m individual medley. Harrison placed in the top 16 in four events. Ice rallies late for win over Stoney Creek The Oakville Ice scored twice in the final two minutes of regulation time to rally for a 3-2 road win over the Stoney Creek Sabres Sunday in Provincial Women's Hockey League play. Cassie Albertine tied the game with 1:33 to go in the third period before the Ice's Courtney BrindAmour-McClure netted the winner with 14 seconds left on the clock. Alie BrindAmour-McClure had the other goal for Oakville, which improved to 9-10-41 on the season and sits 11th in the PWHL standings. The previous evening, the Ice was blanked 2-0 at Joshua's Creek Arenas by the Bluewater Hawks, Oakville's only loss in its past six games. The Ice will travel to Brampton Friday for a clash with the Junior Thunder, then return home Saturday to face the Ottawa Lady Senators. Game time Saturday at Joshua's Creek Arenas is slated for 4:30 p.m.