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Sports Oakville Beaver By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 255) Fax 905-337-5567 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · SATURDAY, MARCH 29, 2008 23 Atom AA Rangers bounce back to claim OMHA title Nick Serniuck had just watched his team suffer one of its worst defeats of the year. But, even with the deciding game of the Ontario Minor Hockey Association championship just three days away, he never felt more confident about his team's chances. "All season long, there were not many losses," the coach said of his Oakville Rangers atom AA squad that posted a 23-23 record in league play and a 49-9-5 mark overall. "But typically, when they did lose, they responded with a strong game after. So I had a feeling they were going to respond in the right way." "Typically, when Serniuck's faith in his players was they did lose, rewarded Wednesday when they they responded defeated the Aurora Tigers 3-1 to claim the OMHA title. The teams with a strong went into the deciding game in game after." Aurora deadlocked at five points in the six-point series. The teams had Atom AA Rangers split 2-1 overtime decisions in the coach Nick Serniuck first two games of the series and then played to a 1-1 draw when an extra period failed to settle game three. Oakville took its first lead in the series by winning Game 4, 2-1, and then Aurora forced a deciding game with a 4-1 win last weekend. "It was most definitely our toughest series," said Serniuck, whose team had earlier eliminated Brampton and Orangeville and won a round-robin series with Ancaster, Flamborough and St. Catharines. The Rangers' Sean Kohler opened the scoring in the deciding game but Aurora tied it up. Luke Durango would put the Rangers back in front, scoring what would be the deciding goal with just one-tenth of a second remaining in the second period. Tim Arnold added an insurance goal in the third to seal the victory. "It was tough to score in that series," Serniuck said. "There were no what you would call pretty goals. They were all bluecollar, hard-working goals." Ben Bernier led Oakville with three goals in the final series, Drew Doherty, Arnold and Derango had two each and Kohler WINNING SMILES: The Oakville atom AA Rangers gather for a group photo after winning the Ontario Minor Hockey Association title Wednesday in Aurora, following a 3-1 win over the Tigers in the sixth and deciding game of their championship series. had one. For five members of the Rangers -- Ben Blacker, Kohler, Matthew Kim, Liam Risi and Nicholas Serniuck -- it was their second OMHA title in three years, having won the novice AA title two years ago. Though the roster had changed a great deal since then, Serniuck said team chemistry was Oakville's biggest strength. The Rangers are also a fast team that handles the puck well and has a good understanding of the game. "We have a smart team," the coach said. "They react to situations very quickly and are able to make the changes. Against Aurora, they were a tough team to get the puck out of our zone against. We told the kids what they needed to do and they went out and did it." Serniuck said Oakville has "a very talented age group" at See OHF page 25 Where's the puck? GOOD TO BE RED: Members of the Oakville minor bantam red team search for the puck sitting in front of their net during their Minor Oaks Hockey Association house league championship game against the grey team Thursday at Joshua's Creek Arenas. It was a good night to be red, as red-clad teams triumphed in the minor bantam blue, bantam white and bantam red finals. See a future edition of the Beaver for all MOMS Awards Week results. DEREK WOOLLAM / OAKVILLE BEAVER Atom AEs also champs The Oakville atom AE (additional entry) Rangers also won an Ontario Minor Hockey Association championship Wednesday. The Rangers finished off a 15-2 run through the playdowns with a 5-1 victory in Caledon, claiming the final series 3-2. Oakville was second to Caledon in Tri County regular-season play. The Hawks lost only once in 28 games, while the Rangers posted a mark of 22-3-3. See a future edition of the Beaver for more on the atom AE Rangers' OMHA title win. Novice A, atom A Rangers continue finals Meanwhile, two more local rep squads were gunning for OMHA crowns of their own this weekend. The novice A Rangers carried a 2-1-1 series lead into last night's Game 4 with the Orillia Terriers. Should Orillia have prevailed last night, the teams would play a deciding game back in Oakville (date and time was yet to be determined, as of yesterday). The atom A Rangers need a win or tie today at River Oaks Recreation Centre (a 5 p.m. start) to extend their series with the Port Perry Predators. Oakville trails the series 2-1. If Game 5 is necessary, it would be contested tomorrow in Port Perry.