HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 2009-02-11, Page 32Page A32 - Goderich Signal -Star, Wednesday, February 11, 2009
pirates suffer two close losses in opening round playoffs
Donny Scott
signal -star staff
The Goderich Pirates are in a David-
and-Goliath-esque competition with the
first -placed Petrolia Squires in round one
of the senior 'A' hockey playoffs.
Goderich, who finished eighth in their
division, dropped their first two games in
the best -of -seven series against Petrolia,
but the scores certainly aren't indicative
of where the two teams finished their sea-
son.
The Pirates narrowly lost their first game
of the post -season in Petrolia Friday, Feb.
6, getting edged out by the Squires 4-3.
Goals were scored
by Matt MacPhee;
coition Stokes and
Kyle Hamilton.
Thein second
game saw an even
closer match, with
the Pirates push-
ing the Squires into
overtime. A Petro-
lia penalty with two
seconds left in the
third period gave the
Pirates a power -play
advantage • head -
Playoffs
Begin!
Come out and cheer on
your Pirates team!
suN. FB15 s.00pnr�
Goderich vs. Petrolia
Maitland Recreation Centre
In Thnbits Hockey, half the fun is sharing a moment —
along vifth making new friends, learning valuable life
lessons and discovering a love for the pme. That's why
Tim Horton is proud to support the boys and girls
who play Timbits Hockey in the Goderich community.
o nrn Horton, 2007
The Ant sod is having fun.
Above, the Pirates ham
keeps a close eye on the
it
up
Petrolia
for
a pre -game
offence.
ing into overtime. However, the Squires'
goaltending was red-hot and stymied the
Goderich attack, resulting in another 4-3
Petrolia win.
Goderich Goals were scored by
MacPhee, Dave Meriam, and Josh Liddle.
General Manager Trevor Bazinet says
Goderich is playing well, and they certain-
ly aren't out of the series yet.
"[Petrolia is} a first place team, and
we're giving them some trouble.," he said.
"There are no complaints with the way
we're playing, and we could still come
back."
Friday's game saw Brad Powell in net,
although he could have been confused with
a brick wall, letting in four of 54 'shots.
Tyler Koot played in Sunday's match up,
and performed well, according to Bazinet.
"[Koot} did very well considering he
hasn't had a lot of time in the season," he
said. "We decided that each goalie will get
at least one start [in the post -season]."
Ryan Shelton will be starting the Pirates'
next game.
With the season ending, Goderich got a
chance to evaluate their performance over
the year, and Bazinet is happy with the
way things went.
"When we were going into the season,
our goal was to play .500 hockey, and
that was before Wingham folded," he ex-
plained. "That gave us two more games
against Clinton, who always gave us prob-
lems, but the four games resulted in us get-
ting two wins and four points."
While the Pirates did finish one shy of
their .500 goal, Bazinet said they reached
many milestones throughout the year.
"We beat Tilsonburg, who is a double
Photo by Dominique Milburn
photo op. Below, Kyle Hamilton
'AA' team that came to the league this
year," Bazinet said. "They beat us in over-
time in their home -opener, but we did beat
them in the season. The only teams we
didn't beat at least once were Petrolia and
Lucan."
Their current series will determine
whether they enter the 'AN or 'A' bracket,
and Bazinet explains that, when the sched-
ule'was set for the playoffs, the Pirates set
their sights on the 'A' finals.
"Our goal is to win the 'A' champion-
ship," he said. "But we're not out of this
series with Petrolia yet. We can catch up
and end up on the 'AA' side."
The Pirates are hoping for good luck in
their Friday the 13th game in Petrolia.
They will be returning to Goderich on
Sunday, Feb. 15 to the MRC for game four
of the series. The puck drops at 8 p.m.
Prida
Nlaht Barts -
RAY P1GG w 128
SYD HALL -126
DENNIS LUITING -117
JACK KELLOUCH - 92
MARYLYNNE TELFORD - 94
ILL ROPER - 89
GRAHAM - 84
URIEL KELLOUGH - 83
Week 17 standings
ERIC HALLENBY - 69
LINDA RODGER - 67
PAIRS WINNERS - RAY PIGG, BRIAN
ATKINSON
1805: DENNIS LUSTING (8), RAY PICC
(2), BOB GRAHAM, JACK KELLOUGH
HIGH TAKE-OUT
RAY I ,-155