32 Sports Oakville Beaver www.aplushomes.ca Adam Campbell Broker of Record 905-844-4444 B R O K E R A G E I N D E P E N D E N T LY O W N E D A N D O P E R AT E D SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 255) Fax 905-337-5567 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2008 Blades hope to learn from humbling in Georgetown By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF GEORGETOWN -- The Oakville Blades are learning the value of experience. While a little seasoning is important in winning, it may even be more important in dealing with losses. And the Blades were handed a doozy Saturday in Georgetown. In a key game in the battle for first place in the Ontario Junior Hockey League's MacKinnon Division, the host Raiders scored five powerplay goals on their way to a 10-2 rout of the Blades. "We had a team meeting. We got what needed to be said for us to be better off our chests," said Luke Moodie, the team's leading scorer this year with 21 goals and 41 points. "We weren't there mentally. But it's one game, so it's not something we're worried about." Moodie pointed out that the Blades were blown out 13-4 by Hamilton just two weeks prior to last year's playoffs. Yet, that didn't prevent Oakville from winning 16 of 21 postseason games to claim the league title. Coach Carlo Coccimiglio was taking more of a waitand-see approach. "We'll see what kind of character they have," he said following the loss. "How they rebound will tell us." Oakville did respond Monday, downing the Vaughan Vipers 5-1. Though not a thing of beauty -- Oakville needed four goals in the third period to get the win -- the victory suggests the team has the ability to shake off a loss and come up with victories when it is struggling. Coccimiglio said those struggles began Friday night in a 5-2 win over Mississauga that extended the Blades' winning streak to 10 games. Oakville needed goals by EAMONN MAHER / SPECIAL TO THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Adam Simms and Julian Cimadamore (the latter's secA LONG NIGHT: Oakville Blades' Kellan Lain (in blue) tries to redirect the puck past Georgetown Raiders netminder Tony Capobianco ond of the game) in the final six minutes to put away a Saturday in Georgetown. Lain and the Blades suffered their worst defeat of the Ontario Junior Hockey League season, falling 10-2 to their diviteam that had won just four times in 25 games this seasion rivals. son. Saturday in Georgetown, Oakville gave the Raiders three powerplay opportunities in the first period but the game was still scoreless going into the intermission. Penalties costly against Raiders The Blades didn't realize their good fortune, though, and from the first two Raiders goals, which came 36 seconds apart, the Blades were on their heels. Often unable to clear their own zone, they resorted to restraining fouls, which only exacerbated the problem. Oakville served up another five powerplays in the period and Georgetown capitalized on four of them to build a 6-0 lead. Georgetown would pile on four more goals in a 5:30 span early in the third to make it a laughable 10-1. It was the Blades that took advantage of penalties Monday in Vaughan. Moodie and Lindsay Sparks spotted Oakville a 2-0 lead, but they found themselves up by just one goal with eight minutes left in regulation. Power-play goals from Taylor Farris, Ryan Murphy and Kellan Lain secured the victory for Ian O'Brien, who made 27 saves. The win moved Oakville (20-4-0) back into a firstplace tie with Burlington (19-4-2). Georgetown (18-31) sits three points back in third. The Blades will have a chance to sort things out with their next three games at home, including meetings with Streetsville (Friday) and Milton (Saturday) this week. Both games are 7:30 p.m. starts at Joshua's Creek Arenas. Deana Everrett Amanda Cicchini Justine Bernier Sloane George Carrie Kalata Everrett, Cicchini and Mountaineers eliminated Bernier in under-20 World Cup; George, Kalata help Brock to national silver Despite getting two goals from Deana Everrett, the West Virginia Mountaineers fell 3-2 to Virginia in second-round play of the NCAA women's soccer playoffs Saturday in Charlottesville, Virginia. Virginia scored three times in the first half before Everrett rallied West Virginia with a pair of goals in the second half. The goals gave the Oakville senior seven goals this season and 39 for her career, the third-most in school history. Everrett and Oakville's Amanda Cicchini helped the Mountaineers post a 14-3-6 record and win their third straight Big East American Division championship. The team's three losses tied the school record for the fewest in a season. U20 World Cup starts tomorrow Oakville's Justine Bernier and Canada's women's under-20 soccer team will begin their run at a gold medal tomorrow (Thursday) as the FIFA Under-20 Women's World Cup kicks off in Chile. The 16-team field is divided into four groups, with the top two groups advancing to the playoff round. Canada will face Japan Thursday in its opening game, followed by Congo and Denmark. All of Canada's games will be streamed live on CBCSports.ca. Bernier, a sophomore keeper at the University of Alabama, has not allowed a goal in 251 minutes with the national squad. Brock second at CIS Two Oakville players earned a silver medal at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) women's soccer championship. Sloane George and Carrie Kalata helped the Brock Badgers reach the national final, where they were edged 1-0 by Trinity Western University. Brock, the Ontario champions, reached the final with a 2-1 win over Cape Breton in the quarter-finals. George scored in Brock's 2-0 win over Montreal in the semifinals.