Of course, that's because the Rebs and Eagles will tip-off in the tournament opener this time around, scheduled for 2:30pm on Friday. Both will be new-look teams after those two squads both made a CWOSSA "AAAA" appearance last season.
Returning starter Meagan Karai will lead the Rebels up front while Lori Stankiewicz will see an increased role in the backcourt.
For St. Mary's, Alysha Hergott is back for her 5th year after missing last year due to an ACL injury. She'll be joined by returning D8 2nd-team all-star Emma Jada, as well as a couple of key rookies including offensive threat Sydney Greulich and Laura Kay.
Other first-round games will include Kitchener Grand River against Dundas Parkside (4:00pm); an all-CWOSSA battle between Kitchener CI and Cambridge St. Benedict (5:30pm), and St. Patrick's (Sarnia) against Waterloo SJAM at 7:00pm.
The semifinals go on Saturday at 11:30am and 1:00pm, with the championship final at 7:00pm Saturday evening.
As for my pick? The field seems really wide-open but I'll go with St. Benedict to get past St. Mary's in an all-D8 final --- but we'll see what Sarnia St. Pat's has to say about that after a 2nd place finish in the LSSAA last year. Grand River might also be able to make some noise as well, given that they may be at an advantage in an early-season tournament with 4 returning starters from their 2011 team.
