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Sports Oakville Beaver www.aplushomes.ca Adam Campbell 905-844-4444 R E A L T YC O R P. B R O K E R A G E I N D E P E N D E N T LY O W N E D A N D O P E R AT E D Broker of Record SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 432) Fax 905-337-5571 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · WEDNESDAY, MAY 5, 2010 33 Soccer camp will attract coaches from high-profile NCAA schools Coaches from several high-profile American schools will visit Oakville this summer to work with some of the town's most promising soccer talent. The Oakville Soccer Club (OSC) will host its first USA College Showcase Camp June 25-27, providing an opportunity for players to receive on-field training and instruction from coaches from the University of Florida, the University of Oklahoma, Duke University and other popular National College Athletic Associations (NCAA) programs. Players will also get scouting exposure during showcase scrimmages and attend informative presentations that help explain what it takes to be a college player in the NCAA. The camp is open to all male and female players in the under-14 to U18 age groups, regardless of whether they are members of the OSC or not. "This is a fantastic opportunity for players to showcase their skills in front of some of the top schools from the U.S.," said Brett Mosen, head coach and technical director of the OSC. "It also gives players great information on how the NCAA process works." The camp is sponsored by the Philadelphia Independence, a franchise in Women's Professional Soccer -- the highest level of women's professional soccer in North America. Independence general manager Terry Foley will direct the camp. Coaches expected to attend include Florida assistant Alan Kirkup, Old Dominion head coach Joe Pereira, Oklahoma head coach Nicole Nelson, LaSalle coach Paul Royal, Duke assistant coach Michael Brady, Loyola head coach Mark Mettrick, Furman head coach Doug Allison, George Mason assistant coach John O'Hara, American University (Wa.) head coach Todd West and Catawba College (N.C.) head coach Liam Farrell. Several hundred OSC players have earned scholarships with universities and colleges in Canada and the U.S. during the club's long history. Capture the flag NIKKI WESLEY / OAKVILLE BEAVER CATCH ME IF YOU CAN: Keon Myers-Inrig of the Vikings looks back to see the Eagles' Ethan Boright in hot pursuit during opening-day action of the Halton Cowboys flag football season Saturday at King's Christian Collegiate. Blades bounced early at RBC Cup By Jon Kuiperij BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR The Oakville Blades' dreams of winning a national junior A hockey championship this season are over. Oakville was officially eliminated from playoff contention at the RBC Cup national tournament in Dauphin, MB with a 5-3 loss yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon to the Vernon Vipers that dropped the team to 0-3. Even with a victory in their final roundrobin game tonight (Wednesday) against the host Dauphin Kings, the Blades would finish last in the five-team field. Oakville's other losses in the tournament came Saturday, an overtime 3-2 defeat to the La Ronge Ice Wolves, and Sunday, when the team was embarrassed 11-2 by the Brockville Braves. Blades general manager Carlo Coccimiglio felt the opening-game loss to La Ronge set the tone for the tournament. Oakville outshot the Ice Wolves 45-29 but was only able to score twice. "We played a good game... That took a lot out of the boys," said Coccimiglio. "They were very discouraged. You couldn't ask them to play a better game than they did that night. The only thing we did wrong was we just couldn't put the puck behind their goalie." The disappointment had a huge hangover effect on the Blades the following day against Brockville. Oakville actually opened the scoring in that contest and trailed 3-2 in the second period before allowing the Braves to score the final eight goals of the game. "We never rebounded. We weren't mentally prepared to play that game," said Coccimiglio, who couldn't even bear to watch the third period of Sunday's game. "It was just awful." The Blades used Monday to regroup and prepare for their must-win contest yesterday against Vernon, the top-ranked tier 2 junior A team in the country. Oakville started slowly against the Vipers, allowing the first three goals of the game before Mike Ingoldsby got the Blades on the board early in the second period. The deciding blow came 13:25 into the second period. Vernon defenceman Curtis Gedig's dump-in took a crazy bounce off a stanchion in the glass and eluded Blades goalie Dan Savelli to give the Vipers a 4-1 lead. The Blades fought back in the third period with goals by Ryan Murphy and Mark McGowan, but the Vipers sealed Oakville's fate with an empty-net goal with 18 seconds left in regulation. This was Oakville's second appearance at the RBC Cup in three years, and the second time the team failed to advance to the playoff round. The Blades went 1-3 at the 2008 tournament in Cornwall. Coccimiglio said the long road Ontario teams have to take to reach the RBC Cup takes its toll. "We just came back from a seven-day trip to the Soo (for the Dudley Hewitt Cup, which determined the Central Canada representative for nationals), and an eight-hour bus ride coming back. We had to leave (for Manitoba four days later)," he said. "We looked like a tired team sometimes. Sometimes, they fought through it... but fatigue sets in. When you have fatigue, you don't play at your highest level."