26 Sports Oakville Beaver www.aplushomes.ca Adam Campbell 905-844-4444 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 Broker of Record B R O K E R A G E SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 432) Fax 905-337-5571 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2009 Blades conclude busy weekend with solid effort in Aurora By Jon Kuiperij BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR Give me some space The Oakville Blades had some built-in excuses for mailing it in Sunday afternoon in Aurora. The team was playing its third game in three days, and its visit to Aurora came roughly 16 hours after a disappointing 5-2 loss to the Couchiching Terriers the previous evening. But Oakville answered the bell, scoring the first two goals of Sunday's game and skating to a 6-2 victory over the host Tigers, improving to 9-2 on the season. "It was a very good response "We could to a loss on Saturday," said Blades head coach Jason Nobili. have easily sat "We could have easily sat and and felt sorry felt sorry for ourselves, losing for ourselves... the night before... but the team but the team didn't do that." didn't do that" Gregg Gibson paced the Blades with two goals against Blades coach Aurora, a club known as a perenJason Nobili nial power in the Ontario Junior A Hockey League. Nick Ravait, Kyle Badham, Matt Ribeiro and Mark Bennett each contributed a goal and an assist, while Ryan Murphy drew three helpers. Daniel Savelli stopped 36 of 38 shots to earn the victory in goal. The previous night at Joshua's Creek Arenas, Oakville outshot the Terriers 30-12 in the final two periods but allowed three unanswered goals in the third. Josh Ranalli had a goal and an assist for the Blades. Kyle Lysaght had Oakville's other goal. Mike Morissette took the loss in net, allowing four goals on 23 shots. The Blades opened the weekend with a 5-3 victory over the Buffalo Jr. Sabres Friday at Joshua's Creek Arenas. Murphy tallied twice with singles going to Steven Guzzo, Ranalli and Badham. Thomas Evans and Badham added two assists, and Savelli made 18 saves for the win. It was an emotional night for the Blades, who remembered former athletic therapist Bob Baird before the game. Baird lost his battle with kidney cancer last week. "It was a nice display for a man that gave a lot of his time and energy to the Oakville Blades," Nobili said. "I thought we responded with a pretty good effort." The Blades will be on the road this weekend, visiting the Trenton Golden Hawks Friday and the Huntsville Otters Sunday. Oakville's next home game is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 24, when the Villanova Knights come to town. NIKKI WESLEY / OAKVILLE BEAVER STIFF ARM: Halton Cowboys player Christian Smodis (with ball) tries to fend off several Cambridge Wolverines tacklers during Saturday's Southwestern Ontario Football Association of Leagues myte contest at King's Christian Collegiate. Smodis and teammate Evan Elliott both made some long runs during the game while Daniel Rhooms,Aiden Figlioa and Treyon Norton contributed excellent defensive plays, but it wasn't enough for the Cowboys in a loss to the Wolverines. St. Dominic wins three titles at Catholic meet Led by three victories by St. Dominic, Oakville schools combined to win 13 division championships at the Halton Catholic District School Board's elementary cross-country meet, held recently at Bronte Creek Provincial Park. St. Dominic won the Division A title in midget girls and the Division C crowns in mite girls and bantam boys. St. Bernadette, St. Matthew and Our Lady of Peace each won a pair of titles. St. Bernadette claimed the mite boys' and tyke boys' Division A pennants, St. Matthew won the atom boys' Division B and atom girls' Division C championships, and Our Lady of Peace earned bragging rights in tyke boys' Division C and mite girls' Division A. St. Vincent (tyke boys' Division B), St. Marguerite d'Youville (midget boys' Division A), Pope John Paul II (bantam boys' Division A), St. Joan of Arc (tyke girls' Division C) and Mother Teresa (bantam girls' Division A) won one division each. In individual action, 13 local runners won their divisions. Winners were St. Bernadette's Curtis Douglas (mite boys' Division A); Our Lady of Peace's Kristen Abraham (mite girls' Division A) and Derek McVey (tyke boys' Division C); St. Luke's Vanessa Parypa (mite girls' Division C) and Peter Mazur (atom boys' Division B); St. Vincent's Liam Kealey (tyke boys' Division B); Mother Teresa's Meghan Nixon (tyke girls' Division A), Sarah Nixon (bantam girls' Division A) and Isabella Borea (midget girls' Division A); St. Matthew's Victoria Corbett (tyke girls' Division B); St. Joan of Arc's Alexandra LaBuda (tyke girls' Division C); Holy Family's Elton Thompson (bantam boys' Division A); and St. Dominic's Patrick O'Brien (bantam boys' Division C). St. Marguerite d'Youville's Pat O'Shea finished third in the midget boys' Division A race, earning his fifth medal in as many years. Six more Oakville residents won medals in the Special Olympics races. St. Joan of Arc's Bryce Mutcherson won the boys' 200-metre Group 1 gold, with St. Dominic's Sebastian DeIulis earning bronze. St. Andrew's Jacob Stretton won the gold in boys' 200m Group 2, while teammate Riley Kirk placed third. In the boys' 200m Group 3 race, Mother Teresa's Christian Christou earned bronze. Pope John Paul II's Cher Dominguez won bronze in the girls' 200m Group 1 race. More than 2,300 runners participated in this year's event. · See page 28 for a list of local top-3 finishers in each division