MARCH 6 - CFB Borden's women's broomball team, representing the Ontario region, defeated the Quebec's CFB Valcartier squad by a score of 2-1 to win their second consecutive CF National Women's Broomball championship title.

Ontario player Gail McIntosh leans into Quebec region player Annette Leboeuf in an attempt to move her off the ball as she gets ready to pass the ball to a player moving into Ontario's zone.

"It feels really, really good," said Rocky Hins, coach of the CFB Borden Women's Broomball team. "The girls came a long way. They played a disciplined game, but the main thing is they listened to me and believed in me and I believed in them too." Borden scored their first goal on a powerplay late in the first period. At the time, Valcartier had two players in the penalty box and could not control the action in front of their net.

Throughout the game, when the Ontario region had control of the ball, they consistently sent two players deep into their opponent's zone while a third player hung back waiting for a pass or a loose ball in front of the net. The strategy paid off and Borden clinched the lead with another goal early in the second period.

Although Valcartier's women's squad had excellent ball control and pinpoint passing, penalties kept them from reaching full stride. Most of the time, the Valcartier players were first to a loose ball and they were able to take the play into their opponent's end. Their only break came late in the second period, when they caught the Borden goalie out of position and were able to put the ball in the net.

Sylvie LaPalme, CFB Valcartier coach and player said the team did not get to play much before coming to the nationals.

"Physically we are in shape," said LaPalme. "We are good team and we are a young team, but we have not been able to work as team and this year there was no regionals. We did pretty good and we just have to keep at it."

Last year, the Quebec and Ontario regions also met for championship final. The game went into overtime after Quebec scored a goal near the end of the second period. In overtime, broomball is played without goalies and there is no sudden death. The Ontario region team went on to win the game with a score of 4 to 1.

Teams representing four regions-Prairie, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic-were at CFB Borden from February 22 to 28 to compete for the National CF Championship. They played a round robin tournament to determine the teams advancing to the February 27 final game.

The Quebec region finished in first place with three wins and no loses. Ontario was second with two wins and one loss. The Prairie region followed with one win and two loses and the Atlantic region came in fourth.

The final game's most valuable player (MVP) was Ontario region player Marlène Bouchard. Rachelle Huedes was named tournament MVP.

BROOMBALL WOMEN'S 2002 ALLSTARS

Helen Trudel: Atlantic region
Chantal Roy: Ontario region
Tracy Constable: Prairie region
Rachelle Huedes: Ontario region
Manon Sauvé-Paquette: Quebec region
Linda Chassé: Quebec region