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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, November 12, 2015 | 46 HALTON TRANSMISSION 559 SPEERS RD., #UNIT 3 905-842-0725 www.haltontransmission.com Jon Kuiperij Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Sports by Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver Staff "Connected to your Community" Oakville players lead Ontario to national gold Lindsay Agnew and Daryl Watts have formed the most potent duo in the Provincial Women's Hockey League this season. Together they have scored 18 goals and collected 44 points in just nine games to sit one-two in the league scoring race. Yet, throughout most of the national women's under-18 hockey championship in Huntsville, the Mississauga Chiefs teammates played on different lines. But with time winding down in overtime of Sunday's gold-medal game against Manitoba, they found themselves on the ice together. The result should not have come as a surprise. Watts broke in on the wing and fired a shot that was kicked out by the Manitoba goalie Tory Micklash. The puck came to Agnew in the far faceoff circle. "I just saw that she wasn't set up yet and tried to shoot it as quick as possible," the King's Christian Collegiate student said. Agnew's shot from the bottom of the circle eluded the sprawling goalie, touching off a celebration that was equal parts joy and relief as Ontario Red claimed the national title with a 2-1 victory. "I don't think it's even sunk in yet," Agnew said the day after the victory. "That one is right at the top. I've never scored in OT like that before so that one is pretty special." Pretty special would be an apt description of the Ontario Red captain's performance. The University of Minnesota commit led the tournament in goals (four), points (six) and, in addition to her tournament winner, scored the goal that kick-started a remarkable comeback in a 5-4 round-robin victory over Manitoba. "She's a very good leader," said Kristin O'Neill, an alternate captain with the Ontario squad, "the best captain I've played with." Though they have been opponents in the PWHL, Agnew and O'Neill have been staples on the provincial squad. The Oakville natives played together in two previous national tournaments (with Ontario Blue at nationals in 2013 and the Canada Games last year) and one world tournament with Canada. They reached the final each time but hadn't claimed a gold medal until Sunday. "Especially after silver medals the last two years, this one is really special," said O'Neill, who scored in Ontario Red's 3-0 semifinal win over British Columbia. "To win it with this group of girls made it even better." Although overtime made for a thrilling finish, an extra period of high-intensity hockey at the end of five games in five days was taking its toll. "Jaime (Bourbonnais, her Oakville Hornets teammate) and I were talking on the bench about how tired we were," said Julia Edgar. "When Lindsay scored, it was a sense of relief, and then we just couldn't stop screaming." The 17-year-old blueliner scored in a 5-1 win over Saskatchewan but it was Ontario Red's win the next day that really showed the team's capabilities. With Ontario Red down 4-1 with 10 minutes to play against Manitoba, Agnew's one-timer with 8:09 to play cut the deficit to two. Ontario Red pulled within a goal a minute later. Watts tied the game with 1:18 left and Ontario Red carried its momentum into overtime, scoring the winner four minutes in to steal the victory. "It really boosted our confidence to come back from that," Edgar said. "In those situations, you're only together for a short time and a game like that really brings everyone together." "We were a very skilled team, but that game we showed how much heart we had," Agnew said. It's a lesson several members of Ontario Red hope to carry forward on a bigger stage. Agnew , O'Neill and Edgar, as well as Oakville Hornets players Emma Maltais and Bourbonnais, all represented Canada in a three-game series against the United States in the summer, with Canada taking two of the three games. With the world under-18 championships in St. Catharines less than two months away , they all hope to be on the Canadian roster that will look to reclaim gold on home ice. Agnew and O'Neill were members of last year's team that lost 3-2 in overtime to the United States in the goldmedal game. As two of the only three players eligible to return, they will be counted on to lead the Canadian squad. And with a Canadian roster that could include as many as 11 players from Ontario Red, O'Neill said they will be able to use the experience they gained at nationals. "I think this will give us a lot of confidence," she said. "The U.S. is always tough, but now we know we can come back after losing (previous years)." -- Oakville residents Nikki Cece and Brooke Jovanovich, along with Hornets teammates Meaghan Hector and Devon Facchinato, won bronze with Ontario Blue. For more details, visit bit.ly/1lkvuQo Oakville resident Lindsay Agnew holds up the championship trophy after leading Ontario Red to national women's under-18 hockey gold Sunday in Huntsville. The Ontario Red captain scored late in the first overtime period to give her squad a 2-1 victory over Manitoba. Oakville's Kristin O'Neil, Julia Edgar and Jaime Bourbonnais also played for Ontario Red, as did Oakville Hornets player Emma Maltais. | Matthew Murnaghan -- Hockey Canada Images Loyola seeking Halton girls' basketball Tier 1 championship sweep tomorrow at Sheridan The Loyola Hawks will shoot for their fourth Halton senior girls' basketball Tier 1 championship in five years tomorrow (Friday), while the King's Christian Collegiate Cavaliers will be seeking their first in school history. Loyola advanced to the league final with a 44-32 victory over the Bishop Reding Royals in semifinal action Monday. King's downed the Holy Trinity Titans 52-39 in Monday's other semi. Tipoff for tomorrow's senior Tier 1 final at Sheridan College is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. Both teams were 7-1 during the regular season, though the Cavaliers snapped Loyola's 37-game regularseason winning streak with a 64-54 victory Oct. 6 at King's. Loyola, King's, Reding and Trinity are all still eligible to qualify for respective Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations tournaments. The Royals and Titans were scheduled to play yesterday (Wednesday) in a Golden Horseshoe Athletic Conference AAA qualifying game, with the winner advancing to play the Hamilton Catholic champion in the GHAC semis. Loyola will take on the Hamilton Catholic runner-up in the other GHAC semi next week. Both GHAC finalists will qualify for the provincial AAA tournament, since the conference has been granted two OFSAA berths. King's will play a Peel challenger Nov. 19 in a provincial AA qualifying game. Hawks to face Nelson in junior final Loyola will also be gunning for a junior Tier 1 championship tomorrow at Sheridan, where it is slated to face Burlington's Nelson Lords in the final. The Hawks cruised past the St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders 37-15 in the semifinals Monday at Loyola. Nelson punched its ticket to Sheridan with a 43-30 home win over the Georgetown Rebels. Loyola went 9-0 during the regular season, including a 33-30 win at Nelson Oct. 13. The junior Tier 1 final is scheduled to tip at 5:30 p.m. Blakelock in junior Tier 2 clash T.A. Blakelock is Oakville's lone representative in the Tier 2 girls' basketball finals, also scheduled for tomorrow at Sheridan. The Tigers will face Georgetown's Christ the King Jaguars in the junior championship at 2 p.m. Blakelock downed Frank Hayden 42-25 in semifinal action Tuesday, while the Jaguars are coming off a 19-14 win over Iroquois Ridge. Blakelock and Abbey Park lost senior semifinal games Tuesday to Lester B. Pearson and Hayden, respectively.