Sports Oakville Beaver SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 432) Fax 905-337-5571 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · THURSDAY, JUNE 3, 2010 23 Going all out Hawks edge out Pearson in senior rugby D2 final By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF MICHELLE SIU / SPECIAL TO THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Pine Grove School student Teanna Rhooms (left) outraces Forest Trail's Michelle Armstrong (centre) and Clarksdale's Ann Lee to win the 11year-old girls' 100-metre race at a junior track-and-field meet Tuesday in Burlington. The meet was one of many elementary competitions held over the past couple weeks; see page 25 for results of the Halton District School Board's Collier and Gough meets. Loyola juniors get best of Aldershot once again By Kevin Nagel METROLAND WEST MEDIA GROUP BURLINGTON -- For the second consecutive year, the Loyola Hawks were too much for the Aldershot Lions in the Halton Tier 2 junior boys' rugby championship game. Loyola scored three tries, including the back-breaker late in a shortened second half, to defeat the Lions 15-7 at Burlington's Sherwood Forest Park last Thursday. It completed a senior/junior sweep for Loyola in Tier 2 boys' rugby, as the seniors edged L.B. Pearson Patriots 75 before the junior final. Last season, the Aldershot juniors moved the ball within a few feet of a winning try in the late stages but lost 12-8. Joe Sloan scored the Hawks' first try on dogged determination, refusing to go down until he crossed the try line. "He showed a lot of heart," said See Cufew page 24 After being shut out in last year's championship game, the Loyola Hawks were probably struggling to find a bright side to a 33-0 loss. A year later, the Hawks found it. The Hawks held off a surprisingly tough Lester B. Pearson squad, winning 7-5 last Thursday at Burlington's Sherwood Forest Park to capture the Halton Division 2 senior boys' rugby title. "Last year we lost to White Oaks but I think that experience helped us," said Loyola coach Jeff Crowell. If playing in championship games is the foundation for future success, the Hawks should be in good hands for years to come. Right after the seniors won, the Loyola juniors captured their second straight title by beating Aldershot. Just as they did this year, the juniors will feed the senior squad, ensuring Loyola remains a contender. "We have a good core of Grade 11s and a good group of juniors coming up," Crowell said. But as they discovered in the final, nothing will come easy. Loyola had rolled over Pearson 36-12 to wrap up a 5-1 regular season. Meeting just seven days later in the final, the Hawks won an entertaining battle. After threatening for much of the first half, Loyola finally got on the board on a try by Nat Domagala. Michael Chun added a convert that would prove to be crucial when Pearson responded with a try of its own five minutes later, but then failed to convert. The Loyola defence -- a strength all season, allowing opponents less than eight points per game -- held strong throughout. And it needed to as Loyola couldn't push the ball across the try line with the regularity it did the previous week. "We were getting a little nervous that (Pearson) was See Loyola page 24