Oakwood
Barons Boys' Hockey
A
Sports Report by Chris Quinn
Last year the boy’s hockey team suffered a disappointed
loss to Leaside in the playoffs. With a 1-0 lead going into the
last three minutes of play, the team was on the verge of upsetting
one of the top seeds in the ‘A’ division but a late
surge by the offensive powerhouse, Leaside, saw our dreams of
a semi-final berth crushed. This year the Barons are looking to
bounce back, looking for revenge in the playoffs.
The Barons returned with a large part of our team missing. Leading
scorer, captain and leader, Andrew Roy, departed for Carleton
University, leaving the team with holes to fill. Luckily, veterans
from the past two years were returning for a third year under
Coach Zinn as well as Coach Macmillan. Long time leader, Johnny
‘Streetmix’ Sirco returned to the team as a perennial
leader. Stephen ‘Linguini’ Rapeene will once again
be on top of the team in scoring along with the tenacious Alex
Gayul. Guy ’28 seconds’ Duh Frankoh is returning from
a season riddled with injuries looking to bring his scoring touch
back to the line up. MJ ‘on his knees’ Palatso is
bringing back his speed and quick hands for another season..
The defence is lead by third year veteran, Tommie ‘gimp
knee’ Von Vagle. Backing him up is Fernando Castro who will
use his strength to dominate the front of the net. Second year
veterans Jeff Zellers and Chris Honours return with a year of
High School hockey under their belts ready for another. Behind
them is the goaltending tandem of Chris Kuinn and Jeremiah Powell.
Powell who had two shut outs last year. Quinn ending the year
with one of the lowest goals against in the league.
To fill the gaps, the team added more speed with Will ‘Screech’
Greensplatt and Taylor Lack-key. On defence they added the powerful
shot of Spencer ‘broken wood’ Graignoley and Alexxx
Thomas to add even more strength. The team was well rounded and
ready for a new season.
We began with a tough game against North Toronto who won 3-1 mostly
thanks to a great performance by their goaltender. After this
crushing game, we headed to a tournament at York University which
saw several tight games slip out of our grasp leaving us with
nothing to show for it.
With our season slowly slipping away we headed into a match-up
with Lawrence Park. Things seemed to be falling out of our hands
when we found ourselves down 3-1 with ten minutes left in the
third period. At this time we were pulled over to the side by
Coach Zinn and set back on track. We responded by scoring seven
seconds later. A couple minutes after that we had tied the score.
The finishing touch was provided by John Circo who scored with
a few minutes left to win the game.
On this emotional high, we headed to Ted Reeve Arena to face off
with the division leading, undefeated East York squad. With a
team decimated with injuries and illness we were left with 9 skaters.
We made a noble effort but were unable to hold back the powerful
East York offence, losing 4-1. It was a tough defeat; we knew
at full strength we could defeat this team. The day before exams,
we lost another close game to Northern. The close losses were
piling up and we were two games below .500 going into the break.
We returned with a new thirst for hockey. Two days after coming
off Break we were to square off against East York again, who had
run their record to 4-0.With a roster not much larger than the
last time we played them, we weren’t at full strength but
we knew the importance of this game so we came out hard. To the
shock of everyone but ourselves, we were up 2-0 midway into the
third when a brief defensive lapse saw us all tied up after a
minute of play. Early in the third, East York scored their third
unanswered goal putting them ahead, but we responded and tied
it up again and so it stayed as the clock ran down to zero leaving
East York with the first blemish on their record and Oakwood with
momentum heading into a month of important match-ups.
After an unsuccessful tournament and another disappointing loss
to Northern, Oakwood was in desperate need of a comeback. It didn’t
look likely against second-ranked Malvern. The Barons came out
flying and we found ourselves up 2-0 at the end of the second.
Losing a lead like this before, we weren’t going to let
it happen again. Malvern began applying more pressure and things
looked grim until Chris Quinn made a brilliant toe save on a 2
on 1 which sparked the team to score 3 more late goals to end
the game with 5-1 victory over second place Malvern. Now on a
roll, the Oakwood boys are looking for your help.
For all you Oakwood fans, come out and support the most exciting
team at Oakwood—Boys’ Hockey.
Back
to Top
Girls'
Hockey at Oakwood: Alive and Kicking
By
Maddie Endicott
A group of girls with the help and enthusiasm of Ms. Maroosis
and Mr. Abdelmassih started the Oakwood Girls’ Hockey team
back in 1992. With only a small number of players, some of whom
didn’t have full equipment, they were still enthusiastic
and learned to love the game. Since then, with the continuing
support of Ms. Maroosis and the newly arrived Mr. Zinn, the team
has grown and developed into the thriving hockey team it is today.
Playing
in the B division for the last 11 years the team has won the championship
3 times. This year it has successfully moved up to the A division.
The team this year features many valuable new additions, including
Grade 9’s Sarah and Julia Endicott, Lauren Hall, Jasmine
Kakuk, Katie Stephen and newly arrived Grade 11 Dina Cipin.
In net, Lea Bailey continues successfully, recording two shut
outs in three games with the help of rock solid defence Dina,
Sarah, Katie, Julia, Jasmine and returning defenceman Rena Ashton
(Red).
On the forward front there are many familiar faces. The talented
Grade 12 centre Ashley Guizzo continues to star, scoring thirty
goals in fifteen games. Winger Robin Magder has also distinguished
herself in the last game scoring two of the four goals. In addition
to Robin, Grade 11 wingers Rowan Meyer-Macaulay, Christina Mullins
(Dougy) and Ginger Dean along with Grade 10’s Nicole Bardikoff,
Kyle Beechey, Ella Bedard (with a goal in the first game) and
Grade 9 Lauren Hall contribute solidly to the team’s success.
Newly arrived on the offensive scene is Maddie Endicott. What
Maddie is doing playing centre instead of defence is beyond me
but I’m sure she’d appreciate anyone who wants to
teach her how to win a face off.
As always, the team continues to be supported from many directions.
Special thanks to Ms. Quigley and the Girls’ Phys. Ed Department,
who have generously bought new jerseys and socks for the team.
Amy Lake and Elysha Macgovern do a great job sharing the managers’
duties. By organizing things like the team bake sales, the managers
have helped the team successfully raise over $450 to assist in
paying the fees for the Ice Gardens Elite Tournament on Feb. 15/16,
2004. Their efforts take some of the stress off of the ever-busy
Ms. Maroosis, whose enthusiasm for girls’ hockey is always
alive and kicking, even at 7am practices.
Speaking of which, Mr. Zinn continues to teach the girls the game
of hockey and his time and efforts are greatly appreciated, even
if they are used at such an un-heavenly hour.
Overall, the season’s prospects look good and the girls
continue to have lots of fun playing the best game in the world.
GOOOOOO OAKWOOD!!!!!
Back
to Top
It's
Cool in the Pool
By
Kyla Alsbury
Your arms and legs are tensing up, your pulse quickens and you
are surrounded by people your age going through the exact same
feelings and thoughts. No, this is not a semi-formal or a final
exam, this is a swim meet. The Oakwood swim team is one of the
most dedicated teams at our school, and has had a long-standing
reputation as a worthy competitor. We practice from Monday to
Friday, with 3 practices in the morning at the bright and early
hour of 7 a.m., and 2 practices after school.
So far this year, we have swum against UFA, Forest Hill and many
of the top teams in Ontario at the U of T Invitational swim meet.
I’d love to tell you that we won every meet so far, but
that wouldn’t be quite accurate. A swim meet is comprised
of individual events, so to win a meet, your team would have to
score highest overall. Most teams who win overall have a large
amount of swimmers, with a wide gap between the skill levels.
However, I’d like to think that it’s quality not quantity
when it comes to Oakwood’s swim team.
This year, we have a very strong junior team and we have great
expectations for them this year and for the future. Although there
are few seniors, their enthusiasm is overwhelming and we hope
to see them place highly at Finals. The swim team is also very
close-knit despite the differences in ages. This could be due
to the fact that the swimming season stretches from around November
to March, including OFSAA dates, which means that we spend a lot
of time with each other.
Swimmers who have graduated from Oakwood have also continued to
swim during university. Iska Moxon-Emre is on the synchronized
swim team at McGill University, Cicely Alsbury and Katie Sexton
continue to swim at Guelph University, and Aidan Lumley swims
competitively at Trent.
After a strong showing at the City Finals, Keith Hosannah, Kyla
Alsbury, Sara Greenberg, Lizzie Savaria, Jenny Keating and Sarah
Melvin will continue to train until March 2-4 where they will
compete at The Etobicoke Olympium against swimmers from all over
Ontario.
GO SWIM OAKWOOD!!
Back
to Top
