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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, January 21, 2016 | 40 HALTON TRANSMISSION 559 SPEERS RD., #UNIT 3 905-842-0725 www.haltontransmission.com Kevin Nagel Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com OT heartbreak For second straight year, U.S. edges Canada at U18 worlds By Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver staff Sports "Connected to your Community" ST. CATHARINES -- Emma Maltais paused in the hallway under the stands at the Meridian Centre. She wiped her eyes -- as red as the maple leaf on her Canadian jersey -- and took a deep breath before walking through the doorway where a dozen reporters were gathered to talk to Canadian players. Just half an hour earlier a crowd of 5,516 had fallen silent after Natalie Snodgrass scored 1:47 into overtime to give the United States a 3-2 win and the gold medal at the World Women's Under-18 Hockey Championships last Friday. "Obviously, it's not the outcome we wanted," Maltais said. "It's just a moment of, wow. You look at your teammates and we're all feeling the same thing. It was a tough game, but I think we're proud of how we played." Maltais had every reason to be happy with her performance at worlds. After breaking her wrist while working out in mid-November, she wondered if she would even get the opportunity to suit up for Canada. The Nelson High School student ended up being a key contributor to Canada's offence with four points in five games, including a pair of assists in Canada's 4-0 semifinal win over Russia. But as heartbreaking as it was coming within a goal of becoming a world champion for Maltais, who is eligible to return next year, it was even more agonizing for linemate Kristin O'Neill and team captain Lindsay Agnew. The Oakville natives were also members of last year's Canadian team that lost 3-2 in overtime to the Americans in Buffalo. "It's very difficult, but I had my teammates throughout it all," said O'Neill, who tied for the team lead with five points in the tournament. "The experiences, I'll never forget it. The loss is just something we'll have to get past, but as an experience with my teammates, it's something I'll never forget." O'Neill, Agnew and Oakville Hornet blueOakville's Kristin O'Neill jostles with an American opponent during Friday's gold-medal game. O'Neill was named one of Canada's three outstanding players. | photo by Scott Rosts -- Metroland Media Group Members of Canadian team, including Oakville's Lindsay Agnew (second from right) and Burlington's Emma Maltais (second from left) stand arm-in-arm following the Jan. 15 championship game at the World Women's Under-18 Hockey Championship in St. Catharines. Canada led 2-0 but the United States rallied for a 3-2 overtime win. | photo by Scott Rosts -- Metroland Media Group liner Jaime Bourbonnais were named Canada's top players of the tournament. Agnew, who captained Ontario Red to a national championship in November, had two goals and two assists. "They played big moments all tournament long, especially for Agnew and O'Neill. When we needed a push up front you're going to find them on the ice," said Canadian coach Lisa Haley. "O'Neill was exceptional at faceoffs all tournament long (she won 15 of 18 in the final). Jaime's got a ton of composure back there, she's loaded with some great puck skills and great feet. She was able to get us out of trouble a lot of times. They're going to be staples in our high-performance program." Bourbonnais and Oakville's Julia Edgar formed Canada's top penalty-kill pairing and they were tested, stopping the Americans on all four of their power-play opportunities, in- cluding a crucial kill when O'Neill was called for closing her hand on the puck with 3:29 to play in the third. Bourbonnais and Edgar were looking to finish off an incredible 10-month run that saw them win two provincial titles (OWHA with the Hornets and OFSAA with Appleby College) and a national title (with Ontario Red). "Jaime and I have been through a lot this year," said Edgar, who had Canada's lone goal in a 4-1 round-robin loss to the Americans. "We both really wanted to do this and finish it off, but it was a great experience and we don't regret anything that happened." Bourbonnais' second goal of the tournament put Canada up 1-0 with two minutes to play in the opening period. 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