Titans Crowned Curling Champs

By: D’Arcy Murphy

A thrilling two weeks for Holy Trinity’s curlers came to a satisfying finish on Wednesday with a Halton Championship! Winning their three previous playoff games to qualify, HT1 advanced to the finals and came away winners. Read more after the jump...

Holy Trinity’s rink consists of Melissa Stanley-Patrick (lead), Steven Molnar (second), Serena Maione (vice) and D’Arcy Murphy (skip). They won their semifinal match on Monday against a strong Iroquois Ridge team that had beat HT2 in the quarter final the previous week. The team convincingly avenged their fellow Titans’ loss with a 7-1 victory. The first end was a textbook demonstration of curling strategy and Murphy was left with an open draw to score four before the start of the second end. In the next two ends, the excellent use of Stanley-Patrick’s accurate guards allowed for single-point steals for the Titans. With the score of 6-0 after three, Iroquois scored their lone point of the match and the game ended with a single point from Trinity.

On the next sheet over, HT coaches Mr. Orlanski and Mr. Sluski watched the other semifinal to scout out the opponents for Wednesday’s matchl. Oakville-Trafalgar came away with the win after a tiebreaker reminiscent of HT’s in the Round of Sixteen.

After Mr. Orlanski’s pregame blessing, Holy Trinity took to the ice on Wednesday for the championship game at the Oakville Curling Club. The experience and determined sweeping of third-year veteran Steven Molnar gave the team the advantage in the first end. A clever hit and roll from D’Arcy Murphy capped off the end and took three points for the Titans. With OT’s squad clearly rattled, HT continued their impressive form. Grade 12 student Serena Maione contributed with some excellent takeout shots that stifled any chance of an Oakville Trafalgar comeback. Despite giving up a single point in the second end, the Titans were looking ahead to the championship medals awaiting them in the clubhouse. The final three ends made way for an additional three points to seal the deal at 6-1.
Following the game, the league organizers presented the team, along with their coaches, the gold medals. After the photo, Mr. Sluski announced to the team that a championship banner would be added to Holy Trinity’s freshly-painted gym commemorating the curling triumph. The curling championship will join the senior football and midget boys’ basketball teams’ regional honours along with various tournament successes from this year.

The new Halton champions will take on a team from Burlington on Monday in a season closing exhibition match-up at the OCC. C’mon out and support your Titan curlers, HT!

LET’S GO TITANS!!!