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w w w . o a kv ill eb ea ve r.c o m O A KV IL LE B EA V ER Fr id ay , O ct ob er 2 9, 2 01 0 3 6 By Jon Kuiperij BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR After nine years of frustration, the Oakville Trafalgar Red Devils are once again the Halton senior girls field hockey champions. OT soundly defeated the Loyola Hawks 7-0 in Wednesdays Halton final at OT, earning the schools first regional senior girls field hockey crown since 2001. The Devils hoped to earn a spot in the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) tournament yester- day (Thursday) when they visited Hamiltons St. Thomas More in the Golden Horseshoe Athletic Conference (GHAC) final, a game that ran past the Beavers press deadline. But, for one day at least, the Red Devils were happy to celebrate that elusive Halton championship win. Its always tough to get here, said longtime Red Devils coach Jim Groen. Its nice to get back and come out on the winning side this time. Groen speaks from experience. OT had lost its previous six appear- ances in the Halton final, falling to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish each year from 2002 to 2007. Five of those defeats came in shutout fashion. The Red Devils werent about to be shut out in this years final, however. OT led 3-0 by half- time and then piled on with four more goals in the second half to abruptly end the storybook play- off run by the under- dog Hawks. Loyola was third in the Richardson Division standings with a 7-2-1 record, but surprised the Holy Trinity Titans 4-2 in the quar- ter-finals and then upset the defending Halton champion Nelson Lords 2-1 in the semis. Theyre a good team, Groen said of the Hawks, who were mak- ing their first-ever appearance in the Halton senior finals. We got up on them early on and kept going. Our girls didnt take anything for granted. They had to work hard. Lori Israelian paced OT with a pair of goals, while Alyssa Bull, Daniela Deschamps, Katie Taft, Jessica Henry and Danielle Black potted singles. Sarah Barabas recorded the shutout for the Red Devils. OTs tougher game on the way to the championship was its semifi- nal matchup Monday against arch- nemesis Notre Dame. The two teams were tied 1-1 through regu- lation time and overtime before OT prevailed in a shootout. Its tough to get out of Halton, Groen said. Thats an understatement. The last three teams to represent Halton at OFSAA came home with medals, while OT won provincial bronze in 2006 (when the Devils lost to Notre Dame in the Halton final but then beat the Irish in the GHAC championship). If OT advances to this years tournament, a top-three finish is once again the target. We would hope that wed come back with a medal. That was the goal from the beginning of the year, said Groen, calling this years squad the best he and Marlene Hume have coached in their dozen years together. Our depth makes us so strong. Were very deep. We have players on the bench that could start any other year. Three members of the Red Devils Leah Burke, Emily Farquharson and Bull are provincial team players. Hawks coaches proud The lopsided result in Wednesdays final, meanwhile, did nothing to tarnish the Hawks suc- cess this year in the eyes of coaches Erin Gilmore and Julia Gris. We fell apart a little bit, but were very proud of what theyve done, said Gris. Gilmore admitted that reaching the finals wasnt even on the coach- es radar at the beginning of the season. I dont know that we were thinking top two. We were thinking top four, she said. This was a bit of a surprise to me, but the girls really pulled it together and showed us what they were capable of. The coaches credited Erin Scott, Stefanie Rasquin and Jeanette Gamble as major keys to Loyolas strong year. Scott was the teams motivational leader, Rasquin was the Hawks top playmaker and Gamble provided solid goaltending throughout the season. Loyola will lose only five players to graduation next season. We had a good group coming out for the junior team this year, more than weve ever had, added Gilmore. Maybe well see that fol- low through next year. Red Devils back on top of Halton field hockey THATS MORE LIKE IT: Eli Cookson (left, in red) high-fives Oakville Trafalgar Red Devils teammate Jessica Henry following a goal in Wednesdays Halton senior girls field hockey final. OT defeated the Loyola Hawks 7-0. OT wins first senior title in nine years Nine years of frustration Since defeating the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 1-0 in the 2001 Halton final, it had been a tough run for the Oakville Trafalgar Red Devils senior field hockey program. YEAR HALTON FINAL RESULT 2001 Oakville Trafalgar 1, Notre Dame 0 2002 Notre Dame 3, Oakville Trafalgar 2 2003 Notre Dame 3, Oakville Trafalgar 0 2004 Notre Dame 2, Oakville Trafalgar 0 2005 Notre Dame 1, Oakville Trafalgar 0 2006 * Notre Dame 2, Oakville Trafalgar 0 2007 Notre Dame 2, Oakville Trafalgar 0 2008 Notre Dame 3, Nelson 1 2009 Nelson 5, Notre Dame 4 (shootout) 2010 Oakville Trafalgar 7, Loyola 0 * OT won OFSAA bronze in 2006 Its always tough to get here. Its nice to get back and come out on the winning side this time. Oakville Trafalgar coach Jim Groen NIKKI WESLEY / OAKVILLE BEAVER U16 Raiders win OYSL The Oakville Raiders under-16 boys A soccer team capped off its 2010 campaign recently by winning the Ontario Youth Soccer League championship with a 1- 0 victory over Ajax. The Raiders finished the season with a record of 14 wins, two ties and one loss, scoring 48 goals while allowing only nine. Members of the team are Andrew Sacchetti, Marco Gennaccaro, Tommy Hong, Adam Camillo, Karlo Bobinac, Andrew Sahai, David Bynce, Kieran Davis, Derek Peters, Christian Briscoe, Nicholas deGrave, Ethan Danielli, Piotr Obyrtacz, Jeffrey Podgorski, Cameron Galea- Andrews, Devon Lio, Darrin MacLeod and Christian Kusiewicz. Ed McBride and Joe Madill coach the team. TOPS IN THE OYSL: The Oakville Raiders under-16 boys A soccer team won the Ontario Youth Soccer League championship this season.