Mowat has stellar year

The Sir Oliver Mowat Gaels launch an attack on the John A. MacDonald Collegiate net during the Tier Two final. Mowat lost a hard-fought game 3-2.It’s been quite a season for Mowat’s boys’ and girls’ hockey teams, and for one of them the journey isn’t quite over.

The school’s Tier One boys are facing a sudden death game with Etobicoke’s Richview Saints next week in the city quarter-finals and, if all goes well, they’ll get a shot at making the provincial championships (OFSAA) in Ottawa at the end of the month.

Meanwhile, Mowat’s Tier Two boys put in up a strong fight in their finals before falling 3-2 in overtime to the Agincourt Lancers on Feb. 27 at Malvern Arena.

And to top things off, the girls’ team finished third in the north-east region.

The Tier One east final on March 5 was a hard hitting affair won by Mowat 6-3 at Centennial Park Arena.

Being number one in the east may be rewarding, but the game itself was too close for comfort according to one of Mowat’s players, Connor Ste. Marie.

After a series of back-and-forth goals in the last period, Mowat scored on an empty net to settle things at 6-3.

Three quick goals 10 minutes into the second period helped to fuel Mowat’s game. It was just the boost they needed after a slow first period that left the teams tied 1-1.

“We were nervous to start the game,” Little said. “We were a little disappointed with the penalties we took which set us back quite a bit, but it was a well-played game by both teams.

“Things played out exactly as I expected. MacDonald played a very, very, very strong game, which we were prepared for,” he said.

Both teams advance to the quarter-finals with Mowat taking on Richview with date and time to be announced.

Ste. Marie is proud to be a part of the team.

“I’m pretty excited,” he said. “I’ve never won an East championship. Last year we played the same team [MacDonald], and they beat us in the finals, 3-2.”

Ste. Marie said Wednesday’s game felt good because the tables were turned and MacDonald had a chance to feel the loss.

The players on both teams demonstrated great sportsmanship, according to coach Little.

“Both of us have a real good opportunity to move on,” he said. “If both teams play the way we did in the [East] finals, I think we both have a good chance of winning our quarter-final games.”

Tier One player, Stevie Douitsis, supports Mowats Tier Two team at their final game of the season.As for the Tier Two boys, disappointment came at the end of a long successful season.

They pushed MacDonald into overtime, but ended up loosing 3-2 on Feb. 27.

Mowat coach Mike Turner believed his team were the underdogs, despite finishing first overall in the regular season.

The team is lead by captain Sawyer Quinn, and consists mostly of Grade 9s and 10s. Turner said most of the players on Agincourt’s team are older, Grades 11 and 12, giving them the upper-hand.

The well-matched teams battled it out hard, providing the fans with an exciting game.

Agincourt was the only team that the Mowat Tier Two boys lost to earlier this season.

And finally, the girls — who have some work to do for next year — managed to hold third place at the end of their season. They finished just six points behind first place, RH King Academy.

The girls were 5-4-1 in 10 games.

About this article

By: Bailey Stead
Posted: Mar 19 2008 10:17 pm
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Filed under: Sports