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Canadian Select League
Benefit Dinner A Success
Montréal, Québec
December 8th, 2008
The 2008 Canadian Select
League Season ended with a fantastic Super Finals weekend at the Olympic
Stadium in Montréal, Québec this past weekend (December 4-6). In
addition to high flying water polo action, the Canadian Select League
and Water Polo Canada hosted a Benefit Dinner for its athletes and the
the league at Glamour Restaurant-Lounge (3547 Boul. St-Laurent).
The event was a huge success, and the Canadian Select League would like
to thank all of its supporters including its faithful fans (online and
in person), and especially all of our sponsors and donors. Without
the support of the water polo and business communities, the event would
not have taken place. The Benefit Dinner was an opportunity to
praise and recognize the athletes and staff who have put so much time
towards training and raising the bar of water polo professionalism in
Canada. To this we salute all supporters, athletes, and staff!
The night began with cocktails
and a chance for one and all to get to know the athletes on a more
personal level. During the appetizers the Water Polo Canada
Executive Director, Ahmed El-Awadi, gave a state of the union address
thanking all attendees, sponsors, donors, and athletes and their
families. Mr El-Awadi also noted the presence of other Olympic
Athletes (Alexandre Despatie- diving, Arturo Miranda- diving, Geneviève
Saumur- swimming, Karine Sergerie- taekwondo, and Simon Deschamps- 1976
water polo) and thanked them for their efforts in representing Canada on
the international stage as well as for their support of their peers.
Throughout the Dinner attendees had the chance to purchase raffle
tickets and bid on silent auction items that included signed Canadian
Women's National Team apparel and photos to Montreal Canadiens hockey
tickets (5 rows from ice level). At the conclusion of the dinner,
and the awarding of the winners of the raffle prizes and silent auction
items, was the presentation of the Canadian Select League Championship
Trophy and individual awards by the Commissioner of the CSL, Jeffrey
Lindell, and Canadian Women's National Team Head Coach, Patrick Oaten.
The Championship Trophy was presented to Captain Christine Robinson and
Head Coach Gyula Toth of the West Coast Wild Cats. The Wild Cats
won their 2nd consecutive CSL Championship upsetting the favourite
Prarie Dogs by a 6-4 score in the Championship Game. Joëlle
Békhazi won her 1st CSL Scoring title amounting 25 goals and 23 assists
for a total of 48 points. Another 1st time winner was awarded the
Top Goal Scoring plaque. Rosanna Tomiuk scored a league leading 33
goals this season, 25 tallies were scored at even strength, 4 with the
extra man, and another 4 on penalty shots. Dominique Perreault,
with a league leading (new CSL record) 24 blocked shots, and in 3rd
place with 25 steals, won the Best Defensive Player award. The
Most Valuable Goalie (MVG) plaque was given to the Prairie Dogs' Marissa
Jansses who led the league with a 5.00 goals against average and
finished in 2nd place with 65.67 save percentage. Janssens also
led the league with a stingy 80 goals against in 16 games played.
Finally, the Most Valuable Player honour was given out to the athlete
who surprised everyone with her outstanding play this season at both
ends of the pool. When the Wild Cats lost Captain Robinson half
way through the season, and the entire Super Finals weekend, all water
polo experts had counted out the 2007-08 Champs to repeat.
However, Kerry Kaukinen stepped up her play finishing the year with 41
points (3rd place), 30 goals (2nd place), 32 ejections drawn (3rd
place), 5 penalty shots drawn (2nd place), 37.97 shooting percentage
(3rd place), and 14 blocked shots (2nd place) earning her the 2008 MVP
award.
Congratulations to the Coach
Toth and the West Coast Wild Cats, Joëlle Békhazi, Rosanna Tomiuk,
Dominique Perreault, Marissa Janssens, and Kerry Kaukinen for a great
season. We would once again like to thank all CSL supporters in
helping us make our 3rd season even more successful than the first two
season. Well folks...that's it that's all for 2008, however, keep
checking our web site and the Water Polo Canada web site
www.waterpolo.ca to receive updates of the CSL and to
track the success of the Canadian Women's National Team en route to Roma
2009 (July 18- August 1) and the Canadian Junior Women's Team as they
prepare for the Junior World Championships in Siberia, Russia in early
August 2009.
Wild Cats To Meet Dogs in
Championship Game
Montréal, Québec
December 6th, 2008
It was fun while it
lasted, that is, the domination of the 11-3 Prairie Dogs. The Dogs
met the West Coast Wild Cats in the CSL Super Final Championship Game in
a rematch of last year's final. The Dogs were heavily favoured
leading into the weekend, and through the leadership of Captain Krystina
Alogob walked over the Wild Cats Friday evening. The Wild Cats
were missing their Captain Christine Robinson, and one of their top
offensive guns, Emily Csikos, who recently recovered from an upper body
injury. The Wild Cats managed to repeat as Champions of last
season with a thrilling 6-4 victory over the Prairie Dogs. Csikos
still managed to touch the twine twice, both goals coming in the 4th
quarter, and one of which was the winning goal. In the absence of
Robinson, Kerry Kaukinen assumed the lead centre forward role logging
almost 32 minutes pretty much each game. Not to mention Kaukinen
finished 3rd in league scoring 41 points and 2nd in goals scored with
30- a career year for Kaukinen. Other notables for the two-time
Champion Wild Cats was the play of Dominique Perreault who paced the
team early on in the season and scored 3 big goals in the Semi-Final
this morning. Athina Vazeos and Whitney Genoway played monster
roles on this depleted squad all year long.
This afternoon's final started
off as a tight checking defensive duel, led at both ends by goaltender
Marissa Janssens (Dogs) and Rachel Riddell (Cats). The first frame
ended 1-0 with Genoway scoring the lone goal of the period. The
Wild Cats extended their lead early in the 2nd period with a counter
attack goal, however, Marina Radu and Rosanna Tomiuk even the score for
the Dogs with laser beam tempo shots from the 4 position. The Wild
Cats regained their lead with 1:30 left in the half when Vazeos ripped a
low cross shot from 5.5 metres out with the extra man. Defense
dominated the 3rd quarter, however, Riddell stoned the Dogs on many
occasions. The Dogs controlled the bal for the better part of that
quarter, except could not find a way to beat the Wild Cats' zone and
Riddell's stellar goaltending. On the other end of the pool,
Janssens held the fort when she was needed to do so. Janssens
played the role of the 7th defender, and did a fine job making 3 steals,
as the Dogs' played a full court press. As the ball dropped for
the final period, you could tell emotions were high and nerves were
firing. Ciskos broke the 0-0 9 minute deadlock with a 5 metre shot
that Janssens would have like to have back. The Dogs continued to
pepper Riddell with shots and quickly tied the game on a power play goal
from Steph Valin, and then took the lead with 3:12 left in the game on
Radu's second score of the contest. It looked as if the Wild Cats
ran out of steam, and the pendulum had swung into the Dogs' favour.
With 2:09 remaining in the game, Kaukinen earned an ejection for her
team, and the team made no mistake about this advantage as Perreault
setup Csikos on the 3-post for the go ahead goal. Alogbo and
Kaukinen were matched up from the get go, and both exhausted each other
at each end of the pool. Both centre forwards went back and forth
with each other all game long with Kaukinen scoring the insurance tally
with 0:56 to play. Congratulations to all athletes for the most
entertaining game we have seen here at CSL Central in a long time.
We are now moving from the
Olympic Pool to Glamour Restaurant-Lounge to celebrate the 2008 CSL
season with a Benefit Dinner for all athletes, staff, and most important
our CSL supporters. Besides all the silent auction and raffle
prizes to be won, we will be presenting the Wild Cats with their 2nd
consecutive CSL Championship Trophy, Joëlle Békhazi (48 points) with her
first Point Scoring award, Rosanna Tomiuk (33 goals) with her first Goal
Scoring award, the MVP, MVG, and the Best Defensive Player award.
So many talented athletes to pick from, so who will win?? Stay
tuned to our web site to find out more!
Wild Cats To Meet Dogs in
Championship Game
Montréal, Québec
December 6th, 2008
After quite an eventful
2008 CSL season, especially with the surprising surge this weekend of
the East Coast Sharks, the 2008 Championship Game will look very similar
to last year- Dogs v. Cats. The Wild Cats easily took down the
East Coast Sharks 11-4 in the CSL Semi-Final game this morning.
After all the hype and play of the Sharks, and the injured and MIA
athletes Coach Toth has had to endure, you would have thought the Sharks
would have advanced to the Championship Game for the first time in
franchise history. The Cats took a quick 3-0 lead with goals by
Dominique Perreault (2) and Kerry Kaukinen. Kaukinen has been
carrying the load for the Wild Cats, but today we have to tip our hats
to Perreault, Whitney Genoway, and Athina Vazeos (1st, 2nd, and 3rd star
respectively) as they dominated the game at both ends of the pool.
We cannot forget to mention that Rachel Riddell bounced back after a
dismal performance last night, and will now have a 1-on-1 showdown with
the Dogs' Marissa Janssens for MVG. By half time the score was
8-2, and that was all Coach Toth really needed as Riddell took care of
business in the 2nd half and the team controlled the clock as to not
allow the Sharks many offensive opportunities. The Sharks yet
again found a way to lose a game they should have won. With the
CSL's top scorer, Joëlle Békhazi, the CSL's steal leader, Tara Campbell,
and with Joannie Morisseau and Campbell in the top 10 in scoring, there
is no reason why this team should not be playing for the CSL
Championship Trophy. They were a little unfortunate this morning
as they hit a few posts and crossbars, and also ran into a red-hot
Riddell.
A new rivalry is being created
this afternoon at the Olympic Stadium as the Prairie Dogs look to live
up to expectations by taking down the defending Champion West Coast Wild
Cats. The ball drops at 3:30PM EST. So before heading
down to Glamour for the CSL Benefit Dinner stop by the Olympic pool and
come watch one of the best water polo games of the year.
2008 CSL Roster
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