The Hornets rode a 4 game win streak into the final day of action in the OWHA Championship tournament and were two wins away from taking it all.

In the semi-final Sunday morning against Clearview, Jess scored early giving the Hornets the great start that they were looking for. But Clearview took advantage of a power play opportunity later in the period to score on a screened shot from outside. That goal seemed to take the wind out of the Oakville’s offensive sails, and the Hornets were on the defensive for much of the balance of the game.

But what a defence! The D girls dug deep and gutted it out to keep Clearview off the board the rest of the way. Nikki was sensational and stared down Dreaded 66 time and again, calmly snatching her blistering slap shots out of the air.

The 1-1 tie stood through regulation time and a full overtime period. As the fifth period wore on, it looked like Oakville was  just hanging on. But then Jess summonsed some extra energy and rushed from behind her own net to the Clearview end and threw it on net where speedy Jazz crashed for the winner.

It was a heart stopping wonderful victory – but the toll it exacted was soon to become apparent. In the final against Saugeen, the Hornets came out with most of their usual jump, but soon began to sag and were pretty plainly out of gas. Saugeen played a disciplined very tight checking game and the Hornets did not have the legs to break free. When the final buzzer sounded, Oakville was on the losing end of a 1-0 score.

The gracious Saugeen coach summed it up well by saying that the game had been a contest between two equal teams, either one of which could win or lose to the other on any given day. Oakville triumphed in the Lower Lakes while Saugeen came out on top this time. In 8 meetings between the teams this year Oakville won five while Saugeen won three.

While the loss is naturally disappointing, it must be said that this is a great team that had a great year. To mention some highlights: First place finish in the regular season, Lower Lakes championship, played in the championship game in every tournament. The season was longer than the Leafs; the girls played 80 games including exhibition and tournaments and had a remarkable record of 61-13-6 against some very tough competition.

Many thanks to the coaches – John, Carlo, Marc, and D Door John –for giving so much of their volunteer time and knowledge for the benefit of our daughters.  Thanks to trainers Paula and Fiona for all their kind attention to the girls’ needs. A special thanks as well to Grace – the GM/den mother of the team - for everything from sewing on crests to organizing dinner reservations at tournaments. Thanks to Webby for painstakingly keeping us up to date and ensuring that we all went to the right place at the right time (and for being the loudest cheerleader). And to Ann for her photograaphs and for enduring the painstaking job of uploading them one at a time. Thanks to the sponsors whose contributions lightened our load. And especially thanks to the girls for being such great athletes and great team-mates to each other. Your skill and sportsmanship was a credit to Oakville and the Hornets organization, to your parents and yourselves.

Good luck to everyone at tryouts!

bd