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

in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, M ay 1 0, 20 18 | § LACROSSE Abbey Park looking to extend lacrosse success HERB GARBUTT hgarbutt@metroland.com Some teams compete for years and never win an OFSAA medal. The Abbey Park Eagles lacrosse team's experience has been much different. Now in its third year, it has yet to have a season where it hasn't won an OFSAA medal. The defending Ontario AA champions are again off to a great start at 5-0 following a 8-5 win over Oakville Trafalgar, but coach Patrick Coyne admits it will tough adding to OFSAA medal haul. "It will be a challenge with all the kids that graduated. We're a very young team," he said. "Even winning Halton is going to be a challenge with OT (Oakville Trafalgar)." In its first two years, Abbey Park didn't necessarily need to win the Halton title to advance because it was a AA school. But with the school's growth, it was reclassified to AAA this year, meaning it will now have to get by not only OT, who qualified for OFSAA last year, but four-time defending champion Holy Trin­ ity of the Halton Catholic league. Still, few could have expected a first-year program to win an OFSAA medal, as Abbey Park did in 2016, including the Eagles themselves. A close-knit team off the field carried that on to the field. "We knew we had a good team, but I don't think we had it in our minds that we were going to win OFSAA bronze the first year," said Will McAllister, the lone returning starter on de­ fence. "We all have a passion for lacrosse. A lot of us play togeth­ er outside of school and we're all friends." It's a group that's tight enough that even after players graduate, they still come back. Kevin Dong, who helped get the Abbey Park team started, has re­ turned as an assistant coach af­ ter winning the Baggataway Cup (the national university champi­ onship) with the Western Mus­ tangs in the fall. Dong was among a large grad­ uating class last year, leaving the Eagles with a much younger team - there are just four Grade 12s on the team this year. The Eagles are fielding an all- Grade 10 attack unit of Chris Dong, Lucas Hucal, Owen Coyne, James Carroll and Ethan Staton. That allowed the Eagles to move Justin Sykes, who had a hat trick in last year's provincial final, back to midfield where he's joined by Harrison Rees, Gareth Mann and Matt Evans. The Eagles' athletic talents are just limited to lacrosse. Goalie Chase Strychaluk was drafted by the London Knights (as a forward) in this year's On­ tario Hockey League draft while Rees was drafted by Erie in 2016. With a younger team, Coyne is scaling back this year and not playing tournaments. "Last year was a lot of com­ mitment for the players, but most of them were Grade 12 and they were already accepted (to university) so they could give that commitment." Even with the lighter sched­ ule, the Eagles are not ruling out a third straight provincial med­ al. "We have the potential to con­ tend," McAllister said. "If we can get (to OFSAA), we have a lot of skill." PLEASE RECYCLE THIS PAPER OAKVILLE EXECUTIVE GOLF COURSES . ALL DAY GOLF MONDAY $41 (lax ind.) • TUESDAYS lor SENIORS (60+) $34 (lax incL) 1 EARLY BIRD WED. THURS.&FRI. BEFORE 9am* FRIDAY 9 & DINE IS BACK 1 I JUNIOR / ADULT SPECIAL ■ Im im h m IJUNIOR / ADULT SPECIAL - Juniors age alter WOMEN'S & MEN'S LEAGUES O i j f (Regular/Spring rate) Valid Monday - Friday until June 2 9 /1 8 MUST PRESENT THIS COUPON. Jl 4414 Fourth Line at Lower Base Line (Eglinton Ave.) Call for tee times 905.875.EXEC (3932) ■ i f | Signature Golf Courses Designed by Rene V. M uyhert, www.oaKvmegoii.ca | One o f Canada's Premiere Golf Course Architects. SOCCER Subs help Oakville earn draw in Women's League 1 Ontario debut Natalie Bukovec scored in the 84th minute as the Oakville Blue Dev­ ils earned a 2-2 draw in their Women's Leaguel Ontario debut Saturday. Bukovec, who had come on midway through the second half, scored the tying goal from the edge of the penalty area as the Blue Devils earned their first point. Unionville Milliken SC twice took the lead against Oakville but each time the Blue Devils bat­ tled back to even the score. Though Oakville ap­ plied early pressure, it was Unionville that struck first, scoring on a rebound in the 27th min­ ute. Justine Rodrigues looked to have scored Oakville's first Leaguel goal in the 31st minute, but the play was ruled off­ side. The Blue Devils wouldn't have to wait much longer, though. Emily Kuta, who had subbed in earlier in the half, found the net with a strike from outside the box in the 35th minute for the Blue Devils historic first goal. Kuta nearly added an­ other early in the second half but her shot sailed over the crossbar. Unionville regained the lead in the 54th min­ ute. The home squad threatened to put the game away but a goal-line clearance kept the Blue Devils within one. That would prove to be important as with time becoming a factor, Buko­ vec got the equalizer. The Blue Devils will play their first home game Sunday, May 13 against Durham United FA. Game time is 4 p.m. at Sheridan College. mailto:hgarbutt@metroland.com http://www.oaKvmegoii.ca