When the referee's whistle blew for full time after two tense moments of stoppage time, the sun immediately shone on Mohawk Sports Park and the Mountaineers' rugby team.

On an otherwise overcast afternoon last Saturday, with winds of 40 km/h and much stronger gusts, Mohawk managed to hold on to beat their heated rivals from Humber College, 12-7.

The victory, on the final day of the OCAA regular season, gave Mohawk first place, one scant point ahead of the Hawks. Both teams finished 6-1. They both scored close wins against the other, but the Mountaineers collected one more bonus point for their offensive prowess over the course of the season and in the end, that was the difference.
 
Alex Houston faked out Humber defenders for the first try, converted by Chris VanSickle. But Humber equalized before the first half was out. Then, despite the wind to their face in the second half, Mohawk went ahead to stay on Riley Cronsberry’s terrific solo run down the left flank.

Mohawk still had some scary moments near the end having to repel several deep Humber attacks.
"It was always going to be who wanted it the most,” said Mohawk coach Alex Paris. “The way we stopped them in the second half spoke volumes for the guys on the field."

The Mountaineers, by finishing first, will play the Seneca Sting in semi-final play tomorrow at 2 p.m. at Mohawk Sports Park, hoping to book themselves a spot in the OCAA gold medal game at Fletcher's Fields in Markham Nov. 14.

Make it two straight wins for the Mohawk women's volleyball squad. The Mountaineers swept the Sault Cougars, 25-12, 25-5, 25-17 at the Fennell gym last Saturday. Lauren Aquilina led the Mohawk with 10 kills, two aces and 10 digs. Jenn Knowles had eight kills, one block and one ace.

After they took a trip to Sarnia this past Wednesday to face Lambton,  the next home match for the Mountaineers is tonight (Friday) when St. Clair visits at six o’clock.  
Mohawk dropped a hard fought 80-76 verdict to visiting Algoma University in men’s basketball last Friday. The Mountaineers slipped to 1-2 despite the 18 point effort of Alex Reis.

Mohawk bounced back the next night for a 97-70 win over Sault College. The Cougars, playing their first game of the regular season jumped to an 11-4 lead, but Mohawk woke up and led 47-32 at the half and managed to stay in front.

Ricky Heath scored 20 points for the home side. Tanner Lane and Trevor Williams added 19 apiece.

Mohawk had a game at Lambton on Wednesday and goes to Hilbert College in Hamburg, New York tonight for an exhibition test.

In women’s play last Friday, Mohawk fell to 1-2, losing 69-43 to Algoma. Morgan Taylor had 11 points for the Mountaineers while Casey Boggs scored eight.

London's Fanshawe College won both the men's and women's team titles at the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association cross country championships hosted by St. Clair College in Windsor last Sunday.

In the men's eight-kilometre event, Mohawk was eighth in the team competition.
Jason Smith of Conestoga was the individual winner, timed in 27:14.6. Jon Redfearn was Mohawk's top runner, finishing 8th in 29:09.5.

Other Mountaineer results included: Dave Hirsh (34) 31:57.1, Josh Lamb (40) 32:16.8, Jacob McDonald (43) 32:27.4, Pat Cook (53) 33:09.7, Alex Hamilton (62) 34:24.5 and Mike Holmes (78) 39:02.5.

In the women's five-kilometre race, Mohawk finished ninth as a team. Liliane Sparkes of Fanshawe was the individual winner, clocking 18:45.9. Emily Hicks led the Mohawk contingent finishing 13th in 21:00.4.

Other Mountaineer results included: Marlin Kedini (30) 22:27.4 and Leah Maurizio (59) 25:50.5. One of Mohawk’s top runners, Christine Enes, who started the race, despite a sore knee, pulled out early rather than risk serious injury.

Enes is scheduled to be back next year along with Hicks, Redfearn, Hirsh and Lamb.