Ontario wins U19 women’s field lacrosse title

Local players Skylar McArthur, Abigael Hiltz play key roles in national championship win

Peterborough players Skylar McArthur and Abigael Hiltz have won gold with Team Ontario at the U19 Women’s Field Lacrosse championship.

The defending champions from Ontario went into the U19 Women’s Field Lacrosse final undefeated, and came back from a 7-4 deficit at the half against Team Alberta to win 10-7 in Calgary on the weekend.

Skylar McArthur held Team Alberta to one goal in the second half, while Abigael Hiltz assisted on the sixth and seventh goals and had a natural hat trick, scoring the next three goals. She also had a goal and an assist in the first half.

Prior to heading to Calgary, the Big Red Machine attended an OPP training facility near Orillia on Aug. 13, where OPP members guided the talented young players through a unique team building exercise.

Officers from the OPP Tactics and Rescue Unit had the athletes rappel from an eight-storey tower, according to a release from the OPP. While the drill was intimidating for the teens, it proved to be a team building exercise. It also opened their eyes to the physical and mental demands placed on TRU and other OPP specialized unit members during their training.

The OPP wellness unit also engaged the players in a relay race, but not before being weighed down with 14-kilogram vests.

The 18-member Team Ontario is led by head coach Pat Morris, an inspector with the OPP’s Provincial Operations Intelligence Bureau. Carolyn Toll of Oshawa and Silvana Yee of Oakville are assistant coaches.

Morris, a former lacrosse player, has coached lacrosse and hockey for 20 years and has been coaching girls’ field lacrosse for six years. He also coaches two teams in Orillia.

“Coaching high level athletes has been the highlight of my life – I am honored to have that opportunity. These young women are driven athletes and success is the goal in everything they undertake,” Morris stated.

“Competition like this can canvas where winning is determined by their individual and collective execution, and very little else is at play. I enjoy the simplicity of that scenario.”

Ontario defeated British Columbia at the 2017 national championships in Halifax, N.S.

Canada’s Women’s U19 Team is the world champion, having won the World Cup in Scotland in

2015.

The next U19 World Championship will be hosted by Canada next summer in Peterborough.