Midget Rangers win gold in Illinois Losing just once in the first 19 games of their South Central Triple A season, the Oakville midget Rangers haven't needed to bounce back from defeat very often. When given the opportunity to do so, however, the Rangers responded well. Following its lone loss of SCTA play, Oakville travelled to Chicago and beat out nine other teams to win the Team Illinois Fall AAA Thanksgiving Classic. The Rangers opened the tournament with a 4-2 loss to host Team Illinois, the 21stranked team in the U.S. by MyHockey Rankings, before winning their next five games. Oakville avenged that tournamentopening loss in the final, edging Team Illinois 4-3 on Ryan Garvey's tie-breaking goal late in the third period. The Rangers' other wins at the tournament came over the Illinois West Dundee Leafs (5-0), Missouri Chesterfield Falcons (7-1), Michigan Nationals (4-0) and YorkSimcoe Express (3-0). Also contributing to the tournament win were Christian Difonzo, Marcel Fatovic, Sean Ferguson, Colin George, Kevin Guzzo, Matthew Gwillam, Brandon Hughes, Daniel Jelic, Eric Luzar, Sean McLaren, Viktor Mueller, Vito Peragine, Alex Riche, Connor Stack, Matthew Sutherland and Kamil Tkachuk. Tom Daley, Mike Daley, Rick Redshaw, Mario MacDonald, Anson Ly, Ezio Difonzo and Tony George coach the Rangers. Carla Difonzo was the team's co-manager for the tournament. 51 · Thursday, December 27, 2012 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.insideHALTON.com College hockey a balancing act Continued from page 50 become a physician. "(RIT's) definitely met my expectations. The program has (certainly) grown the last few years." And the next class of locals impacting U.S. college hockey is already here. Oakville's Nathaniel Domagala is being thrown right into the fire as a freshman defenceman at the College of the Holy Cross, which is currently in second place in the Atlantic Hockey Conference. "I get a good amount of ice time," said Domagala, an economics and accounting major. "The biggest difference (from junior hockey) is everyone's a lot smarter. People are in the right position at the right time and the physical aspect is different. There's not a lot of room (to maneuvre) on the ice." But perhaps the biggest challenge for the locals attending school in the U.S. is balancing the demands of top-notch college hockey with the rigours of the equally high-level of academics. "You learn a lot about time management," Domagala said. "But the education aspect is fantastic, too." Richard Bell tournament underway The Richard Bell Memorial Tournament began today (Thursday) and will run through Sunday, with games being played at rinks across the town. The annual Christmas competition, hosted by the Minor Oaks Hockey Association, is a fundraiser for the Oakville Hospital Foundation. A tournament-record 170 teams are participating in this year's event. Admission is free to all games. For a tournament schedule or for updated result, log onto the Richard Bell Memorial Tournament website at www.moha.on.ca/richardbell AIM to Care for Your Heart! Gentle exercise for Adults in Motion www.ymcaofoakville.com WINTER BREAK HOCKEY CAMPS JANUARY 2 TO 4, 2013 BRING IN THE NEW YEAR WITH AN ACTION PACKED WEEK IN THE TOP HOCKEY CAMPS IN OAKVILLE! * TIPS FOR TOTS * SUPER 6'S & 7'S * POWER SKATING * SKATING, SHOOTING & SCORING * HIGH PERFORMANCE HOCKEY SKILLS * ELITE SHOOT TO SCORE * ELITE FORWARDS CLINIC CAMP DAYS START AT 8:30 AM MEAL PLANS AVAILABLE! FOR MORE INFO, CALL 905 845 6989 OR VISIT US AT ICESPORTS.COM