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Jon Kuiperij Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Another Halton title for OT, but Red Devils want more by Jon Kuiperij Beaver Sports Editor Sports 25 | Wednesday, October 23, 2013 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com "Connected to your Community" Oakville Trafalgar will be a sizable favourite in today's (Wednesday's) Golden Horseshoe Athletic Conference girls' field hockey semifinals, but Red Devils player Ellie Cookson vows her team won't be looking past its opponent. OT might have been guilty of that last year. Despite outscoring their opponents 59-1 in league play, winning the Halton title and facing a Notre Dame squad that they'd beat 3-0 the previous week, the Red Devils lost their second-round GHAC game in penalty flicks and were denied a trip to the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations championships. This year, after winning their fourth straight Halton field hockey Tier 1 title with a 2-0 victory over Nelson Monday at Bronte Athletic Field, Cookson and the Devils are determined not to make the same mistake again when they host the HamiltonWentworth Catholic finalist at Bronte (3:30 p.m.). "I think we underestimated Notre Dame. We expected it to be another 3-0 win, and it wasn't. We didn't play to our standards. As our coach says, we played a Grade 11 game," Cookson recalled. "This year, we really have to concentrate on the next game before we set our sights on OFSAA." Teammate Sadie Stephenson was part of last year's Red Devils junior squad that suffered a similar fate, running the table in the regular season before losing to Notre Dame in the Halton semis. She also saw how devastated the senior players were by not qualifying for OFSAA, particularly when Nelson -- the team OT beat in last year's Halton senior final as well -- went on to win provincial bronze. "We're going to win (Wednesday), first of all," Stephenson said confidently. Oakville Trafalgar player Carolyn Black (in white) pushes the ball across the Nelson goal line during Monday's Halton senior girls' field hockey Tier 1 final at Bronte Athletic Field. Black's marker was the winner as OT earned its fourth straight regional title with a 2-0 victory. | photo by Graham Paine -- Oakville Beaver -- @Halton_Photog "Second of all, they were all really upset last year, so we all made it our goal to go to OFSAA... We thought that was most important after what happened last year." Stephenson set up Carolyn Black's gamewinning goal 10 minutes into Monday's Halton championship game, hitting the ball near the Nelson goal line before Black coaxed it into the net. Cookson padded the lead late in the first half with a blast from 40 feet away, and OT allowed only one good scoring chance the rest of the way. OT goalie Shona Struthers kicked out the shot to keep her shutout intact. "Their overall positioning (makes them difficult to score on)," Nelson coach Steve Clark said of the Red Devils, who did not allow any goals during the regular season. "They have a presence in the middle that makes it very difficult. If we try to do too much with the ball without moving it around people, they're very good with their sticks and are quickly going back the other way." Nelson will play the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic champion in today's other GHAC semifinal. Winners of today's games will meet in tomorrow's (Thursday's) GHAC final, though both will have already clinched a spot in this year's OFSAA tournament. GHAC has two spots in provincials this year because of Nelson's bronze-medal showing in 2012. "Deep down, I think (our players) recognize we weren't the better team today," Clark said. "But it's not far-fetched that both (Nelson and OT) will go to OFSAA and do very well. That's the hope." Friday, October 25th at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex Puck Drops at 7:30pm Adults $7, Students/Seniors $5, Kids FREE LOCAL JUNIOR A HOCKEY AT ITS BEST! OAKVILLE BLADES VS. BUFFALO JR. SABRES