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41 |Thursday, January 5, 2017 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com Kevin Nagel Oakville Beaver Sports Editor knagel@burlingtonpost.com Sports I "Connected to your Community " Be M inor peew ee Selects give AE Rangers a scare By Jon Kuiperij Special to the Beaver Oakville m inor peew ee AAA Rangeis score early en route to tourney title By Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver staff Having survived a close call in the semifinal of the Richard Bell M emorial Tournam ent, the Oakville m inor peewee AAA Rangers were determined to leave nothing to chance in last Friday's final. Nick Lardis jammed in a rebound 35 sec onds into the championship game and Callum Ritchie scored twice as the Rangers won their home tournament with a 6-2 win over the ElginMiddlesex Chiefs. "It was a huge opportunity so we wanted to com e out and take it to them ," said Lardis, who also scored the Rangers' lone goal in a 1-0 semi final win over the Hamilton Jr. Bulldogs. The win over Elgin-Middlesex capped an out standing tournament that saw Oakville win all seven of its games, outscoring its opponents 3 3 5. "It was a long few days but our team showed a lot of perseverance and hard work. They were really tenacious," said Rangers coach Jaan Luik. `It' s a close-knit group and our team has a lot of depth. That helps in a tournam ent." Though Oakville controlled the play in the opening period, Elgin-Middlesex took advan tage of a breakaway to escape the period tied 1-1. The Rangers would break it open in the second, though. Jacob Crisp scored a powerplay goal on a wrist shot from the point, and a minute later Ritchie stole the puck from a Chiefs defender as he circled the net and beat the goalie stick side for a 3-1 lead. Oakville would add two m ore in the pe- Elgin-Middlesex goalie Ben Steyaert makes a blocker save on Luke Misa of the Oakville Rangers in the minor peewee AAA final at the Richard Bell Memorial Hockey Tournament Friday. Misa had an assist in Oakville's 6-2 win. | photo by Graham Paine - Oakville Beaver riod. Owen Pagniello hit Quaid Beaudry with a breakaway pass and Beaudry made no mistake lifting a backhand over the goalie's outstretched pad. Two minutes later Ritchie scored his second, converting a pass from Ty son Rowan. After Elgin-Middlesex got one back in the third; Andrew Brown stickhandled into the slot and scored on a backhand to round out the scor ing. Oakville is second in the South Central AAA Hockey League with a 1 7-3-4 record and is ranked sixth in the province. Luik said the team is playing its best hockey of the season. "W e've had good competition in our league and our team is starting to take its game to a new level." At the Bell tournament, the Rangers not only had a home crowd behind them, but also had a cheering section with players from two teams from Finland, many of whom billeted with Rangers' players during their stay. Oakville played Jokerit Red in an exhibition game prior to the tournament and then m et Jokerit Yellow twice in the tournament. "It was a great experience. It was definitely fun to have them come here," said Lardis. "Their skill level is the top thing you have to be aware of. "It was a good cultural experience for the kids," Luik said. "They learned how we play, we learned how they play. They play with a lot of puck possession." That' s exactly what Oakville showed in the fi nal, dominating the play and outshooting ElginMiddlesex 35-8. Goalies Cole Stephens and Brayden Gillespie posted three shutouts, beginning with a 6 -0 win over Jokerit in the opening game of the tourna ment. They stopped Victory Honda 5-1 and then blanked the Hamilton Jr. Bulldogs 2-0. Oakville wrapped up round-robin play with a 5-1 win over the London Jr. Knights and then won a re match with Jokerit 8-1 in the quarter-finals. Owners of a 23-2-2 record in Tri County Minor Hockey League play, the Oakville minor peewee AE Rangers haven't been put to the test very often this season. They certainly didn't expect one of their toughest challenges of the year to come from a team of house leaguers. The Rangers won their divi sion at the hometown Richard Bell Memorial Tournament Fri day at Sixteen Mile Sports Com plex, but not without getting a small scare from the Oakville minor peewee Selects, a team that was formed seven weeks be fore the tournament in order to fill out the division after another team withdrew. The Selects scored the first goal of the final midway through the second period before the Rang ers quickly tied the game, then scored twice in the third to pre vail 3-1. "We were expected to win, and those are the games that are tough," said Rangers coach George Bach, whose squad fin ished the Richard Bell tourna ment with a 5-0 record and a goals for/against ratio of 39:3. "I love being the underdog who has nothing to lose. You play a solid game and work hard. There' s stress on the players when they're see Selects on p. 42 Summer Baseball Camps August 8 -1 2 and August 15-19, M illcroft Park, Burlington Rain or Shine! If it rains the camp w ill be held indoors at Fieldhouse Summer Baseball Lessons Series Hitting Curve Balls, Hitting Fastballs, High Performance Pitching, Pitching Fundamentals Fieldhouse Pirates Tryouts for 2016/2017 Season 10U - 18U High Performance CPBL Baseball Teams Contact us: mfo@fieldhouseathletics.ca · Phone: 905-639-3421 · 5230 Harvester Road fieldhouseathletics.ca