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55| O akville B eaver | T hursday,S eptem ber 13,2018 insidehalton.com Michelle Constantopou- los hoped she would never have a goalie in the family. "It can be a bit stressful," she says. Not to mention expen- sive. So she was thrilled when her hockey-playing son Ev- an became a defenceman with the Oakville Rangers. When he took up lacrosse six years ago, he started as a runner. But not fond of all of the running that came with it, he happily welcomed his hockey coach's suggestion that he should be a goalie in lacrosse. "I've always been a big kid," says the 14-year-old, who stands six-foot-three. "I'm tall, so I take up a lot of the net." So his mom had to come to terms with having a goal- ie in the family, despite hav- ing steered her sons away from the position in hockey.from the position in hockey.f If nothing else, the over- sized shoulder pads provid- ed a jersey big enough to ac- commodate the family name. Like his brother, Zach Constantopoulos played de- fence in hockey and beganfence in hockey and beganf his lacrosse career as run- ner. But midway through his second season, his tyke team's goalie left, leaving a void in the crease. The coaches held a com- petition at practice to audi- tion potential replace- ments. Zach won. From that day forward, the Constantopouloses have been a two-goalie fam- ily. The fact that they're both pretty good at it should have eased their mother's concerns. But it was hard to settle those nerves last month when the brothers both suited up for Ontario at the national champion- ships, Evan on the provin- cial bantam team in Saska- toon, Zach on the Ontario peewee squad in Whitby. Zach backstopped Onta- rio to a 2-1 win over British Columbia and then shut out Nova Scotia. Drawing the assignment for the gold- medal game, his mom wasn't the only one feeling a little anxious. "I get very nervous be- fore games," says Zach, afore games," says Zach, af Grade 7 student at John Knox Christian School. "It almost feels like I'm going to throw up. But once I get into the game, it feels amaz- ing." Zach finished the tour- nament with a 0.35 goals- against average as Ontario claimed the gold medal with a 9-1 win over First Na- tions. Evan thrives on being the last line of defence. "I like to rob players on breakaways," he says. "I like the pressure." Though Evan offered his brother some tips when he started out, the two have since developed their own styles. "Evan's more of a posi- tional goalie, playing the angles," Zach says. "I've got my angles, but I'm smaller so if a pass goes across I can dive across and get it." "You're a flopper," Evan says. "Yeah, but what are the NLL (National Lacrosse League) goalies?" Zach asks. "They're floppers." Whatever the style, both are equally effective. Two days after the peewee victo- ry, Evan earned his third straight national title when Ontario rallied in the third period to edge British Co- lumbia 7-5. Admittedly not much of a shot blocker as a defence- man in hockey, he has no problem putting himself be- tween the ball and the net on the lacrosse floor. He went 3-0 with a 1.99 goals- against average in four games for Ontario. He has not lost a game in three years at nationals, in- cluding last year when he made the bantam team as a minor-aged player. It didn't always come so easy. Despite filling a good portion of the net, "my first year was a little rough," says the Grade 9 student at King's Christian Collegiate. "I worked on my angles and did a lot of extra training." That extra work has paid off and now with two na- tional champions living un- der her roof, even mom has gotten used to her sons be- ing goalies. BROTHERS BACKSTOP ONTARIO TO NATIONAL LACROSSE TITLES Brothers Zach Constantopoulos, 12, goalie for the Ontario peewee team, and Evan Constantopoulos, 14, goalie for Ontario's bantam team won national lacrosse titles this summer. Both teams went undefeated en route to the gold medal. Nikki Wesley/Metroland HERB GARBUTT hgarbutt@metroland.com COMMUNITY ALSO REPRESENTING OAKVILLE The Constantopouloses weren't the only siblings representing Oakville at nationals. Twins Dacia and Cade Cordingley were members of Ontario's gold-medal winning peewee team. Dacia, the only girl on the provincial squad, scored in Ontario's 9-1 win in the final and finished tied for third in team scoring with three goals and seven assists in six game. Brother Cade had a goal and four assists for Ontario. Thomas Bagnall was the fourth Oakville Hawk on the peewee team. He scored in each of Ontario's final five games, finishing the tournament with five goals and three assists. On the bantam squad, Oakville's Nolan Marshall and Kael Carey each recorded 10 points in seven games. Marshall had a pair of two-goal games and finished with six goals and four assists. Carey had a four-point game against Nova Scotia and finished with four goals and six assists. The Oakville Hawks' Jacob Wright had four assists in seven games. Don't be a LitterBug! Please keep our community clean.