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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1997-03-12, Page 16This Week in Sports... • Bantams battle Harrow - page 17 • Gardner plays 'AAA' womens all-star hockey - page 18 Lucan Irish wins protest, but lose to Seaforth in controversial series Seaforth refused to shake hands' -after the last playoff game in the Junior SEAFORTH - A tumultuous sca- • son came to an end for the Lucan Irish on Friday after they lost the 'last game of their playoff series against Seaforth 6-1. ' They lost on Wednesday by the same score with Chris Fischer scar- ' ing Lucan's lone goal and Jeremy' Lambourn scoring on Friday. Despite ending up on the losing end of the series with only one win under their belts the Lucan players lined up in good faith for the tradi- tional hand shake af• - tcr the game. but in "I walked uri a blatant act, of dis- to the coaches respect, Seaforth - turned their • backs to shake their and skated off the- • hands and they The Ontario Hockey Association ruled in favor of Lucan and with- drew the -two points Seaforth corned for the win stating the game must be re -played. The Leaguc also fined Scalorih S150for "sloppy . management of (the player in ques— tion's) carding situation." . Gregor Campbell. Seaforth.. . Centenaires general manager. said the player's -card had , hecontc caught between the cracks of ad- ministrativc hureadcracy and the organization .did not know they were ,using an ineligible player. • We had no idea. - we . wcrc never no- tified Until the protest arrived. said Camp - be l l ice. all walked "I walked up to the coaches to shake their hands and they all walked away," said Lucan; Irish co -coach Jay Bukala who was tak- en by surprise. "We were the ones who wcrc fru's`trated, the -weic the ones who got our butts kicked," he said adding it happened in Sea- forth's home arena. "If I was a par- ent and I saw that I would he em- harrassed....1 wouldn't want my kid playing for an organization like that." . - Reacting to protest Bukala suspects it may have been a reaction to a protest the Lucan Irish filed with the Junior Develop- ment League last week requesting Scaforth's victory in game three be overturned because the organiza- tion was using an un -carded playcr. away." " The ruling cut Sca- lorth's lead in the se- ries to 2-1 with •the next game to he played in Lucan last Wednesday. Lucan could have tied the series hut the Irish. missing key pla'vers Scott Thompson and Mike Rohh who were out with injuries, came out flat losing 6-1. Bad blood The had blood created hy the protest was evident by the behind - the -play cheap shots on the ice. and off the ice as Seaforth fans shouted "protest!" "protest!" when their team scored. Despite the controvers;•..Bukala said his team played with dignity and refrained from taking re- taliatory• penalties. "As a - hockey playcr you're taught to suck it up and Icavc all of the B.S. behind you when the game is over.' We played with •class and. (hen offered them -our hand and • they turn around and.do that (refuse to shake hands). " he said. " I have no respect for Seaforth al,all." Injuries not to --blame. Although . Lucan has been • plagued hy injuries from the he - ginning of ahe •series and was un- able to dress .a full Zinc -up for any Of the .live games Bukala won't • blains injuries on:their early demise from the playoffs:. • "Injuries was -only part of it. Half• of the team came out- to play, the other half - was just along - for the ride," he said. "Injuries happen to anybody but .we couldn't get an overall team effort and we were .only playing w uh a split squad," ' However. Bukala admits the -con- troversy -off the ice was a major dis- traction • to the -.players and tie protest wasn't. the only thing that affected the team's -morale. In Jan- uary the Irish underwent a major coaching shake-up during a slump _Mau left them without head coach George -Pratt; The cluh's executive body claimed Pratt resigned. how- ever, Pratt said he was fired_ • "that was new 10 these guys. None of them had to deal • with something. like -that ,before," said Bukala. "In all the years -I've been involved • with hockey. as .a- playcr and as a coach I've never seen so much going on away from the rink. It was confusing for the players and it was difficult for them to keep `D' - series The Lucan Irish were eliminated by Seaforth on .Friday in Junior "D" playoff: action. "Dave Revington is •a veterar coach and he has a professiona 'team. They wont let Seaforth se away with the stuff they were doinf to us and 1 think Exeter is going to give them what they • deserve.' their focus." he said. Winning record • Despite the lack luster end to their season. the Irish finished regu- lar league play with a winning 19- I6-3 win11oss/tic record and most of. the players on the relatively young. team are eligible to return next year. Bukala:said thcy are al- • Siephen Township minor hockeywrap-up STEPHEN TOWNSHIP The Stephen Township Peewees won a seesaw battle with Drayton to win the WOAA Championship in front of a home crowd on Saturday. Close isn't good enough to de- scribe this series as booth teams trad- ed wins up until the fifth and final game which went into sudden death overtime. Each team had recorded two wins up until Saturday and the final game in Stephen needed an• extra period to decide the winner. It was Henny Pfaff who answered the call for Stephen as he scored the winnink goal in the dramatic over- time win. "It doesn't get any tougher than that," said coach Jamie Wilson about the outcome. Wilson said the key to beating Drayton, this year's International Silver Stick Champions, was shut- ting down their top goal scoring line. a job he gave to Jesse Schroeder and Jessica Davies. "As long as that line wasn't scor- ing I knew we would get the goals," hc*.I'aid. . After winning the coin toss Wil-. son elected to start the series in Drayton. despite being- questioned by many of his colleagues about his decision.. However. there was -meth- od to his madness. "1 knew we played • better at home, but if we wcrc going to win one game on the road it. was going to he the first one," he said. Thc strategy paid off as Stephen took the first game 3-0 setting the stage for what would eventually re- sult in the final gamc being played at home giving Stephen • the upper hand.' Thc win gives the Stephen Township Peewees a berth in the OMHA semi-finals where they will meet Thcdford for .game one at home on Saturday. - • Stephen has played Thedford three times through the season and has won all three games. Stephen Bantams • The Stephen Township Bantam team narrowly missed eliminating Drayton in game four on Saturday and fell short the following day .10 lose their .bid for a• WOAA chain pionship. • -• Up in their series by two games. the Bantams could have put it away with a win in front of -a home crowd Saturday. hut Dray - ton's • . goaltendcr robbed -them . of a much deserved victory. "The boys played their hearts out. • I couldn't have asked for a better -effort, hut we into •a hot goaltendcr;" said coach Randy Somerville. Stephen outshot their opponents in every game of the series and that was especially evident on Saturday. Stephen pressed for the overtime ran WOSSA curling Skip Steve Hem releases a rock during the WOSSA High School curling playdowns at the llderton Curling Club last Wednesday. The Panthers couldn't adjust to the fast rink and lost their first game to Oakridge in the single knock -out tournament. goal literally coming within inches of sending the puck past their op- ponent's goal line with nail -kiting scrambles in front -of the net and sharp .three-way passing. Despite outshooting Drayton 16-2 in the overtime period, Stephen ended up on the short side of an unlucky break as Drayton buried one past goalie Kevin Thompson with only minutes left in the game. Stephen lost 4-2 the next day in Drayton eliminating them from playoff contention. . "It's frustrating to lose this far into the playoffs. We have a tal- ented team and we expected to go a lot farther;" said Somerville. Stephen Atoms The Stephen Township Atoms also lost .It home on Saturday evict- ing them from the WOAA playoff race - - Stephen. won their first game against Drayton 4-2 on theroad, lost the second by the same score hack in Stephen and won again by the same score in Drayton. The series looked like it would go to the first team that could win at home and Drayton managed to foot the hill after squeaking a one goal win over Stephen in game four. But the tie breaking game was sched- uled in Stephen and it hooked as if the Atoms would clinch .the final game in their own arena. However, Drayton jumped to a quick two - goal lead' and Stephen couldn't catch up after taking late third pe- riod penalties. "The series could have easily gone our way if we got a couple of breaks," said coach Rich Springall. Despite hcing eliminated, Springall said they have had a successful sea- son. "From the beginning I stated to the team that I wanted them to work hard and have fun and I think they accomplished that. Stephen Novice The Stephen Township Novice team is currently hauling Drayton in the WOAA semi-finals and have split the series with one win each. They were scheduled to play Drayton again on Tuesday night at home, however, results were not available at press time. Stephen will travel to Drayton for game four on Thursday. ready looking .at• recruiting for the following season and he promises the club is determined to "build a' contender." • But for now. hockey isn't over for Bukala. He plans on attending the Exeter vs, Seaforth series and he i-sn't hiding which" team he's cheering for.. Midget hockey wrap-up LUCAN - There is a new chapter being written in the Lucan Mi- nor Hockey history hooks. - - . After -beating the Chcsley Colts in game two and three of the OMHA, "DD" semi-finals the Lucan. Midgets advance to the All - Ontario finals for the first time in 10 years. - -• Lucan beat Cheslcy On the road in a close 2-1 win on Friday and then finished them off with an uncontested 9-1 thumping :in Lucan on Saturday. Chad Morrison and Chad Greenlee found the mark in game two and Rob Silver recorded a hat trick the following night with team- mates Jeremy Cornish and Ryan Carroll scoring two each while Greenlee and Morrison added one. Despite sweeping the series head coach Bruce Cornish said it wasn't as easy as the scoreboard depicted. "Cheslcy never stopped they kept coming at us." .said Cornish crediting the efforts of his goalie Bryan, Pearson for only allowing four goals in three games. • Playing a disciplined team such as Chesley benefited Lucan which has struggled to keep a check on their accumulated penalty minutes. "I have to credit Cheslcy for keeping us in order. They forced us to play disciplined hockey and we cut our penalty minutes in half." said Cornish, adding that will be a valuable lesson for the next playoff round.. Lucan is waiting to hear who they will meet in the finals and Cor- nish expects thcy will start thc series on the: road next weekend. The opposing team was not known by press time. No matter who their opposing team is, the Lucan Midgets arc ready and confidence is high. • "We have three guys on thc team who have been to a provincial fi- nal before and they're telling the rest of the guys what it's like." said Cornish. "They know they're close and they want it really bad." Exeter ' The Exeter RSb Midget Generals were• eliminated from playoff contention after losing their last two games to Forest last week. Despite outshooting Forest 2:1. Exeter -couldn't put enough points on the scofreboard losing 6-3 on Wednesday night with Jeff Camp- bell, Greg Geoffery and Tyler Bourne scoring for Exeter. The loss put.Excter in a must win situation heading into the fourth game in Forest but they ran into the same scoring problem. The Gen- erals carried the play to Forest for most of the second period out - shooting them again by the same ratio, but still could not solve the Forest goalie. Campbell scored twice in the second period from Ryan Freiter and Brian Parsons. and Bourne also added one goal assisted by Geoffery and Dave Farquhar. Forest scored in the third period on a shorthanded goal with only 3:57 remaining to seal Exeter's demise. The 5-3 win will advance Forest to the OMHA midget semi-finals against Seaforth. "1 thought we could have handled them," co -coach Dave ,Dal- rymplc adding they beat Forest in the preliminary round robin by scores of 5-1 and 4-1, but their goalie was hot and they got on a role at the right time." Dalrymple credits the Generals for an overall team effort and for playing with a lot of heart, but admits they didn't get any breaks dur- ing the series. • "We had a lot of chances but their goalie stood on his head." he said. Although their season ended sooner than they would have liked, Dalrymple said the Exeter Midgets kept their chins up knowing they had a successful season. Exeter finished the season near the top of their division in regular league play and won the "A" championship at Bill Batten Memorial Tournament. The Midgets also came within one goal of winning the North American Silver Stick Tournament in January. • i