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18 Sports Oakville Beaver SPORTS EDITOR:JONKUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 432) Fax 905-337-5571 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2012 Jenner savours gold medal at first world championship By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLEBEAVERSTAFF Brianne Jenner had been in the same situation before, but this time the soundtrack was much better. Three years ago, it was Canada and the United States playing for gold in overtime at the World Women's Under-18 Hockey Championship. After the U.S. scored, Jenner and her teammates had to stand on the blueline and watch the American players receive their gold medals and then listen to the Star Spangled Banner. Saturday, Jenner found herself once again wearing a Canadian jersey, heading to overtime in the gold-medal game at her first world championship with the Canada's senior team. "I've been on the other side," the 20-yearold said. "It's nice when you can have two great teams go at it and battle like that. But I definitely didn't want to hear their anthem again." Jenner wouldn't have to wait long to hear O Canada after Caroline Ouellette scored 1:50 into overtime, giving Canada a 5-4 victory. "It's pretty amazing," Jenner said. "We don't have a Stanley Cup to play for, so to represent your country and play for a world championship, and to finally have that moment, it was incredible." On a Canadian team that has seen much turnover since the Vancouver Olympics -- 11 of the 23 players at worlds were 22 or younger -- Jenner was youngest player. The Appleby College grad almost made the Olympic team in 2010 but since then Canada had even undergone a change behind the bench. York University coach Dan Church took over for Melody Davidson but Jenner made an impression in training camp prior to worlds. "Brianne's been knocking on the door for a few years. She had the opportunity to play at the 4 Nations Cup and of course was centralized (prior to the Olympics)," Church said. "She's continued to round out her game and has definitely improved. She came to camp and used her size and strength and skill very well." Jenner's first game at the worlds was one her and the rest of the Canadian team would like to forget about. The U.S., playing in front of a home crowd in Vermont, pounced on Canada, scoring five times in the first six minutes on its way to a 9-2 victory -- the most lopsided loss Canada had ever suffered. And forget about the loss is exactly what the Canadian team did. "Obviously we were really disappointed with the way we played," Jenner said. "Our mental coach Peter Jensen talked to us and said to move on, that we had paid enough for the loss." Canada bounced back with wins over Finland and Russia. Jenner picked up her first national team point, assisting on Meghan Agosta's goal in a 5-1 semifinal victory over Finland. When the U.S. beat Switzerland in the other semifinal, it set up a Canada-U.S. rematch for the gold medal. "I'd be lying if I said games against the U.S. aren't special," Jenner said. "We were eager to get revenge, especially the girls who were on the Under-18 team." The Canadian veterans weren't lacking in motivation either. Canada had not won gold at the world championships since 2007, including an overtime loss to the U.S. at last year's worlds. Hayley Wickenheiser's shorthanded goal gave Canada an early lead and it built a 3-1 advantage by the midway point of the game. Six straight Canadian penalties allowed the U.S. to take a 4-3 lead with three power-play goals. Canada would capitalize on its own powerplay as Agosta tied the game with 2:38 remaining to force overtime. Next year, the worlds will return to Ottawa and the following year the Canadian team will head to Sochi for the Olympics. Jenner would love to be a part of both teams, but for now is savouring her gold medal. HOCKEY CANADA IMAGES "Every opportunity on the ice (with the national team) is a tryout," she said. "For my GOLDEN GIRL: Oakville's Brianne Jenner won a gold medal with Canada at her first IIHF World first worlds, to win gold was incredible. Women's Hockey Championship. Canada suffered its worst defeat in international competition, 9-2 to Knock on wood, I will have that opportunity the U.S. in the opening game of the tournament, but rebounded to edge the Americans 5-4 in overtime to do that again." in the gold-medal game. Jenner, 20, is the youngest member of Canada's national team. Injury-riddled Titans hold off Sarnia to win senior B lacrosse debut By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLEBEAVERSTAFF The season hadn't even started and the injury bug had already taken a large bite out of the Oakville Titans roster. "It was just fluke things," said Josh Briscoe, GM of Oakville's new senior B lacrosse team. "One guy broke a bone in his foot, another got an infection in his eye at work, another guy had appendicitis. Then there were a couple of others who couldn't get the night off work." The depleted Titans hit the floor in Saturday's season opener against the Sarnia Beavers with just 11 runners but jumped on their opponents for seven goals in the opening period. They extended their lead to 10-3 by the midway point of the game. Still up 11-6 late in the second, the Titans began to feel the effects of being shorthanded. Sarnia scored twice at the end of the period and midway through the third, scored four goals in three minutes to take the lead. "We dominated the whole game, but the guys were gassed. We had some breakdowns when guys didn't have the energy to get back. Down 12-11, we called a timeout," Briscoe said. "The guys found that last gear for the last few minutes and brought it home." Just 12 seconds after Sarnia's last goal, Jeff Sehl scored to tie the game. Mike Gillian added two more in the final seven minutes as Oakville held on for a 14-12 victory. Briscoe said goalie Mike Cregan played "a See Titans, page 19