Ontario sweeps the tournament with wins in both Division One and Division Two
Ontario was golden today at the 2011 Coloplast Canadian Wheelchair Rugby National Championships, sweeping both divisions of the tournament. Not only did the Ontario Lighting win the Division Two Zbieranowski Cup, but the Ontario Thunder also captured the Division 1 Campbell Cup in an exciting overtime win against British Columbia.
The final day of the tournament began when the Alberta Roughnecks bested Team Manitoba to claim the Division Two bronze medal. In the Division Two final, Saskatchewan came out strong against the Ontario Lightning, spurred on by a hometown crowd waving signs. Despite the intensity of Cory Harrower and Chris Pearson, however, too many turnovers caused Saskatchewan to find themselves down by double digits. The Lightning, coached by injured national team athlete Jason Crone, remained disciplined and had balanced scoring from Patrice Dagenais, Jonathan Kim, Reid Mulligan and Joe Boudreau. The Lighting cruised to a 51-33 win.
The marquee event, however, was the face-off between the defending-champion team from British Columbia and the Ontario Thunder. Games between these two evenly matched squads routinely go into overtime and today’s match was no different. Though BC started off slow, they clawed back and with one minute on the clock were up by two.
Just when Ontario fans were beginning to give up hope, however, the Thunder forced two quick turnovers to tie the game. BC failed to convert on a long pass from Ian Chan with a second on the clock and the game headed into overtime.
Though BC scored first, Ontario dominated the overtime with a smothering defense lead by David Willsie and Mike Whitehead that forced turnovers. Though BC battled back, they ran out of time to mount a comeback and the Ontario Thunder won 58-57.
“I’m proud of the guys,” said BC Head Coach Adam Frost after the game. “They played well. They clawed back in the game after a slow start and if it wasn’t for a couple of lapses at the end of the game, we could have won it.”
Garett Hickling, who took up coaching the Thunder after he was sidelined by an injury received in March, praised his team’s discipline and intensity. “The guys played hard right until the end,” he said. “They kept pushing even when we went down a couple and stuck to the game plan and that’s what gave us the overtime win.“
NOTE: MVP AND ALL-STAR AWARDS ARE NOT TO BE RELEASED UNTIL 9 PM on SUNDAY, MAY 15
For All Star and MVP awards, see below:
Division I
0.5 - Carl Girard, Quebec Impact
1.0 - Trevor Hirschfield, BC "A"
1.5 - Patrice Simard, Quebec Impact
2.0-2.5 - Travis Murao, BC "A"
3.0-3.5 - Ian Chan, BC "A"
MVP - David Willsie, Ontario Thunder
I Wanna Be Like Mike Award - Byron Green, BC "A"
Division II
0.5 - Jared Funk, Team Manitoba
1.0 - Patrice Dagenais, Ontario Lightning
1.5 - Frank Groenestege, Ontario Lightning
2.0 - Cody Caldwell, Ontario Lightning
2.5 - Joe Boudreau, Ontario Lightning
3.0 - Cory Harrower, Saskatchewan
3.5 - Reid Mulligan, Ontario Lightning
MVP - Cory Harrower, Saskatchewan
I Wanna Be Like Mike Award - Jason Crone, Ontario Lightning
Judith Zelman Memorial Award - Zak Madell, Alberta Roughnecks
About Wheelchair Rugby
Wheelchair rugby is a team sport for male and female athletes with a mobility-related disability in at least three limbs. It is a unique sport created by athletes with a disability that combines some elements of basketball, handball, and ice hockey. The object of the game is to carry the ball across the opposing team's goal line. Two wheels must cross the goal line for a goal to count, and the player must have firm control of the ball when he or she crosses the line. All wheelchair rugby players compete in manual wheelchairs. Players must meet the minimum disability criteria of the sport and must be classifiable under the sport classification rules.
For more information or to schedule an interview contact:
Arley McNeney
Communications Coordinator – Canadian Wheelchair Sports Association
1-778-788-9091
arley@cwsa.ca
Andrea Muir
Event Chair
306-241-1157
