South dumps North in Halton all-star hockey The best of Halton high school boys hockey players got together last week for a North vs. South contest, with the South proving to be a fair degree better. The South all-stars, with a couple of goals each from Loyola's Nathan Gelinas and Abbey Park's Ben Prentice, whipped the North 8-1 at Appleby Ice Centre. Other goalscorers for the winning side included Mike MacDonald of T. A. Blakelock, Ryan McIvor of Aldershot, Jordon Boulding of Oakville Trafalgar and Owen Burningham of Robert Bateman. Daniel Moll of Iroquois Ridge scored the lone North goal. Halton South's Aaron Yakiwchuk (white sweater) of Notre Dame takes out Halton North's Kyle Kolwich (Holy Trinity) in last week's Halton high school boys' all-star game at Appleby Ice Centre. The South won 8-1. | Photo by Graham Paine Burlington Post Local connection in 45's OMHA win Six hockey players from Oakville helped the Brampton 45's win a bronze medal at the Ontario Minor Hockey Association bantam AAA championships. Oakville players on the team, which won the five-team tournament in Barrie last month, included goalie Sebastian Labora, forwards Alex Dameski, Liam Fedak, Grant Munden and Christopher Ishmael and defenceman Cole Salmon. The 45's, along with the Halton Hurricanes, were representing the South Central Triple A (SCTA) hockey league against other regional winners including Whitby Wildcats and Quinte Red Devils and the host Barrie Jr. Colts. The Wildcats beat Quinte 3-2 in the gold-medal game after Brampton edged Barrie 3-2 in the bronze-medal game, both played on March 13. 47 | Thursday, April 7, 2016 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com Atom AA Hornets edge rivals 3-2 to win LLFHL championship By Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver staff It was a rare sight for the Oakville Hornets. The least penalized team in the Lower Lakes Female Hockey League had taken just 19 minor penalties in 22 games, but as coach Jason McLeish looked across the ice, he saw Oakville Hornets jerseys packing the penalty box. They were there for a good reason. Deadlocked 2-2 after regulation in Saturday's Lower Lakes atom AA championship the Hornets and their rivals, the Aurora Panthers, had been unable to decide the title in overtime. Locked in a sudden-death shootout, players were sent to the penalty box following each round. Eight Hornets were crowded into the box when Jenna Caine lined up at centre ice. The Hornets end each practice with a shootout competition. It's meant as a fun way to wrap up practice, but now the practical purpose of that final drill was being put to the test. Caine scored, leaving the Hornets' fate in the hands of goalie Kennedy Goddard, who turned aside her Aurora opponent to clinch the championship. "When we went to overtime I thought, `Oh boy, here we go again,'" said McLeish. "We had lost to (Aurora) in overtime in the final at our Oakville tournament, lost to them in overtime in the final in Etobicoke. Even going back two years, they beat us in the provincial semifinal, so to finally switch it, it made the victory that much more sweet." For a while it looked like Aurora might deny the Hornets again. The Panthers took a 2-0 lead into the third period, but couldn't hold the league's highest scoring team in check forever. The Hornets, whose leaguehigh total of 68 goals was 25 more than their closest rival, got goals by Sydney Lavallee and Jillian Jackman to tie the game. "We rely on skill -- passing, shooting and skating," McLeish said. "We're like the '80s Edmonton Oilers. We'd rather win 8-7 than 1-0." But the Hornets also proved capable of shutting down opponents, finishing third in goals against with 26, just four more than Aurora, which led the league. And the two teams refused to yield anything in overtime. The score was still tied 1-1 after a threeplayer shootout, sending it to sudden-death. Though the Hornets practised shootouts many times, they never had to do it in front of 400 cheering fans. Oakville scored three times in sudden death, only to have Aurora answer back each time. After Aurora stopped an attempt, Goddard turned away a Panthers shooter to keep the Hornets alive. Then Caine scored and Goddard made the decisive stop. With the win, the Hornets remained unbeaten in league play since the last week of November, a stretch of 16 games (12-0-4). Oakville finished first in the league with a record of 14-3-5 and after a first-round bye, swept Stoney Creek in two games, capping the series victory with four unanswered goals in the third period of a 6-2 win. Coming into the championship weekend after a four-week layoff, the Hornets started slow, tying London 2-2. But they beat Durham West 3-1 and blanked Aurora 2-0 to advance to the final. "It's a great group of girls," McLeish said. "They were easy to coach. I'd argue nobody loves (hockey) more than these girls." For most of the players it was their second Lower Lakes title, having won the novice A championship two years ago. Now they'll look to add an Ontario Women's Hockey Association title this weekend. "We're one of the top teams and we can win it, but we're one of four or five teams that feel the same way," McLeish said. "You could play the tournament five times with five different draws and have five different winners." ON NOW AT THE BRICK! SAVING YOU MORE For more details go instore or online @thebrick.com.