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26 Sports Oakville Beaver SPORTS EDITOR:JONKUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 432) Fax 905-337-5571 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2012 Daunting task Expert advice awaits Blades in OJHL West championship By Jon Kuiperij BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR Currently seeking a record fifth straight appearance in the Ontario Junior Hockey League championship series, the Oakville Blades haven't found themselves as underdogs very often in the playoffs in recent years. This, however, may be one of those rare occasions. The Blades open the OJHL West Division final tonight (Wednesday) in Georgetown against a Raiders team that won the league's regular-season points title, finishing 11 points ahead of Oakville. Georgetown has also won five of six meetings between the rivals so far this year. "Absolutely I think we're underdogs," Blades head coach Matt Moore said yesterday (Tuesday). "If you look at it, everybody's an underdog compared to them. They've absolutely earned the right to be in first place. They won consistently throughout the season, and head to head they've beaten us." On the other hand, the Blades can take solace in the fact that they've dominated the recent playoff history between the clubs. Oakville has won 16 of its past 22 post-season contests with the Raiders and has eliminated Georgetown from the playoffs each of the past four years. "If we go back a couple years... we had the same issue. We couldn't beat (the Raiders) during the regular season," Moore said. "You don't want to hang your hat on that, but it's been done before. I have full confidence in our guys from years past to pull us through this." Tonight's best-of-seven series opener will be the first time the Blades and Raiders have met since before Christmas. All but one of their six regularseason meetings were decided by one goal, and three required overtime or a shootout to decide. "This should be an emotional, hard-fought battle with very, very close games," Moore said. "I can't see games being lopsided." Both teams are coming off five-game series wins in the West semifinals, with Georgetown defeating the Burlington Cougars while Oakville ousted the Buffalo Jr. Sabres. Neither squad has played since last Wednesday. Following tonight's Game 1, the series will resume Friday in Oakville with Game 2 at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex (a 7:30 p.m. start). The teams will alternate home dates throughout the rest of the series. MICHAEL IVANIN / OAKVILLE BEAVER GIRLS HOCKEYFEST: Former Canadian women's hockey team captain Cassie Campbell-Pascall (background) puts Oakville Hornets players through their paces Saturday during an on-ice skills training session at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex. Campbell and 2010 Olympic gold medalist Tessa Bonhomme were in Oakville for Scotiabank Girls Hockeyfest, the second straight year the Hornets have hosted the event. Early exit for Titans at OFSAA basketball The Holy Trinity Titans' hopes of earning a medal at the provincial high school boys' basketball championships were dashed yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon in Ottawa. Trinity was eliminated from the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) quad-A tournament with a 51-37 loss to top-seeded Vaughan. The Titans, seeded third in the tournament going in, wouldn't have faced Vaughan in their third game had they not been stunned in their opening contest Monday by 18th-ranked Bill Crothers. Trinity trailed 28-20 at halftime before rallying to take a 46-45 lead going into the fourth quarter, but Crothers -- an athletics-based high school in Markham -- came back to earn a 60-59 upset. Trinity won its second game, 57-46 over 16th-ranked Collingwood, Monday to set up yesterday's clash with Vaughan that determined one of eight quarter-finalists in the tournament. HIGH SCHOOLSPORTS The Titans defeated London Saunders 25-18, 25-15 in their first game. Trinity then won the first set of its matchup with Ottawa Glebe, 25-21, before dropping 24-26, 16-18 decisions and falling to 1-1 on the tournament. Trinity was scheduled to conclude its round-robin schedule yesterday afternoon against Aurora, a game that ended after the Beaver's press deadlines. The playoff round began this morning (Wednesday), with the bronze-medal game slated for 4 p.m today and the gold-medal contest at 5 p.m. Blakelock wins Halton girls' hockey Tier 2 title The T.A. Blakelock Tigers won the Halton girls' hockey Tier 2 championship yesterday with a 3-2 victory over the Iroquois Ridge Trailblazers at Glen Abbey Recreation Centre. Jenn Newman, Madison Field and Cassidy McPherson scored for the Tigers, with Maddie Warner and Hannah Bale replying for Ridge. More coverage of the game will appear in an upcoming edition of the Beaver. Trinity splits first two games at OFSAA volleyball Trinity's senior girls' volleyball team came within a couple of points of opening its OFSAA quad-A tournament in Kitchener with a pair of wins.