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2 3 | Friday, F ebruary 1 7 , 2 0 1 7 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | w w w .insideH A LT O N .com Kevin Nagel, Oakville Beaver Sports Editor, knagel@burlingtonpost.com Sports "Connected to your Community " ISl OJHL B lades in Burlington tonight T he O akville B lad es are b a ck in action ton igh t (F rid ay ) in B u rlin gton after w in n in g a pair of g am e s last w eeken d in O n tario Ju nior H ockey L eagu e play. The Blades edged the Jr. Sabres 2-1 in Buf falo last Sunday after w hipping the N orth York R angers 6-1 in Oakville two days earlier. The two wins enabled the Blades to maintain a five-point lead over the second-place St. Michael's Buzzers in the race for the South Division regular-sea son crown. Oakville currently leads the Buzzers by six points. Tyler Hildebrandt and Ryan F oss scored first- and secondperiod goals, respectively, against the Sabres, with Blades goalie Chris Elliot com ing within 2:27 of a shutout, stopping 25 shots for the win. F o ss and Jac k Jeffers both scored two goals as part of threepoint gam es in the win over the Rangers. Jackson Bales and Rajic Chris tian also scored a goal and assist each as goalie Brendan McGlynn stopped 28 Rangers shots for the win. By Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver staff second overall in the OLA Jr. A raft, fell in love the age of four As the owner and general m anager of the To ronto Rock, it's Jam ie Dawick's jo b to evaluate lacrosse talent. But he adm its he w as a little slow to recognize the abilities of a budding lacrosse talent right under his nose. "I remember I was away and I missed one of Jo sh 's tournaments," Dawick recalled of the early days of his son's lacrosse career. "Later, a buddy who had a son on the team says to me `(Josh) is good. He' s a special player.' And I was kind of `Whatever, they're still pretty young.'" Turns out that evaluation w as spot on. After a decorated minor lacrosse career that includes three national titles (two in box, one in held) and a provincial MVP award, Jo sh Dawick is preparing for the next stage after being taken second overall by Toronto Beaches in the On tario Lacrosse Association Jr. A draft. "I w as pretty honoured to go second," he said. "I'm excited. It's a great opportunity and I'm re ally looking forward to it." Dawick got a taste of junior lacrosse last sum mer, getting called up to Oakville's Jr. B team. On a strong Buzz team that finished third in the league, he didn't look out of place, scoring twice in his debut and adding three assists in his other call-up. That w asn't a surprise to M ark Follow s, who coached Daw ick in both bantam and m idget la crosse. "Jo sh is the m ost natural goal scorer I've coached. With that talent, there's not m uch you do as a coach but sit and w atch," he said. "His determination is palpable and he's got an ex traordinary straight line to the net." · · · Jam ie Daw ick never played the gam e himself, H With three national championships to his credit in minor lacrosse, Oakville's Josh Dawick is ready to start his junior career after being drafted second overall by Toronto Beaches in the Ontario Lacrosse Association Jr. A draft. | photo by Quin Vertolli - Special to Oakville Beaver and w as sim ply a fan of the sport when he signed up his four-year-old son to play in the Oakville Minor Lacrosse house league. The introduction had as m uch to do with practicality "We wanted to get him into a sport, and other than soccer, lacrosse is the only one you can play at that age," he said. "And he fell in love with it." Jo sh 's involvement and success in the game only helped to fuel what has becom e a family obsession. His dad bought the Toronto Rock in 2009 and built the Toronto R ock Athletic Centre, a lacrosse-only facility that opened in Oakville in 2012. The latter has been a boon for all lacrosse players, giving them access to a facility through the winter months. Jo sh Dawick said playing in the Rock Elite League through the winter against many of the players he will face in junior has helped him elevate his game. So too did his experience with the provincial box lacrosse teams that claimed national titles in 2012 and 2014. "As I get older, the competition gets better and better," he said. "Playing against high-level players definitely helps and I've been lucky to have a lot of great coaches through the years." That com petition will take a leap this sum m er in Jr. A. and again a year from September when he em barks on his NCAA career. Dawick has committed to the University of Denver, which won the national field cham pionship in 2015. As he prepares will for those next steps, Daw ick plans to show the sam e determination he dem onstrates when driving to the net. "I want to put in as m uch w ork as possible, get as m any reps on the floor as I can," he said. "Once you commit, that's when the hard w ork starts." J O H N WILLMOTT ARCHITECT, INC. w w w .jw architect.com WWW.WAVEHOCKEY.CA Register: 905- 336- 3434 x 10 or prog ra m s @ w a v e h o c ke y .c a H O U S E S O U R F IR S T P A S S IO N New · Additions · Cottages · Interiors · Landscape