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Girls' hockey is, once again, wide open 19 · Thursday, December 10, 2009 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com A closer look at the four favourites The Loyola Hawks, T.A. Blakelock Tigers, Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Nelson Lords were the final four in the Halton girls' playoffs last year. Here's a closer look at the four teams' chances this season: · Loyola is led by Katie Fergus and last year's Halton final overtime hero Meghan O'Neill, while Brooke Kotack and goalie Emily Robinson anchor a defence that did not surrender a goal in its first three games. · Blakelock is built around its strong corps of defencemen -- Hayleigh Cudmore, Bryanna Neuwald, Michelle Saunders, Gabby Leonard and Sidney Cudmore. They get actively involved in the offence. Once the Tigers get a lead, the defence, along with goalies Cammy Leonard and Brittany Aldworth, is capable of shutting down the league's best teams -- as it did in a 2-0 win over Notre Dame. · The Irish may not be as deep as in past years but it has a veteran core that includes blueliners Alicia Page, the team's captain, and Leanne Kack. Up front, Ally Evanyshyn, who has been among the team's leading scorers since Grade 9; Joanne Walker, who scored the overtime winner in last year's semifinal; and Jesse Shugg give Notre Dame enough offensive punch to compete. In net, Lindsay Baxter now has the crease to herself after sharing goaltending duties her first three years. · Jenna Hague, Nelson's MVP last season, is back to protect the Nelson net again. She'll be helped out on the blueline by veterans Caitlin Gilligan. Forwards Jaclyn Conacher, Katie Hubert and Lauren McKenzie lead the Lords' offence. T here may be only one thing working against the Loyola Hawks as they attempt to defend their Halton girls' high school hockey title -- the fact that they are the defending champions. Since 2005, when Notre Dame won its last of five straight titles, no team has been able to repeat. In the three years since, the league has been highly unpredictable and the Hawks contributed to that last year. In a year that started with three straight losses, Loyola crept up to knock off the league's top two teams in the playoffs. So this year, even as his team is off to a 3-0 start, Dave McNamara refuses to consider the Hawks -- or anyone else -- as a favourite. "In this league, there is so much parity," the Loyola coach said. "Every game you see is 2-1, 1-0, 3-2. From what I've seen, anybody can beat anybody on any given day." Loyola opponents would like to know what that day is. Since last year's 0-3 start, Loyola is undefeated in 13 games (11-0-2) in league play. "They're a little stronger than everyone else," said Notre Dame Fighting Irish coach Paul Leonard, whose team fell 2-0 to the Hawks earlier this season. "They have the most firepower in our division." But the difference between the top teams is now slim enough that no team can afford an off-day if it expects to win. "You can expect a tough game every week," said Blakelock coach Ron Larose. "There's no more winning by four or five goals." McNamara said the high school game has become more competitive because players are coming into it with more experience. "Girls' hockey is growing across the whole continent," said McNamara. "You have girls coming into Grade 9 and 10 that have been playing since they were five, just like the boys." "You have more girls playing rep hockey and more rep girls playing high school," added Nelson coach Ashley Stephenson. "The level has been a lot more equitable, as opposed to before when you would have junior players against house league players. It's getting away from being an individual game and becoming more of a team sport." Last year's final almost looked like a foregone conclusion, with Notre Dame and T.A. Blakelock entering the playoffs with identical 8-1-1 records. But Loyola beat Blakelock in the semis and then edged the Irish 43 in a triple-overtime thiller in the final. McNamara said last year's playoff experience has benefited the Hawks this season. "The older girls, they've played in some high-pressure games so they know what is expected," he said. "They've taken that next step and the older girls are showing the younger ones, `This is how we do things.'" Blakelock also has players that share that same experience, having won the Halton championship in 2008. The Tigers are off to a 2-0-1 start in the Tier I division, which has shrunk from eight teams to six. Like most schools, Blakelock is seeing an increased interest in girls' high school hockey. The Tigers had 26 players try out for this year's team. The lone exception in that regard may be Notre Dame, which is dressing a lineup of just 12 players -- perhaps the first team to be seriously impacted by the opening of Corpus Christi, which is icing its first team this season in Division II. "We'll really have to outwork these teams," said Leonard, who was pleased with his team's effort in 2-0 losses to Blakelock and Loyola. "In both games, I thought we outskated and outchanced the other team." The Irish is off to a 1-2 start. But, as Loyola showed last year, it's not how you start, but how you finish. With three different champions in the last three years, the Nelson Lords are the only member of last year's final four without a Halton title. They hope to remedy that situation and the early results this season have been promising. They reached the final of their first tournament, which included a 1-1 tie with Notre Dame. In league play they tied Blakelock 2-2 and were edged 1-0 by Loyola. Nelson was just 3-7 last season, despite allowing only two more goals than it scored. "We weren't as bad as the record showed," said Stephenson. The Lords proved that in the playoffs, beating Bishop Reding in the quarters and then pushing Notre Dame to double overtime in the semis. Further proof that when wins matter most -- in the playoffs -- anything can happen, and anyone can win. www. .com Depend on the largest High Efficiency NO INTEREST NO PAYMENT FOR 6 MONTHS OAC AIRE ONE MADNESS SALE Gas Furnace Dealer in the Golden Triangle FURNACE & CENTRAL AIR IR * ONLY $ · 96% High Efficiency Two Stage Variable Speed Gas Furnace · 15.75 SEER High Efficiency Central Air R410A Refrigerant · 10 Years Factory Warranty *After Government, Aire One and Manufacturer Rebates. Must have existing Furnace and A/C. *Call now for details. Offer cannot be combined. OAC. Accessories excluded. Call us to see if you qualify. PACKAGE INCLUDES: 3990 INSTALLED While Supplies Last 96% EFF. 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