LOCAL SPORTS

U22 Barracudas dominate rival Hornets by Don Wall

BURLINGTON - With top scorer Caileigh Tiller on the sidelines, the U22 Burlington Barracudas relied on contributions from other core players and also a less likely source to shut out local rival Oakville Hornets 2-0 in Ontario Women’s Hockey Association action Oct. 19, 2025.

The line of Addi Butler, Hayley Thompson and Keelin Song of the hometown Barracudas pressed

Oakville from the opening whistle. The pressure paid off immediately, at the 29-second mark, when a seemingly innocuous point shot from defender Addyson Lee found the back of the net behind a screened Oakvlle netminder Chloe Smith.

The one-goal margin held for the next 57 minutes of play despite the Barracudas outshooting the Hornets by a three-to-one ratio – the final count was 45-15. Finally, during another typical Burlington blitz, Aubrey Biase buried the puck behind Smith at 17:37 of the third period with Chelsea Tiller and Gabrielle Catalano earning assists. As of Oct. 20 Burlington was listed as tied for seventh in U22 OWHL standings among 25 teams with a record of 8-4.

Team captain Chelsea Tiller, 17, the twin of Caileigh Tiller, said the team stuck to its systems to grind out the Oct. 19 win. The steady rearguard noted Burlington was missing

several others besides her sister. “It’s important, when we have a key player out, that everybody else

steps up,” said Tiller. “It’s nice to see that on the scoreboard. It’s a bunch of other people’s names on the board, and it’s distributed evenly.”

Her sister was suspended due to rough play during a recent game and was due to return the next week. Caileigh Tiller had counted 17 goals and 31 points after 20 games played in the regular season and tournaments, while Catalano, only 15, entered the game with just three points.

Midway in the first period Catalano stood her ground during a collision with an opponent, sending her victim crumpling to the ice. She said she’s still adjusting to the pace of U22 play.

“For me as a small player, they might think, Oh, I’m easy to push around,” she said. “I’m going to

work as hard as anyone.”

Even though Oakville is rebuilding and low-ranked in the standings, Catalano said, “You have to play hard, even though it’s a scrappy game. But we pulled through and we did what we needed to do to win.”

‘Cudas head coach Kevin Greco said goaltender Riley Manna stepped up when required despite going long stretches without being tested. As for Catalano, Greco said, “Gabby’s been great. She’s a young player, she’s probably one of the hardest workers on the team. Her compete level is off the chart.

“She battles the biggest and strongest of players out there, and she’s very offensively creative.”

Jr A Cougars showing defensive skills

by Steven McGoey

BURLINGTON - The Burlington Cougars Junior A hockey club are officially more than a third of the way through their season. The team sits seventh place in the West Conference with a record of 8-6-1-4. The team has allowed just 53 goals in 19 games, seventh least in the league. The league consists of two conferences with 12 teams each, the top eight teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs. A relatively inexperienced team coming into the season, the Cougars have played

extremely tight checking in their recent stretch of games, including a 1-0 overtime win over  the Collingwood Blues, the second-place team in their conference. At the time of writing their last three games had gone to overtime, with two going to double overtime. “I’ve been very happy with our teams compete over the last five games, our commitment to playing better defensively has been very noticeable, highlighted by the shutout of Collingwood,” Cougars Head Coach and General Manager Mark Jooris told The Independent.

Jooris has been active in the trade market, acquiring forwards Artem Narbekov from the King Rebellion and Ethan Brassard from the Toronto Patriots. They also added defenceman

Boston Bourque from the CCHL’s Kemptville 73’s. Narbekov has made an immediate offensive

impact, recording four goals and six points in seven games as a Cougar.

Brassard has two points in four games with Burlington, his 13 total points on the season tie him for the team lead with Colin Ronalds. “We are getting contributions from different players offensively,” said Jooris. Goaltenders Carter Vicente and Connor Haffner have been fantastic for Burlington to begin the season. Vicente has the second-most games played, has played the most minutes,

and has faced the second-most shots against in the OJHL. He has a 5-5-4 record with a .924 save percentage, seventh best in the league.

“Both our goalies have been exceptional. Carter has been a great role model for Connor,” Jooris noted.

Just 16-years-old, Haffner has a 3-1-1 record and .921 save percentage in his first junior season.

Jooris said he was not surprised by anyone’s performance so far but stated, “upfront, (Hayden) Bondy, (Benjamin) Trebicky, and (Matthew) Campanella have been noticeable. Our D have been good, led by our captain Reid Forster, he’s been very consistent so far.”

Eagles, Bulldogs, Jr. Raiders house league seasons underway

by Steven McGoey

BURLINGTON - The minor hockey season is well underway in Burlington. The Burlington Eagles are Burlington’s premier and most recognizable minor rep hockey organization.

Members of the Ontario Minor Hockey Association, the Eagles field teams from U7 through U18 age groups. This season the Eagles are fielding eight MD level teams in the U7, U8 and U9 age groups. They have nine A level teams from U10-U18, eight AA teams, and eight AAA teams. This means more than 550 players and 150 volunteer coaches and staff are registered with the

Eagles for the 2025-26 season.

They also operate a Jr. Eagles program for players under the age of seven to learn hockey skills. There are six Jr. Eagles teams this season. On the ice, the organization is off to a good start, they have an overall record of 199-122-34 as of Oct. 30. Recently, the U13 AAA Eagles took

home the championship in the Barrie Peewee Challenge Cup on Oct. 19.

The Burlington Lions Optimist Minor Hockey Association (BLOMHA) are members of the Alliance

Hockey organization. Operating since 1951, BLOMHA is one of the oldest youth organizations in the city and operates the city’s most popular house league hockey program. This includes a U6-U8 initiation program and U9-U19 house league. The Bulldogs operate MD/B/BB/

Select teams at all ages. Unlike the Eagles level of hockey, there is no longer bodychecking at the B/BB/Select level. With all their programs, BLOMHA relies upon 500+ volunteers

and operates more than 100 teams with 1,800 registered players. Coming in November is the Bulldog Challenge Cup, a tournament hosted in Burlington at all levels of Bulldogs hockey.

A recent addition to the minor hockey scene in Burlington is the Halton Senators. Run out of Conacher Hockey at Wave Sports by Burlington native and former NHLer Cory Conacher, the Senators are a U7, U8, and U9 AAA development program.

The Burlington Jr. Raiders are also run out of the Wave. Like BLOMHA, the Jr. Raiders are members of Alliance Hockey. There are 11 Jr. Raiders teams competing at BB/B or AA/A from the U10 through U16 age groups this season. They have an organization record of 23-46-4 as of

Oct. 30.

Victoria Mboko wins National Bank

by Steven McGoey

BURLINGTON - Burlington tennis star Victoria Mboko defeated former WTA No. 1 and four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka at the National Bank Open in Montreal on Aug. 7.

The 18-year-old Mboko began the season ranked 333rd in the world and was 85th by the time

the Open began. Her win made her the second-lowest ranked player to win a Tier 1 tournament

and her world ranking shot up to 24.

Mboko’s parents emigrated from the Democratic Republic of Congo and she was born in

Charlotte, N.C., before moving to Burlington at the age of four. She trained at Burlington’s ACE

Tennis from age four until the age of 12 under partners and former professionals Doug Burke and

Pierre Lamarche. “From the word ‘Go’ she had incredible competitive spirit, she wanted to beat everyone, she wanted to beat her siblings even though they were eight or nine years older,” Burke told The Independent.  Her passion for the game was evident from a young age.

“She loved being on the tennis court playing, she couldn’t get enough. When she was out there

she was zoned-in and unusually focused for someone so young,” said Burke.

Throughout the tournament Mboko was constantly coming from behind, including a 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (4) win in the semis against Elena Rybakina.“What struck me the most was her composure in tough situations through the tournament...she was almost itching to come back and fight.”

“Her power and ball striking are exceptional, her timing is so good and she has so much power that I think after a while it wears on her opponents,” said Burke.

After picking up her first WTA Tournament win Burke thinks the sky is the limit, “I don’t think

there’s a ceiling, I really don’t... she has a strong belief in herself, she doesn’t get rattled easily and

she seems to have a really good team around her. I think as long as she stays healthy there’s no

limit where she can go.”

Despite a straight sets loss in Round One of her first U.S.Open appearance, Burke does not think

it will impact her long term - and that it might be good for Mboko to get some rest. She was plagued by a wrist injury.

As for what Mboko’s rise means for tennis in Canada? Burke is already seeing an impact at Ace.

“They’re more excited about tennis and the possibilities, for young Canadians, especially females. I

think it does give them the belief that they can go far in this game.”