Bermuda?s women?s national hockey team are already deep in preparation for this summer?s CAC tournament to be held in the Dominican Republic.

In addition to their training schedule, the ?Onions? have been playing in a series of practice matches against a ?Rest of the Best? team of locally-based players.

The matches are being used as a training vehicle and as a selection process to narrow the field of players down to the 16 who will eventually make up the travelling squad.

To date the Onions have had an impressive record against the competition ? taking the first three games of the five-game series.

Wrapping up the third game on Sunday, Onions took down their non-Bermudian competition 5-0 before a large gathering of both players and spectators drawn to the promise of some high standard hockey.

From the opening whistle the crowd were not sure who would dominate as the Rest immediately attacked with blazing sticks and were awarded a penalty flick within the first few minutes of play.

Lucy Daynes stepped forward for the Rest to take the penalty but put her shot just wide of the post.

Onions then seized the opportunity to take control of the game and Liz Osborne soon drove them into an early lead.

The Rest followed with some good counterattacking and both teams had their fair share of short corners in the first half with both Yvonne Slattery (Rest) and Caroline Black (Onions) narrowly missing the target.

As the half drew to a close, Ana Abend put a second goal on the scoreboard for the Onions from short corner play.

The break was all the Onions needed to build their momentum and come out in the second half ready to put the game away.

Both teams attacked aggressively as the second half gained steam. While the Rest?s Slattery and Patricia Scaife created some excellent opportunities for their forwards ? who were denied goals by the quick reflexes of the Onions? goalie Fiona Doe ? the local side maintained their control of midfield through the tireless work of Hannah Ellison and Kerry Graham.

The second flick of the match was awarded to the Onions and Jo-Ann Wilson put the ball into the back of the net with a resounding crash on the backboard to bring the score to 3-0.

From here on Onions seized every opportunity that was open to them and Maryellen Jackson executed two great short corners to give the Onions their fourth and fifth goals.

The final two games of the series will be played on Sunday, February 12 and Sunday, April 2 and the Onions will no doubt be looking to seal their undefeated streak with even more impressive scorelines.

Both matches will take place at 5 p.m. at the National Sports Centre as the training squad of 33 players continue preparation.

The team is coached by Gareth Tavares, Justin Freisenbruch and Matt Spencer.

The CAC tournament will be held in Santo Domingo from July 16-31.

The players competing in Sunday?s match were: Ana Abend, Megan Spurling, Hannah Ellison, Liz Osborne, Caroline Black, Jennifer Beech, Lesley Blackburn, Kerry Graham, Meredith Head, Fiona Doe, Maryellen Jackson, Jo-Ann Wilson, Jo Bielby, Kirsten Faria, Marcia Ford and Melissa Durrant. Ellen Collery, Jessica Bowdler, Jennifer Simmons, Yvonne Slattery, Patricia Scaife, Shelley Lahti, Laurel Powell, Lucy Daynes, Emma Simmons, Sarah Smith, Nicola Bird, Laura West-Burt and Michelle Sampson. The Rest were coached by Craig Burt.