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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday April 2, 2008 - 25 Aquinas girls make the most of their pick in the pool By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Having lost their first exhibition game 9-1, it was time for the St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders girls' hockey team to sink or swim. So they went to the pool. It was there that the team found the missing piece to what has become a historic season. Rachel Sousa, a midget house league goalie with the Oakville Hornets, had spent the previous two winters competing for the Aquinas swim team -- and doing quite well. She won the Golden Horseshoe title in the junior girls' 100-metre individual medley two years ago and last year made her second straight trip to the provincial championships. Although the Raiders had their best turnout since reviving the girls' hockey team four years ago, there wasn't a single goalie among the group. Facing what could be a very long season, captain Jaclyn Peluso resorted to drastic measures. "Jaclyn said they were going to cancel the team if they didn't have a goalie," Sousa said, "which was a lie." It was not an easy decision. Knowing she could very well be passing up a return trip to the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) swimming championships, Sousa opted to strap on the pads for the hockey team. "She came to bail us out, not knowing how we would do," said coach Beth Robertson. Sousa has no regrets about "I think it's more of her decision and is glad her an accomplishment teammate stretched the truth a (to qualify for OFSAA little. And as it turns out, she'll in hockey instead of be going to OFSAA anyway, after helping the Raiders qualify for swimming) because the provincial AA hockey cham- 18 of us are going, pionships for the first time in rather than just one." the school's history. "It's completely different," St. Thomas Aquinas Sousa said. "In swimming, it's all goalie Rachel Sousa you. Here, girls are getting goals and it's not just me letting down the team if I let in a goal. I think it's more of an accomplishment (to qualify for OFSAA in hockey), because 18 of us are going, rather than just one. And we're the first(Aquinas) team ever, so that's huge." "Honestly, it's like a dream come true," Peluso said. "It's always been a dream to make it to OFSAA." Aquinas goes into the 20-team tournament that opens today in Pembroke as the 12th seed. The Raiders know they will face some stiff competition, but they already consider this season a success. Good start for peewee AAA Rangers The Oakville Rangers got off to a strong start at the all-Ontario peewee AAA championships in Thunder Bay, winning two of their first three games. Oakville defeated the Ottawa Sting 31 and lost to the Toronto Red Wings 3-2 in Monday's opening-day action. The Rangers then started yesterday (Tuesday) with a 4-2 victory over the Sudbury Wolves. Oakville was scheduled to face the host Thunder Bay Kings yesterday at 5 p.m., a game that began after the Beaver's deadline. The Rangers will play the London Knights today at 3 p.m., then close out the round-robin schedule tomorrow with a 1 p.m. clash with the Northwestern Ontario All-Stars. Semifinal games are slated for Friday, with the gold- and bronze-medal games scheduled for Saturday. Ryan Burns scored twice and Brandon Clark added a single in the win over Ottawa. Cole Morrison had two assists, with Danny Beaver and Kristyn Capizzano also earning helpers. Kamil Tkaczuk and Conor McGlynn had the Oakville goals against Toronto, with Scott Goodman and Sean Perichak picking up assists. Ryan Burns led the Rangers against Sudbury, notching two goals and an assist. Capizzano and Perichak had the other Oakville markers. Tyler Burns and Morrison had two helpers each, with Jackson Hulbert and Austin Kosack also drawing assists. Goaltenders Braydon Banitsiotis and Jacob Smith each earned a win in the first three games. "Our school is not known for hockey, so it's already an accomplishment to make it this far," said Peluso. Not being a hockey school has made icing a team a bit of a challenge for the Raiders. Not only does the team have to compete with the school's successful volleyball program for the best athletes, it has also had trouble finding coaches. The team folded while Robertson's daughter, Lindsay, was attending Aquinas. After graduating, Lindsay heard the team was again in jeopardy and urged her mom, who had served as a trainer on several Hornets' teams, to get involved. Robertson signed on, but there was one problem: she's doesn't skate. In came former Minor Oaks Hockey Association coach Norm Kerr to handle the on-ice practices, and Robertson's son Barry, a Grade 10 Aquinas student, joined the staff this year. The team finished the year in sixth place in the Halton tier II standings with a 4-4-1 record and won its first tournament, taking the gold medal at the DD Delight at York University. "The team really bonded together," Peluso said. "Winning that tournament -- it was two days and five games -- helped us blend together." In the AA playoffs, the Raiders beat Acton 3-1 on the strength of a hat trick by Ellen Zurawell, who had been forced to play net for the Raiders the previous year. That set up a game with the Lester B. Pearson Patriots, who had ended the Raiders' season the previous three years, for the OFSAA berth. If that wasn't enough to inspire the Raiders, the team then found out Pearson had already booked its hotel rooms in Pembroke. "That pumped us up even more," Peluso said. Pearson had won the regular season meeting, 4-3, but Aquinas' rally from a 4-0 deficit had helped build the team's confidence. Grade 9 defender Ashley Starcevic opened the scoring for Aquinas and Cassy Russo and Lauren Kadet each scored a pair of goals as the Raiders won 5-3. Though the Raiders likely won't return from OFSAA with a medal, they are a young team --more than half their players are in Grades 9 and 10 -- that will benefit from the experience. They will have to replace the leadership of their captains (Peluso and alternates Elisa Martone and Allie McInnes), Russo, the team's leading scorer each of the last four years, and, of course, Sousa. But with this season's success, maybe the team won't have to look to other sports to find its players. Other members of the Aquinas OFSAA-bound team are Kelsey Kerr, Karin Morais-Salk, Guilia Martone, Brittany Russo Kelly Burns, Meghan Urquhart, Renata Martone, Hilary Farr, Nicole Wirkowski, Samantha Morneau and Cassandra Triska. 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