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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Wednesday, September 18, 2013 | 18 Jon Kuiperij Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Sports "Connected to your Community" OMLA product White scooped in NLL draft by Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver Staff In the days leading up to the National Lacrosse League draft, Mark White had conversations with several teams. Coming off a strong four-year career at the University of Southern Maine and two solid seasons in Major Series Lacrosse, there was little doubt that White would hear his name called Monday night at the Toronto Rock Athletic Centre. The questions of who and when still remained, though. As the draft approached the end of the third round, White was still waiting nervously. When the defending champion Rochester Knighthawks finally called his name, taking him with the 27th overall pick, it made sense, yet was still a bit of a surprise. Rochester was one team White had little contact with leading up to the draft. As it turns out, the Knighthawks either didn't want to tip their hand -- they didn't have picks in either of the first two rounds -- or they already knew everything they needed to about White. "He will do whatever it takes to get on this roster. He will push everyone to get better," said Rochester coach Mike Hasen. "He is quick and goes into the dirty areas to get the loose balls, and pushes the ball up the floor very well." It was playing for Hasen, with the Brampton Excelsiors of Major Series Lacrosse, that White first started to believe he could have a career ahead of him in the NLL. "It was always a dream of mine," he said, "but it really kicked in two years ago playing in MSL. A lot of the NLL guys are in the league and I was competing and doing well and I started thinking, `Maybe I have a chance of cracking a lineup.'" White finished second in scoring in each of his four years at Southern Maine, including 28 goals in 16 games in his senior season to earn all-conference see Two on p.19 Holy Trinity Titans player Marcus Membrere (left) stiff-arms Notre Dame Fighting Irish opponent Kurt Barbato during Friday's opening game of the Halton high school senior football Tier 1 season. Trinity defeated the Irish 23-8. | photo by Graham Paine -- Oakville Beaver -- @Halton_Photog Trinity, Loyola kick off Sr. football campaigns with wins The Holy Trinity Titans and Loyola Hawks both began the Halton high school senior Tier 1 football seasons on the right foot, winning their opening games Friday. Trinity defeated the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 23-8 in Burlington while the Hawks needed overtime to down the Christ the King Jaguars 15-9 in Georgetown. Titans QB Nathan Rourke and receiver Will Ellis accounted for two of Trinity's three touchdowns, connecting on a pair of TD passes that covered a combined 110 yards. Rourke completed seven of 11 passes overall for 173 yards, and Nathan Haye contributed 177 rushing yards on 15 carries. Nigel Goodridge scored the Titans' other major on an interception return, and Sean Wolczyk booted two extra points. The Trinity defence held Notre Dame to 15 yards through the air and 113 overall. O.J. Ofulue was the hero for Loyola, scoring both the Hawks' touchdowns. The second-year player returned a kickoff for a touchdown during regulation, then provided the winning score in OT on a 10-yard rush. Fullback Brett Colangelo set up the second touchdown with strong running between the tackles. Alejandro Torres kicked a convert for the Hawks, whose other points came on a safety. Linebacker Sam Redden also had a strong game for Loyola, according to coach Dan O'Hara. Both Loyola and Trinity are home tomorrow (Thursday), with the Hawks taking on the defending champion M.M. Robinson Rams and the Titans hosting the Corpus Christi Longhorns. Kickoff time for both games is 4:15 p.m. The Tier 2 senior season begins tomorrow, when St. Thomas Aquinas hosts Bishop Reding. Friday, Iroquois Ridge visits White Oaks, Oakville Trafalgar travels to Georgetown and Abbey Park entertains T.A. Blakelock. Girls' basketball, boys' volleyball and girls' field hockey campaigns also begin this week. For full schedules of all levels and tiers, log onto bit.ly/nHmoOP . Blades drop weekend pair, now 1-3 on OJHL season A pair of weekend losses dropped the Oakville Blades to 1-3 on the Ontario Junior Hockey League season. The Blades fell 4-3 to the Cobourg Cougars Friday at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex, then were downed 5-2 Saturday by the host Mississauga Chargers. Sean Kohler, Vince Palermo and Keigan Goetz scored Friday for Oakville. Despite Cobourg outshooting the Blades 33-10 through two periods (and 45-18 overall), the teams were tied 2-2 until the Cougars scored twice in 39 seconds midway through the third period. Goetz's marker came with 12 seconds remaining, but the Blades could not manage the equalizer. Evan Buitenhuis took the loss, stopping 41 shots. Saturday, Kamil Tkaczuk and Kohler supplied the Oakville goals as the Blades trailed 3-2 through two periods. Mississauga broke the game open with a pair of power-play tallies in the final 1:19 of regulation, following a spearing major to the Blades' David Dischiavi. Brendan McGlynn stopped 35 of 39 shots in his goaltending debut with the Blades, while Oakville resident Austin Washkurak made 35 saves to record the victory for the Chargers. The Blades hope to snap their threegame losing streak tomorrow (Thursday) when they visit the Newmarket Saints. Oakville will then host the Burlington Cougars this Saturday at Sixteen Mile, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Mark White (centre) poses for a picture with new Rochester Knighthawks teammate and fellow Oakville resident Dan Dawson (left) and Knighthawks head coach Mike Hasen. | photo by Michael Ivanin -- Special to the Beaver