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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Wednesday, April 16, 2014 | 18 Jon Kuiperij Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Bennett an NCAA champion M minutes, 10 minutes. This is for all of us, and everyone's a part of it." Beaver Sports Editor That mentality helped Bennett deal with the disappointment of seeing limited action once again with ark Bennett didn't score any goals for the the Dutchmen. Two years ago as a freshman, Bennett Union College Dutchmen in the NCAA missed six weeks of the season due to mono. Last year, he sprained his MCL early in the campaign and never men's college hockey tournament. For that matter, he also didn't draw any assists, throw completely recovered, suiting up in just eight games. This season, he battled hip issues and once again any body checks, block any shots or kill any penalties. never felt 100 per cent. While Bennett But don't suggest to the 22-year-old struggled to find his game, Union -- one Oakville native that he was any less part of just three schools to appear in each of of Union's first-ever NCAA championthe past four NCAA tournaments, along ship win than defenceman Shayne Goswith Minnesota and Boston College -- tisbehere, who had a plus-7 rating in the certainly found its. The Dutchmen went Dutchmen's title-clinching 7-4 win over undefeated in their final 18 contests (17the top-seeded Minnesota Golden Go0-1), making it difficult for Bennett to phers Saturday in Philadelphia. work his way back into the lineup. At Union College, a 2,200-student "(Not playing) is something that liberal arts school in Schenectady, N.Y., is definitely hard to deal with. At the they don't measure individual contribusame time, I love hockey and I love betions by statistics. In fact, Bennett said, ing around the guys. At this level, it's so they don't measure individual contribumuch more than being on the ice durtions at all. ing the games. I'm with these guys 24-7, "That's the one thing I've noticed here Mark Bennett since Day 1. Once people take their Union College men's hockey player I live with them, have class with them. We're at the rink for two hours a day," equipment off, no one treats you any said Bennett, who has four goals and differently -- whether you're the MVP or the captain or the fourth-line guy. Everyone is the seven assists in 50 career games at Union. "The lineup we had at the end of the year kind of same value. We band together. No one's bigger than the team," said the former Oakville Blades forward, who got into a groove. When you're winning, it's easy to go along with it and easy to smile," he added. "It's a great played 22 games this season but none since Feb. 22. "I think our captain, Mat Bodie, said it best. They feeling to be a national champion. It's a heck of a lot asked him what it's like to be captain of a champion- better than losing six weeks ago and already being into ship team, and he didn't talk about 20 guys. He said training season." 27 guys. It doesn't matter if you play two minutes, five see Chemistry on p.19 by Jon Kuiperij Sports "Connected to your Community" This is for all of us, and everyone's a part of it. Oakville native Mark Bennett poses with the NCAA men's hockey championship trophy following Union College's 7-4 victory over the Minnesota Golden Gophers Saturday in Philadelphia. | photo submitted Peewee AA Hornets `answered the call' at provincials by Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver Staff Two other champs The Oakville atom AA Hornets and senior A Hornets also won gold medals at the Ontario Women's Hockey Association championships, part of a seven-medal haul by the local girls' hockey association. The atom AAs edged the Stoney Creek Sabres 2-1 in their final, while the senior A squad blanked Hamilton 1-0 in their championship game. Hornets teams added two silver (bantam BB and midget A) and two bronze (novice A and peewee A). Coverage of Oakville's other OWHA champions will appear in upcoming editions of the Beaver. Every great team has that one opponent that just seems to have its number. For the Oakville peewee AA Hornets, that team was the London Devilettes. Despite compiling a 16-3-3 record, Oakville had to settle for second place in the Lower Lakes Female Hockey League after London handed the Hornets a 3-1 loss in the final game of the regular season. That same week, London again beat Oakville 3-1 at the Devilettes tournament. "It doesn't sound bad, 3-1, but they beat us pretty soundly," said Oakville coach Dominick Hardy. "We told the players they needed to pick it up. As a player, that's not easy to hear, but they understood it and they responded to it. They answered the call." The Hornets met London again in the second round of the league playoffs and after opening see Hornets on p.19 The Oakville peewee AA Hornets won the Ontario Women's Hockey Association championship Sunday in Brampton, blanking Belleville 4-0 in the gold-medal game. Oakville outscored its opponents 13-0 in its final four games of the tournament.| photo submitted