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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, F eb ru ar y 8, 2 01 8 |74 SPORTS Zach Bramwell eyes Ivy League hockey Photo by Mark Newman Zach Bramwell is looking forward to playing hockey with the Big Red at Cornell University. 18-year-old Hamilton Huskies grad commits to Cornell MARK NEWMAN mnewman@hamiltonnews.com Zach Bramwell is looking for­ ward to being part of the Big Red hockey machine. The 18-year-old and Hamilton Huskies grad has committed to play university hockey at Cornell in Ithaca, N.Y., either next season or two seasons from now. "Cornell was probably my first choice, I think," said Bramwell. He is one of the top centres with the Oakville Blades of the Ontario Provincial Junior Hock­ ey League and has amassed 20 goals and 18 assists in 45 games this season. Playing hockey at an elite level runs in the Bramwell family. Ol­ der brother Conner is a forward with the Drummondville Volti- geurs of the Quebec major junior league, while younger brother Jacob is a defenceman with the Huskies AAA major bantam team. The six-foot-one, 185-pound Grade 12-plus student at St. Jean de Brebeuf high school was named rookie of the year last sea­ son with the Jr. B Ancaster Ava­ lanche, where he was the team's top scorer with 29 goals and 33 as­ sists over 47 games. Bramwell said he wanted to move up to the Jr. A level this sea­ son because it offered a better op­ portunity to play college hockey in the United States. "There's not as much exposure to NCAA in Jr. B as there is in Jr. A," he noted. Blades head coach Mike Tarantino called Bramwell a "great kid" who always plays a complete game. "He has a very strong hockey IQandhasa knack for putting the puck in the net," Tarantino said. "We're excited for Zach and he is scratching the surface in terms of his full potential." While he didn't hesitate to jump at the offer which includes some financial aid (there are no athletic scholarships at Ivy League universities), Bramwell, who has an 88-per-cent average at high school, added he likes Cor­ nell's academic programs and a degree in business will look good on his resume. "If I go to a good school it will open more doors for me in the fu­ ture (after hockey)," Bramwell said. Whether he plays next season or in a couple of years is up to the Cornell coaching staff. Bramwell said he expects to hear from them once the junior hockey season wraps up. "Worst case is I get the chance to develop more here," said Bramwell, who has two more sea­ sons of junior hockey eligibility. "Another year of junior would definitely not hurt, it would give me a chance to get bigger and stronger and improve my game." Oakville currently sits in third place in the OPJHL's South Division with a 33-12-3 record, good for 69 points behind North York (72 points) and Toronto (77 Points). With a couple of games in hand, Bramwell said he thinks the Blades can catch North York for second spot and then go on an extended playoff run. "We've got a lot of depth, a lot of skill all the way through four lines of forwards and three sets of defence," Bramwell said. HIGH SCHOOL Trinity undefeated in return to girls' hockey HERB GARBUTT hgarbutt@burlingtonpost.com Holy Trinity coach Jim McIn­ tosh knew he'd have a pretty good team, if he could get it on the ice. "We came into the season not having enough players," said the Titans' Quinn Kolwich. "We only had eight or nine. We weren't sure we were going to have a team." The Titans had a team that played in tournaments last sea­ son, but Holy Trinity had not iced a girls' hockey team for league play since 2013. That was the last year that the Halton Secondary School Athletic Association al­ lowed rep players in its league. But with the formation of the Halton Catholic Athletic Associ­ ation last year, rep players were welcomed back. That opened the door for players like Kolwich, a member of the Oakville Hornets midget AA team, to play for their school. McIntosh knew he had a good core of returning players, just not enough of them. With his players recruiting their schoolmates, the Titans doubled their numbers to 16. Since overcoming that obsta­ cle, the Titans have been unstop­ pable. Holy Trinity is averaging just less than six goals per game. Emi­ ly Baxter, the leading goal scorer for the Burlington Barracudas of the Provincial Women's Hockey League, leads the offensive. Trin­ ity doesn't rely solely on its cap­ tain, though. Natasha Melluish (five goals against Reding), Kol­ wich (four goals), Sophia Lombar­ do and Madison Seaver also con­ tribute to the league-leading of­ fence. It has not been simply a matter of outscoring their opposition, though. The Titans 1.56 goals- against average is also the best in the league. In a pair of games bookending the Christmas break, the Titans held the Christ the King Jaguars, the league's second-high­ est scoring team, to a single goal in 3-1 and 5-1 victories. With a 14-1 win over Bishop Reding in the final game before the exam break, the Titans im­ proved to 8-0-1. Trinity also reached the final of a tournament at York University, where they were edged by Barrie's St. Anne's in a shootout. "We're solid at every position," McIntosh said. Though the Titans had an un­ certain beginning to the season, they know where they would like it to end. "We started talking about OFSAA before the game today," said Melluish. "That's our goal." And Trinity is in position to make a run at the provincial high school tournament for a few years.'We have a good balance of grades," said McIntosh, whose team has just four graduating players. "We're not loaded with Grade 12s." Beat cash emergencies with a Cash Advance. 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