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HOCKEY A e r o s d e n y H o r n e ts s e c o n d P W H L tit le Graham Paine/Metroland Oakville Hornets Jada Christian battles Toronto Aeros Sophie Jaques for the puck, behind the Aeros net. The Toronto Aeros went on to defeat the Oakville Hornets 1-0 , to win the gold medal game at the Provincial Women's Hockey League ( P.W.H.L. )Championships, held at Joshua Creek Arena. HERB GARBUTT hgarbutt@burlingtonpost.com There were no need for player introductions before the Provincial Women's Hockey League final. For the fourth straight year, the Oakville Hornets were playing their final game o f the season against the Toronto Aeros and for the second year in a row, it would decide the league championship. Coming off a 3-1 win over Toronto a day earlier to earn their spot in the final, Oak­ ville wasn't able to solve the league's top netminder, Na­ talie Thompson, who stopped all 21 shots she faced as the Aeros pulled out a 1-0 victory. "It's a big rivalry between Oakville and Toronto," said Hornets captain Sarah Fil- lier, who led the team with six goals and 12 points. "The loss stings now, but it's been amazing the last few months seeing the team grow with the adversity we faced." After losing three players who represented Canada and the world under-18 championships to injury for more than a month, the Hor­ nets stormed through the playoffs, going 8-1 to earn its spot in the final. "We had great leader­ ship," said Hornets coach Darcy Breakey. "Our se­ niors, they gave us so much." That lone defeat, a 2-1 loss to Nepean on Friday night, left the Hornets needing a win against Toronto, which had lost only three times in the 38-game regular season, in order to continue the de­ fence o f its PWHL champi­ onship. Isabelle Hardy and Kayla Fillier staked Oakville to a 2-0 lead in the must-win game but Toronto cut the lead to one before the end of the second. Maddy McAr­ thur made 12 o f her 19 saves in the third period to hold Toronto at bay and Cather­ ine Trevors sealed the win with an empty-net goal. In the final, it was Toron­ to striking first with a pow­ er-play goal in the opening minute o f the second. The Hornets had trouble gener­ ating chances the rest o f the period but applied pressure in the third. Lexie Adzija had the best opportunity with a short- handed breakaway, but was turned aside by Thompson. "The third period was our best period," said Breakey. "We gave ourselves chances, so kudos to their goalie." McArthur was also im­ pressive. She stopped the Aeros Claire Dalton on a penalty shot with 2:12 to play and the stop seemed to ener­ gize her team. With McAr­ thur on the bench for the ex­ tra attacker, the Hornets buzzed the Toronto net. With just under a minute to play, Amy Dobson kept the Hornets' hopes alive by rushing back to strip an Aeros player o f the puck and deny her a shot a the empty net. But the Hornets would not be able to take advan­ tage o f the defensive plays to get the equalizer. "The entire game we nev­ er stopped believing," Fillier said. We talked a lot about playing with energy and we fed off that." "The silver medal is al­ ways the hardest, because you have to lose to get it," said Breakey. "It hurts to­ day, but they'll start to real­ ize a silver in this league is a huge accomplishment. They came second in a premier league with 20 teams." At least one local player was able to celebrate. Oak­ ville's Karley Merkley had seven goals and 23 points in 35 games in her rookie sea­ son with the Aeros. She add­ ed seven more points in 12 playoff games. Toronto and Oakville may not have seen the last of each other with the Ontario Women's Hockey Associa­ tion championships just two weeks away. "We're looking forward to one last battle," Breakey said. T e n n is A n y o n e ? BECOME A MEMBER R e g i s t r a t i o n a t C l u b h o u s e $ Cheque Preferred After M a y 7th fees increase. W A L L A C E PARK T E N N I S C L U B Saturday, April 7th Saturday, April 14th 10 a.m.- 2 p.m. F e e s : F a m i l y $ 1 9 0 C o u p l e $ 1 6 5 A d u l t $ 1 1 0 J u n i o r $ 5 5 www.wallaceparktennis.ca Wallace Park Tennis Club 245 Reynolds St. (@ Sheddon Ave.) 905 .845 .7649 | O akville B eaver | Thursday, M arch 29, 2018 insidehalton.com mailto:hgarbutt@burlingtonpost.com http://www.wallaceparktennis.ca