The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

ns id eh al to n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, A pr il 12 , 2 01 8 | 2 Visit insidehalton.com for more coverage Novice AE Rangers capture OMHA Central title Daren Nickel T h e O a k v ille N o v ic e A E R a n g e r s w o n th e O M H A C e n tr a l c h a m p io n s h ip b y b e a t in g K in g s to n 5-0 in th e f i f th a n d d e c id in g g a m e . T e a m m e m b e r s a re : ( f r o n t r o w , fr o m le f t ) A n d e r s L a n g a n , J a c o b M a d d o x , ( s e c o n d ro w , fr o m le f t ) D a n ie l W d o w c z y k , A a r o n N ic k e l, G a b e B r a d le y , E th a n D e v e a u x , A m a n D h a liw a l, N o la n M c N a u g h t, ( th ir d r o w , fr o m le f t ) 3 rd R ow : A a r o n R o g e r s , J a s p e r K a o , A a r o n A li , K y le L a p in s k a s , J u lia n P a lo z z i , Z e p h a n W o n g , S e b a s t ia n S u b ic , N a th a n M a n g a r o o , A s h e r A b r a m s , (b a c k ro w , fr o m le f t ) M ik e R o g e r s , D e a n L a n g a n , J e f f M a d d o x , A s i f A li , A la n M a n g a r o o , K ir n je e t D h a l iw a l a n d K en W on g . Oakville blanks Kingston in 5th and deciding game HERB GARBUTT hgarbutt@metroland.com One thing the Oakville Novice AE Rangers ex­ celled at this season was bouncing back from a loss. Only once this season, did the Rangers suffer back-to-back losses and that was way back in Sep­ tember. In the 46 regular season and playoff games since then, the Rangers fol­ lowed up their eight losses with eight wins in which they outscored the opposi­ tion 47-6. That included a pair of 5-0 wins in the Ontario Mi­ nor Hockey Association Central championship se­ ries, the second of which clinched the title for the Rangers after Kingston had forced a fifth and de­ ciding game. Borrowing from former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden, coach Jeff Maddox told his players the one thing they could control in every game was giving their best effort. "When we gave our best effort, we were a tough team to beat," Maddox said. "From the first game of the season to the last week, it was remarkable how much these kids grew over eight months. For eight and nine-year-olds, the level of investment from them to improve, it made me proud as a coach." Oakville took the open­ ing game of the series 7-2, but any thoughts that beat­ ing Kingston would be easy were washed away by a 4-3 loss in Game 2. Anders Langan posted a shutout as Oakville regained the se­ ries lead, but Kingston again tied it up with a 2-1 victory. Oakville would not be denied, though. They scored the only goal of the opening, increased their lead to 3-0 in the second. They added two more in the third to close out the se­ ries as Langan posted his second shutout of the se­ ries. "Goaltending was our forte, but our team as a whole, the willingness to backcheck and help out, it's uncommon to see that level of dedication at that age," Maddox said. "And once we got that first goal, we were like sharks in the water." The Rangers finished tied for second in a highly contested Tri-County Hockey League in which the top three teams lost on­ ly four games all season. The Milton Winterhawks finished first with Oakville and Caledon just two points back with identical 21-4-3 records. In its OMHA qualifying group, Oakville needed back-to-back wins over Milton to finish first with a 7-2 record. Oakville then swept Guelph in the quar­ ter-finals to set up a re­ match with the Winter- hawks. Milton scored a con­ vincing 6-1 win in the open­ er. However, Langan and fellow goalie Jacob Mad­ dox held a Milton team that averaged 7.1 goals per game to just three combined in a pair of Oakville wins. The Rangers fell behind 3-1 in Game 4 and Milton pushed to add to the lead and even the series but Maddox held them at bay. Oakville battled back to tie the game in the third and then Nathan Mangaroo, who had been robbed in the final seconds of regulation, scored the winner in over­ time."Milton threw every­ thing they could at us. They played their big guys a lot," Maddox said. "We stayed with three lines. We had 15 skaters and on any night, any of them could be the hero. All the work they did on their skating this season paid off and at the end of the third, I think (Milton) ran out of gas." mu,EACH FO R B O YS & G IR LS BO RN 2002-2016 L E A G U E S A V A IL A B L E T U E S -S A T 4* 12 weeks of games, starts June 3-9 A> Soccer Tots program for players bom 2015/2016 includes parents & kids in fun 30min sessions A* Teammate requests accommodated A> Paid, certified coaches * Team uniform included Af Each player receives a ball A> Team photograph included & End of Season Awards 2002-2014 LEAGUES: $207.96 2015/16 SO CCER PROGRAM: $97.35 Prices +tax a Y O U TH SO C C E R SU M M E R 2 0 1 8OUTDOOR HOUSE LEAGUES AT APPLEBV COLLEGE & ST. TH O M A S AQUINAS mailto:hgarbutt@metroland.com