Scarborough hockey stars clash in national club championship
Sunohara scores first goal, Piper the last two
With two Olympic gold medals and several world championship gold medals to their credit, it definitely wasn't surprising to find a pair of Scarborough hockey stars front and centre at the Hockey Canada women's national club championships in Charlottetown last week.
Inaugural Scarborough Walk of Fame inductee Vicky Sunohara, belying her 37 years, managed to open the scoring for her Brampton team in Saturday night's gold medal game.
Unfortunately for Sunohara, however, her cross-town compatriot and fellow national squad teammate 26-year-old Cherie Piper ended up scoring the last two goals of the game - including the tying goal in the third period and the winner in overtime - to give the Mississauga Chiefs the come-from-behind 3-2 win.
Brampton had actually opened a 2-0 lead prior to the Mississauga comeback.
Just as the two rival teams made it to the gold medal game of the national club championships, they have also made it to the playoff championshp game for their Canadian Women's Hockey League.
And that game will be played at the Powerade Centre in Brampton this Saturday, March 22, 1 p.m.
It is sure to be a bittersweet game for Sunohara as it will mark a relatively early end to her season. For the first time in many, many years, she has not made the final cut for the national team. She will not be joining Piper on the Canadian national team as it tries to win its 10th world title in 11 years starting April 4 in Harbin, China.
Had Sunohara, who turns 38 in May, made the team she would have been the oldest player by more than four years.
She is a veteran of three Olympic Games (two gold, one silver) and eight world championships (seven gold, one silver).
Sunohara went to Stephen Leacock Collegiate, while Piper attended Albert Cambell Collegiate.
Piper missed last year's world championships due to injury but was a star at the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy, where she finished tied for first in both goals scored (7) and plus-minus (plus-15) and was second in total points with 15.
