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34 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday November 26, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com Tigers start strong in defence of Halton girls' hockey title By Jon Kuiperij BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR The T.A. Blakelock Tigers feel they can repeat as Halton high school girls' hockey champions, but they're not expecting it to be easy. Blakelock blanked the Loyola Hawks 4-0 Monday at Glen Abbey Recreation Centre, improving to 2-0 on the Tier 1 season. The Tigers were far from dominant, however, needing several good saves by goalie Brittany Aldworth to keep the game scoreless "I think we're early and then making the most of about the their few scoring opportunities. same caliber Blakelock head coach Ron Larose as last year." anticipates an extremely competitive league this season and isn't even T.A. Blakelock sure who to label the favourite. goalie Brittany Aldworth, one of several Grade 11 Aldworth returnees from last year's championship squad, likes her team's chances. "We lost most of our Grade 12s, but we've got some good Grade 9s who have come in and filled in for them," said Aldworth, a former rep goalie who is playing out this season in the Oakville Hornets girls' house league. "I think we're about the same caliber as last year." Emily Brown is the lone returning Grade 12 player, with much of the Tigers' roster comprised of Grade 11 students. Allison Kula, who netted her first-ever high school goal Monday, and Bryanna Neuwald have been two of Blakelock's impressive first-year players. Loyola carried the play through the first half of Monday's game, keeping the Tigers hemmed in their own end much of the time, but wasn't able to solve Aldworth. Blakelock's Hillary Newman opened the scoring with six minutes to go in the second period, banging in a goalmouth rebound, and Rachel Burton extended the Tigers' lead to 2-0 before the end of the frame. Kula and Brown, the latter into an empty net, scored to put the game away in the third. The Hawks, Halton champs in 2005-06, have yet to score in league play despite outplaying each of their first two opponents. Loyola was blanked 1-0 by the Nelson Lords in the Hawks' season opener last week. "It's tough. We've scored a lot in tournaments and have a lot of scorers on our team. I don't know," said Loyola forward Meghan O'Neill, who had two of her team's good early chances. "We don't seem to bring it to the net enough." Despite her team's 0-2 start, the Grade 11 student still believes the Hawks are capable of challenging for the league title. "Our league is really competitive this year. Every game will be tough. There's no winning games 7-0 anymore," O'Neill said. "We definitely need to win the next couple games." The Hawks will have a week to prepare for their next game, scheduled to visit Notre Dame next Wednesday. Blakelock will take on the Nelson Lords Monday in a rematch of last year's regional final, won 3-1 by the Tigers. Local schools seek Tier 1 volleyball crowns Five local schools will shoot for Halton elementary school volleyball supremacy tomorrow (Thursday) in Milton. River Oaks, Sunningdale, E.J. James, Eastview and Heritage Glen will compete in the Tier 1 Halton championship tournament, scheduled to begin at 4:15 p.m. at E.C. Druy High School. River Oaks, Eastview and Sunningdale are sending girls' teams to the championships. E.J. James, Sunningdale and Heritage Glen have squads in the boys' tournament. Each team qualified by reaching the finals of its divisional playoffs, which concluded last week. River Oaks defeated Sunningdale 2225, 25-16, 15-13 in the East Division girls' final. Rebecca Forbes' hitting and saves were keys to River Oaks' win, as was the setting of Mila Krunic and Amy Hill. Sunningdale, fourth in league play before upsetting Joshua Creek in the East semifinals, was led by Morgan Caissie. In the East boys' final, E.J. James prevailed over Sunningdale in another three-set match. After losing the opening set 26-24, E.J. James bounced back to win the next two, 25-7 and 15-10. Consistently strong serving enabled E.J. James to run off nine straight points in the second set. E.J. James was the top team in regular-season play, followed by Sunningdale. Eastview won the Central Division girls' title with a 25-10, 25-13 win over Burlington's Frontenac. Eastview went on an 11-1 run to take control of the first set, then scored 12 of the first 16 points in the second set, maintaining its undefeated record (12-0) this season. The Central boys' final saw Heritage Glen edge out Eastview by scores of 2523, 25-22. Both games went back and forth, but Heritage Glen was also able to stay unbeaten (12-0). Eastview surprised last year's Halton Tier 1 champions, Captain R. Wilson, in the semifinal round. Tier 2 tonight The Tier 2 playoffs go tonight (Wednesday), also at E.C. Drury. Oakville teams scheduled to participate in the boys' tournament are W.H. Morden, New Central, Pilgrim Wood and Forest Trail. Post's Corners, West Oak and Forest Trail will compete in the girls' championships. Escape to paradise www.rbg.ca/197 Art in paradise October 27 to January 18; Mediterranean Garden; RBG Centre Visit the indoor Mediterranean Garden filled with artworks. Curated by Maryrose Coleman, PRIME Gallery. ARTISTS: Wojtek Biczysko, Sophie DeFrancesca, Elyse DeLafontaine, Hugh Hamilton, db Johnson, Julie Moon, Francis Muscat, David Constantino Salaza, Bruce Taylor, Andrew Waite, Miguel Deras Zapata Holiday Traditions Saturdays and Sundays, November 29 to December 14; 10 p.m. to 4 p.m.; RBG Centre Holiday crafts for children, live entertainment and more. HIGHLIGHTS: Pauline Grondin, The Amazing Corbin's Christmas Wonderland magic show, Splash & Boots, Playford Players, Santa's Helpers, Dickie Bird and Erick Traplin. Visit www.rbg.ca/197 for schedule. 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