Girls' NOSSA hockey championships take centre ice

BY SCOTT HADDOW

Bragging rights for Northern Ontario girls' high school hockey are up for grabs in Walden today and tomorrow.

The 2008 NOSSA A/AA and AAA Championships will be decided at the Tom Davies Arena in Lively starting today and ending with the championships games on Wednesday.

Greater Sudbury features four local teams competing in the two championships.

In the A/AA, College Notre-Dame, Lively and St. Charles College are the first, second and third seeds respectively. Widdifield from North Bay rounds out the division.

In the AAA round, L'Horizon carries Sudbury's hopes as the top seed. They will face other SDSSAA rival Manitoulin (second seed) along with St. Joseph/ Scollard Hall and West Ferris from North Bay.

The A/AA final goes Wednesday at 3 pm, while the AAA final goes at 4:30 pm.

(See shaded box for the complete two-day schedule.)

Here's a run-down of the four local teams and how they have done this past season in city action.

College Notre-Dame A/AA

The Alouettes were the class of the Division I league. They finished first overall in the regular season with a record of 10-1-1. They blasted opponents with a relentless offence which produced a staggering 58 goals for. Notre-Dame wasn't just an offensive force as they could also keep the puck out of their own net by allowing just a paltry nine goals against.

The Alouettes breezed through the playoffs, brushing aside Lively in two straight games in the semi-final before disposing of L'Horizon in two straight games in the city Division I championship.

The potent offence starts with catalyst forward Jacklyn Upchan who poured in nine goals - including three game winners - and 23 points in 11 regular season games. Overall, Upchan had 10 goals and 28 points in 14 games.

Notre-Dame isn't a one-trick pony show though. The supporting cast is just as deadly. Defender Danielle Rancourt, who owns the hardest shot in the girls' league, racked up nine goals and 20 points in 12 regular season games. In 16 games overall, Rancourt has 10 goals and 25 points. She supplies a copious amount of offence from the defence and it makes the Alouettes hard to shut down.

Forwards such as Valerie Valiquette (10 points in 10 games including seven goals), Karly Dudar (six goals, 10 points in 10 games) and Danielle Larouche (10 points in 10 games) round out an impressive top six.
In goal, Notre-Dame puts in their version of a brick wall by the name of Vanessa Jacques, who registered nine shut-outs in 15 regular season and playoff games and forged a 14-1 record.

Key fact: The Alouettes won five games by the score of 6-0 this past season.

L'Horizon Aigles AAA

The Aigles were Number two with a bullet this past season in Division I action. L'Horizon finished second overall in the regular season with a record of 9-2-1. They then finished second in the playoffs. They dumped Manitoulin in two straight games in the semi-finals before bowing out to Notre-Dame in two straight games.

The Aigles are another scary offensive squad thanks to the efforts of star forward Micheline Frappier. The team scored 54 goals for and allowed 23 against. The fast-skating Frappier lead all Division I scorers in the regular season with 19 goals and 31 points in 11 games. Frappier is an offensive dynamo who can literally carry the team on her back with her explosive scoring exploits. She's a huge game breaker and a player who can bust out at any time against any team.

Frappier isn't the only big shooter for L'Horizon. The support cast includes a wealth of skilled players including Kelly Graff (10 goals, 20 points in 12 games), Melissa McIver (14 points in 12 games), Renee Delarosabil (seven goals, 11 points in 12 games) and Kayla Brunet (10 points in 12 games).

In net, L'Horizon will go with workhorse goalie Britny Burns who is capable of withstanding a lot of shots.

Key fact: L'Horizon beat every team in Division I except Notre-Dame, going 0-2-1 against them.

Lively Hawks A/AA

It's a big rebuilding year for the Hawks after losing top players such as forwards Meaghan Kallio (27 points) and Katie Gorman (15 points) and defender Kandice Morgan (11 points) to graduation.

The Hawks finished fourth in Division I with a record of 4-7-1, scoring 29 goals for and allowing 41 against. They lost in the semi-finals in two straight games to Notre-Dame. Despite their regular season record, the Hawks can't be cast aside. Forward Christie Sitko is easily one of the most dangerous players in the loop today. At just 15, Sitko finished second in league scoring with a whopping 16 goals and 23 points in 12 games. Sitko is a pure offensive player who can electrify her team with an end-to-end charge and scoring a highlight reel goal. The supporting cast includes Emily Dempsey (eight points in 10 games), Erika Kiviaho (seven points), Tracey Smith (six points) and Jena Kiviaho (six points).

In net will be Lindsey Smith, who has faced a lot of shots this past season and done reasonably well.

Key fact: Sitko accounted for 55 percent of her team's goals this past season.

St. Charles Cardinals A/AA

St. Charles has been added to the tournament as a replacement for Franco-Cite, but they're capable of pulling off an upset if any team takes them too lightly. St. Charles finished fifth in Division I with a record of 2-9-1, scoring 24 goals for and allowing 45 against and missed the playoffs. One of their two wins came at the expense of top-ranked Notre-Dame. The Cardinals surprised the Alouettes back in December by the score of 3-2. Leading the way for St. Charles will be Mackenzie Foley, who paced the team with nine goals and 10 points in 12 games. The supporting cast includes Rebecca Beltrano (10 points in 12 games), Taishiing Brisard (nine points), Ashley Fraser (five points) and Anna Marie Macdonald (four points).

In net for St. Charles will be character goalie Rebecca Fabiilli, who's positive attitude and big saves help spark her teammates.

Key Fact: In the 3-2 upset win over Notre-Dame, Foley scored a natural hat trick.