Also, thank you to all the minor officials volunteers as well as those that donated their time and items for our hospitality suite to keep our coaches, referees and volunteers energized for the weekend!

Titans Cadet Invitational Tournament February 1-3, 2008
Submitted by Bev Davis

I would like to thank all the volunteers, players, coaches, referees and parents for a great tournament. I hope it was lots of fun for everyone and happily, there were no serious injuries.

Special thanks to Paul Hébert for minor official coordination and his team; Valerie Walker for managing the hospitality suite, Andrea Kennedy for making the souvenir booklet; Wendy Branson for all the on-deck odd jobs during the game, Deanna Barry for her tremendous support and work in helping with organization; Christine Taschereau for taking care of merchandise sales; Sue Sidebottom for her technical and moral support; and my husband for keeping things running at home.

As a first time tournament organizer, I really appreciated the time, effort and support from everyone to make the tournament a success. Thanks.

I would also like to remind people who may have left things behind in the hospitality suite (a cooler which I think belongs to the Steenkamers; a basket, ice packs, and toaster), contact Valerie Walker and she can coordinate pick up (mittensrichardson@yahoo.ca).

Click here on Cadet Invitational to see results and pictures posted on our website for the tournament.


Fighting, Biting Titans Rock!
Submitted by Christine Taschereau

The Tiger Sharks, including Max, a new team member, faced their first fight just getting to the pool last Friday for the Titans' Cadet Tournament. The raging snowstorm had already forced London to cancel their attendance. Some worried that other teams would do the same. Thankfully, other than a delay in the start of the first game, the storm had no impact on the tournament.
 
The first Tiger Shark game was against the sometimes problematic DDO. Anthony scored quickly and Lyle followed with a great rebound shot. Goalie Charles made an awesome save in the 2nd quarter, which just may have inspired Owen to steal the ball, make a quick swim to the other end and score. The team's defence worked well and prevented all but 2 of DDO's shots from going in during this 9-2 win for Ottawa.
 
Lyle must have eaten his Wheaties on Saturday morning scoring 4 goals in the first 2 quarters of the Tiger Shark second game of the tournament. In the 3rd Hull scored on a penalty shot and then managed to tie the game before the end of the quarter. The 4th quarter started with the crowd on the edge of their seats, as it was Anthony's turn to score on a penalty shot. Then Lyle and Ogi ensured the win by each scoring resulting in a 7-4 Hull defeat.
 
Chanting Tiger Sharks, over the stress of the Hull game, took on the York Mavericks. The Titans dominated the play from the 1st swim-off. The game turned into an almost perfect double scoring game with Lyle, Anthony, Alec and Ogi each scoring twice. David T. repeatedly tried but just couldn't get a second goal past York's goalie in this 9-2 Tiger Shark win.
 
The Gold medal game had the Tiger Sharks fighting off Hull again! The crowd was supportive, with some former Titans cheering louder than most. Ogi got the Tiger Sharks on the score board but Hull tied the game before the end of the 1st quarter. The team pulled ahead in the 2nd quarter but Hull and their supporters were still very much in the game. After a few great steals Ottawa pulled further ahead in the 3rd quarter. Hull did try to rally late in the 4th but just couldn't pull it of. With this 6-2 win the Tiger Sharks clinched GOLD for the second time this season.
 
Congratulations to Hull for being awesome opponents and to the Ottawa Stingrays for their Gold in the girls AAA division.

AA Girls at Titans Cadet Invitational
Submitted by Greg Sidebottom

The Titans Flying Fish and Marlins entered the Girls AA division of the Titans Cadet Invitational Tournament last weekend, along with the DDO2 team and a team all the way from Saskatchewan.  Friday night saw the Flying Fish face off against the Marlins for a warm up game with the lead switching back and forth, ending in a 5-4 win for the Marlins.

The Marlins were up against a very strong Saskatchewan team on Saturday morning.  Fresh off a 7-4 win against DDO 2 the night before, Saskatchewan was also convincing against the Marlins with an 8-0 win.  The Flying Fish morning game was a defensive nail bitter against DDO2, with the Flying Fish scoring first and keeping DDO off the scoreboard until the last minute of the first half but scoring with seconds remaining in the half to take a 2-1 lead into the second half.  The Flying Fish managed to get up by two goals in the third quarter but DDO 2 battled back and tied it up late in the fourth for a final 3-3 tie.

The partners were swapped for the Saturday evening games.  First up was the Marlins against DDO 2.  The Marlins matched DDO 2 in the first half with a 2-2 tie, but DDO 2 scored early in the second half and shut out the Marlins for the remainder of the game for a 3-2 DDO2 win.  The Flying Fish went down 4-0 to the Saskatchewan powerhouse in the first three quarters, but then the Flying Fish battled back to get on the board in the fourth quarter and end with a respectable 6-2 loss.

With the round robin complete, the Marlins and Flying Fish were in third and fourth place, setting them up for a rematch on Sunday.  This time the Flying Fish scored the first three goals and never relinquished the lead, the final score being 5-2.  DDO2 almost matched Saskatchewan in the gold medal game, only falling behind in the final seconds of the first half by a score of 2-1.  But in the end, Saskatchewan dominated five more unanswered goals in the second half for a 7-1 final.

This was the first time the the Marlins and Flying Fish played in a tournament together with almost their full rosters, and I saw their play improve with every game.  These young teams showed that they are ready to compete at the Cadet level and are off to a great start to the tournament season.


Titans Team Photos


Titans Flying Fish


Titans Marlins



Titans Stingrays  Gold AAA Girls

Titans Bull Sharks   Silver AA Boys

Titans Tiger Sharks  Gold AAA Boys


Water Polo Article in the Ottawa Sun

For those of you who just can't get enough water polo news, check out this article in the Ottawa Sun at:

http://www.ottawasun.com/Sports/OtherSports/2008/02/03/4810187-sun.html