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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, May 9, 2014 | 26 Jon Kuiperij Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Sports by Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver Staff "Connected to your Community" Worth the wait: Feric part of local trio headed to RBC Cup It would be tough to blame Nathan Feric for feeling a little envious. The St. Michael's Buzzers traded the Oakville native after the 2011-12 season and, led by the player Feric was traded for, went on to win the Ontario Junior Hockey League championship the following year. Winning a championship is tough enough. In junior hockey, where the window of opportunity is limited by age restrictions, the chance just doesn't present itself that often. "Yeah, I was definitely a little upset," the 19-year-old Feric said, "not that I got traded, just that as soon as I left, (the Buzzers) had immediate success." Having suffered a first-round loss in his first season with the Toronto Lakeshore Patriots and then entering what was expected to be a rebuilding year this campaign, it would have been easy to think his opportunity had passed him by. Instead, the forward has played a key role in taking the Patriots to heights that even his former team didn't reach. Tomorrow (Saturday), the Patriots will open the RBC Cup in Vernon, B.C., against the Dauphin (Manitoba) Kings. The Patriots secured their spot in the national Jr. A championship tournament by winning the Dudley Hewitt Cup Central Canadian title last weekend with a 2-1 victory over the host Wellington Dukes. Feric finished the tournament with four goals and six assists in five games. No other player in the tournament had more than six points. In the trade that brought Feric to the Patriots, Lakeshore gave up Matt Buckles, who went on to finish fourth in the league with 40 goals while leading St. Mike's in scoring during their championship season. Feric may not have provided the same dynamic play, but he has been the model of consistency during his junior career, posting three straight 16-goal seasons while delivering strong two-way play. During the Patriots' postseason run, though, he's shown some previously-untapped offensive flair. He's scored 17 times in 24 games -- surpassing his regular-season total in half as many games. Throw in his five goals in six playoff games last year, and Feric has 22 goals in 30 postseason contests since joining the Patriots. "It's one of those rare trades that works out for everyone," said Patriots' general manager Mike Tarantino. "They win a championship one year and we win one the next." Feric attributes his playoff success to chemistry with linemates Kevin Shier and fellow Oakville native Doug Bonar, who has followed up a 20-goal, 50-point regular season with 10 goals and 25 points in the playoffs. "I'm the defensive guy," Feric said. "I make sure the puck stays out of our end. Kevin is more of the goal scorers. Doug, he's the workhorse. He gets to every puck, digs it out and finds us." Bonar has also delivered some clutch goals, though. He had the game-winner in each of the first two games of the OJHL final against Aurora, both one-goal Lakeshore victories. Feric and Bonar were both members of the Oakville Rangers minor midget AAA team that played in the 2010 OHL Cup (along with current Patriot teammates Marcus Rose and Tyler Enns), but if you're thinking that's where their on-ice chemistry was formed, you'd be wrong. "We didn't even play on the same line," Feric said. It was also the only year they played minor hockey together. Though it took them a while -- and Feric's trade from St. Mike's -- to bring them together, the results have been a boon to the Patriots and their playoff drive. Now they find themselves with a national championship within their grasp. "It's exciting," Feric said of the chance to play for a national title. "There are a lot of good teams in Ontario. Even though it might have looked easy (Lakeshore has won 20 of 24 playoff games), it wasn't. You can't take a day off." Nathan Feric lifts the Dudley Hewitt Cup above his head after helping the Toronto Lakeshore Patriots win the Central Canadian junior A hockey championship last weekend in Wellington, Ont. | photo by Shawn Muir -- OJHL Images Lakeside U15 boys earn bronze at Eastern Canadian volleyball by Jon Kuiperij Beaver Sports Editor Before the Lakeside Volleyball Club's under-15 boys played a game this season, coach Nik Vitas prioritized character when selecting the team roster. After the squad's final game of the year, it was evident why. The Oakville-based club bounced back from a gutwrenching semifinal loss to down rival Brampton Pakmen 25-14, 25-18 in the bronze-medal game of the Eastern Canadian championships Sunday in Sherbrooke, Que. "Both teams were deflated," Vitas said of the match for third place, which began approxi- mately one hour after Lakeside fell 25-18, 15-25, 18-16 to eventual champion Markham Outtahand in the semis. "Our boys were devastated. It was tough because I could see they just lost all desire to do anything else. We put out a challenge to them and said, `It was a good run, we were (close) to going to the final match, but we still have a chance to medal at nationals. Take whatever time you need to get in the right frame of mind and let's finish the season on a high note.'" Lakeside then went out and decisively defeated Pakmen, a squad that eliminated Lakeside in the quarter-finals at last year's Eastern Canadian tournament. "As a coaching staff, we were proud of the see Character on p.27 The Lakeside Volleyball Club's under-15 boys earned bronze at the Eastern Canadian championships last weekend in Sherbrooke, Que. | photo submitted