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

`Stressed' goalie leads Titans to Halton boys' title over Eagles By Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver staff 39 | Thursday, March 3, 2016 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com There are many reasons players opt to play high school hockey over rep ­ a lighter schedule to focus on school, the opportunity to play with friends, school pride. Just don't try to add less pressure to the list. Mike Gironda isn't buying it. "I threw up this morning," said the Holy Trinity Titans goalie. "I'm a nervous kind of goalie. Last night, I was really stressed. I feel if I play badly we might not win. I want to win and I put a lot of pressure on myself." While Gironda might worry about his performance, his team certainly does not. "We don't score a lot of goals," said Trinity coach Aaron Consoli, whose team finished sixth in the league in scoring. "But Mike, especially since the start of the playoffs, has been playing great." Friday, Gironda came within three minutes of recording his second straight shutout as Holy Trinity edged two-time defending champion Abbey Park 2-1 to win its first Halton senior boys' hockey championship. "This is unbelievable," said Trinity captain Eric Hansen. "We were psyched for this. We were here two hours early. We wanted this, especially for our coach, who has been in this position a couple of times." It was Trinity's third time in the Tier 1 final in the past four years. The Titans lost to Christ the King in 2013 and to Abbey Park as the Eagles claimed their first of backto-back titles in 2014. Midway through the season, the Titans looked like unlikely candidates for the Halton final, sitting a 3-3-1. But the seeds of their Halton title were sewn south of the border at a tournament in Philadelphia. Eric Hansen (left) and Chris Bassett sandwich Abbey Park's Colin Semple (middle) during last Friday's Halton Tier 1 boys' hockey championship game at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex. The Titans won 2-1.| photo by Nikki Wesley ­ Burlington Post "We came together as a team in Philadelphia when we won the gold medal," Hansen said. "Before that the team had been on a slide, then we went there and we dominated," said Kyle Kolwich, who had a goal and an assist in the final. "Winning a championship brings everyone together and keeps moral up and obviously it led to this." Holy Trinity won its final three regular season games then added five more victories in the playoffs. That included Gironda blanking first-place T.A. Blakelock in a 1-0 semifinal win. As hot as Gironda was in the playoffs, Abbey Park's Braden Leedham also was on a roll. But Eagles coach Larry Rinaldo was worried about his goalie as the playoffs began. "He just came back from an inju- ry and he hadn't played a full game since December." Leedham showed no rust, though, allowing just one goal in the Eagles' first four playoff games. With five players returning from last year's OFSAA silver-medal winning team, Abbey Park started slowly, going 1-4-0. And while Trinity found its rallying point in another country, the Eagles found theirs at home. "The last time we played Holy Trinity we had a lousy first two periods and we were down 4-0," Rinaldo said. "We had nothing to play for but pride. Most teams would have given up but they came out and played a really good period (in a 5-2 loss)." In Abbey Park's next game, its last of the regular season, the Eagles upset Blakelock 3-1 and then won four straight in the playoffs. Not surprisingly, Friday's final was scoreless until the final minutes of the second period. On a two-on-one break, Kolwich slipped a pass to Jack Modzelewski, who redirected it into the Eagles' net. Kolwich added to the lead in the third when he broke in on the wing and fired a wrist shot that Leedham got a piece of, but it trickled into the net behind him. Abbey Park refused to surrender and with 2:28 to play Nick Greco stickhandled between a pair of defenders and lifted a backhand over the Gironda's glove. The Eagles continued to press for the equalizer and the Trinity netminder had to make a big glove save with a minute to play to protect the lead. When the final buzzer sounded, the Titans threw their gloves in the air as they rushed their goaltender. "I would have been disappointed if we didn't win this," Gironda said. "I'm a super (fifth-year) senior so I really wanted it." Holy Trinity lost 6-2 to Ancaster's St. Thomas More Monday in the Golden Horseshoe Athletic Conference AAA final, which decided the GHAC representative for OFSAA. Halton teams are at a disadvantage in GHAC and OFSAA play because Halton doesn't allow rep players. In the GHAC AA final on Tuesday, the Assumption Crusaders were dumped 9-4 by Hamilton St. Mary, which will advance to OFSAA AA play. REDUCE BMFA 2016 HOUSE LEAGUE SEASON AVAILABLE FOR ONLINE REGISTRATION recycle REUSE R E T N S I I L G RE ON L A I C E P S K A E R B H MARC ATION Register Online by Midnight, Friday March 11th and receive $50 off the 2016 House League Tackle Season. To register please visit our website. NOTE: Please do NOT click returning player. ONLINE REGISTRATION HOUSE LEAGUE TACKLE HOUSE LEAGUE DIVISIONS Tyke (players born 2008-2010) Atom (players born 2006-2007) Peewee (players born 2004-2005) Bantom (players born 2002-2003) For more information please contact BMFA Director of House League at houseleague@burlingtonminorfootball.ca rf o n i m n to g n i l r u www.b AT W O N INE L N O R E ca . l l a REGIST b t foo Coaching positions also available. To apply, or for more information, please visit our website at www.burlingtonminorfootball.ca