For the second straight week, it was Ontario versus Manitoba in the gold medal hockey final at the Canada Winter Games, and once again Ontario played the role of spoiler.

Team Manitoba fans, athletes and mission staff came out in droves to Takhini Arena Saturday morning, waving flags and shouting cheers in support of their women's hockey team hoping for a much different outcome than their men's team had faced in Week 1.

Similar to their male counterparts, Toba's women came into the Canada Games as an underdog, never having stood on the podium. The men's silver medal performance last week was the first time the province had finished higher than third place in the history of the Games.

After defeating both Nova Scotia and the Northwest Territories in the round-robin, Manitoba dispatched Nova Scotia once again in the quarter-finals.

Then they posted a thrilling overtime victory against Saskatchewan in the semis, in order to earn a berth in the women's final.

Saleah Morrison got Manitoba off to a promising start, opening the scoring at 15:18 of the first period, but Ontario quickly responded, tying it up with a goal by Rebecca Johnston just 41 seconds later.

The eastern powerhouse took over from there, clearly overwhelming Manitoba with all aspects of their game, showing the crowd why they came in as gold medal favourites. Ontario broke the game open with three goals in a 3:08 span midway through the second period, and they went on to win their fourth consecutive Canada Games women's hockey title the province's second gold medal in hockey at the 2007 Games 6-3.

'It feels great,' said Johnston following the medal ceremony. 'Obviously, it's a wonderful experience. It's just awesome playing with all these players.'

Forward Mallory Deluce, the captain of this year's squad, said Ontario came out strong right from the start.

'We played our best,' she said, adding Manitoba was a formidable opponent. 'They really skated well, moved the puck really well.'

Jennifer Wakefield, the tournament's leading scorer with 12 goals and eight assists, said her team was just really determined to take home gold.

'We were able to roll all four lines and take the body, finish our opponents. Everybody here was pretty prepared, mentally and physically.

'I'm just very proud of Team Ontario. We have a great junior program, good development and great coaching staff.'

Head coach Dave St. Germain said the fact Ontario has so many female hockey players to choose from certainly gave them an advantage.

He had 360 athletes at the start of training camp, which he knows is more female players than some of the provinces and territories have enrolled in their entire minor hockey program.

'We're fortunate to have the Ontario Women's Hockey Association (OWHA), which is the only one of its kind in Canada,' he pointed out.

All of the members of Team Ontario, with the exception of Johnston, play in the OWHA.

Peter Woods, the head coach of Manitoba, said while his team knows they accomplished a lot at the Games and had an exceptional tournament considering their competition, Saturday's loss was still tough to take.

Woods said his team got beat by a very good goaltender, Jaime Miller, but they knew coming in they had their work cut out for them.

'I thought our girls battled hard and we played right down to the last minute.'

Manitoba captain Addie Miles said she realized walking away with a medal of any colour was definitely an accomplishment.

Asked about the newfound strength of Manitoba's hockey programs, given the fact they picked up two silver medals at this year's Canada Games, Miles said the province has put a lot of effort and hard work in over the last few years.

'It's coming up,' she stated.

Woods said a lot is happening in Manitoba right now, including the women's world hockey championship, which gets under way later this month, as well as the Hockey Canada annual general meeting.

'We've got a strong volunteer base. Hockey in this country is not going to survive unless you have that. We have tremendous leadership from out board.

'They're committed to the well-being of our game.'

With the N.W.T. entering a women's team in the Games for the first time this year, and Team Yukon garnering praise from their peers for their attitude and effort on home soil, St. Germain said things have never looked brighter.

Every single program in every single province and territory is getting stronger, he said, and pretty soon, the smaller provinces will be challenging for the medals.

'I sat in the stands (throughout the Games) cheering for the Yukon players,' he said. 'I really, really enjoyed watching them. They never gave up.

'That to me is the true spirit of the game.'

Lesage pots two as Yukon ends Games on a high note

The Yukon women's hockey team took on Prince Edward Island in their final contest of the 2007 Canada Winter Games Friday evening.

Buoyed by the large and very vocal crowd gathered at the Canada Games Centre, Mallory Lesage scored two goals for the hometown team, giving everyone something to cheer about despite the 7-2 final score.

The first marker came with just eight seconds remaining in the second period, thanks to some hard work by Chantelle Rivest, who was credited with an assist.

The second goal, at 12:34 of the third period, was unassisted.