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The Times Advocate, 2004-02-25, Page 1616 Exeter Times–Advocate Wednesday,February 25, 2004 Sports Hawks open playoffs with 2-0 lead on N. Middlesex By Pat Bolen TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF EXETER — The Exeter Hawks took a 2-0 lead in their opening round series against N. Middlesex with a 4-1 win at home Feb. 20 and a 5-2 win in Parkhill Saturday night. The series will resume Friday night in Exeter with game four back in Parkhill Feb. 28. Both games are 8:30 p.m. starts. The Hawks were led in game one by a three point effort from Justin Knee, with two goals and an assist. Knee had the lone goal of the first period, assisted by Shawn Sherwood and Jeff Finkbeiner. Pat Clark gave the Hawks a two -goal lead early in the second period before the Stars cut the lead in half with a power play goal by Mike Vandermeer at 12:06. But it was all the Stars would get as Exeter Justin goalie Justin Hayter blanked them the rest of the way. Henny Pfaff gave the Hawks some insurance with a power play goal late in the third and Knee sealed the win with a shorthanded empty net goal with just over a minute left. Exeter outshot the visitors 35-27, going one for four on the power play and killing off seven of eight man advantages for the Stars. Sherwood had a pair of assists in the win, with Stuckless and Chad Deman each picking up one. Stuckless provided the offence for the Hawks in game two with a hat trick, including a power play goal, a shorthanded effort and an empty net marker. After the Stars opened the scoring in the first period, a pair of power play goals by the Hawks gave them a 2-1 lead before the period was over. Stuckless tied it at 13:06 and Deman put them ahead 2-1 with a minute left. A N. Middlesex power play goal tied it midway through the second period, but Pfaffs second power play goal of the series late in the period put the Hawks up again. A power play for the Stars early in the third backfired as Stuckless fired his second of the game and complet- ed his hat trick with a minute left to make it a 5-2 fmal. Exeter outshot the Stars 30-28, going three for seven on the power play and killing off all but one of five power plays for N. Middlesex. Finkbeiner picked up a pair of assists, with singles from Michael Carnegie, Sherwood, Clark and Knee. Exeter coach Dave Revington said it was a good effort in both games for the Hawks. "We had a few moments where we were in trouble, but it was pretty solid." Despite the three -goal edge the Hawks had in both games, Revington said they were clos- er than it looked. "They were pretty much Knee one -goal games with an empty net goal here and there." Revington was also happy with the effort from Knee, who he said picked it up the last eight games of the season. Notes: Jeff Finkbeiner finished second overall in goals scored with 40, behind Matt Bartoch of Pt. Stanley with 47 and third in overall points with 68 behind Tom Neilson who had 72. Finkbeiner also finished third in power play goals with 10, tied for third in power play points with 22 and second in game winning goals with seven to Bartoch's eight...Justin Knee finished first in power play points with 17 and sixth in rookie scoring with 43 points behind Bartoch who had 69 points...Knee and Daryl Bourne were tied for third in game winning assists with five each...Joe Nesbitt was sixth in defenceman with 24 points...Justin Hayter tied for first with Kris Yungblut of Tavistock with a 2.67 g.a.a. Exeter Hawk Joe Nesbitt fires a pass across to Adam Hartman Friday night at the Rec Centre.The Hawks defeated N. Middlesex 4- I in game of their series and 5-2 Saturday night. (photo/MarySimmons) Lucan Irish splits first two games with Mitchell Hawks By Pat Bolen TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF LUCAN — A hat trick from Matt Read, a penalty shot save by goalie Joe Dobbie and an overtime goal by Adam Thompson were enough to give the Lucan Irish a 4-3 win over the Mitchell Hawks in game one of their play- off series Feb. 18 in Lucan. Mitchell tied the series 1-1 with a 4-1 win at home Friday night. The series resumes tonight (Wednesday) in Lucan at 7:45 p.m. and game four will go Friday night in Mitchell at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday night Read put Lucan on the board four minutes into the game before Mitchell tied it up six minutes later. But Read restored the lead with 25 seconds left in the period making it 2- 1 Lucan. Mitchell picked up the lone goal of the period by Perry Francis for a 2-2 going into the third. Mitchell's Chris Ward was hauled down on a breakaway and awarded a penalty shot, but was stopped by Dobbie. Read's third of the night shorthanded put Lucan in front again, but the Hawks replied once more tying it up on a goal by Dave Verbene. and forc- ing it to overtime. But just 20 seconds into the extra frame, Adam Thompson ended it to was tied for fifth with give Lucan the 1-0 lead in eight power play the series. goals...Joe Dobbie was With Mitchell tying the series Friday night Lucan coach Randy Campbell said it would be a seven game series. Lucan captain Dan Kudirka is out with a sep- arated shoulder and is not expected back for a month. Notes: Matt Read fin- ished second in rookie scoring with 63 points behind Pt. Stanley's Matt Bartoch with 69 points, fifth in overall points with 63, fourth in goals scored with 30 and sixth in assists with 33... Dan Kudirka led the league with six short- handed goals...Mark Read South Huron Panthers basketball EXETER — The senior boys played a very good game in their final league game Feb. 16 defeating Goderich 39-30. Everette Dionne led the way with 13 points and Pete Clifford added 11. Tyler Robinson added six and Jesse McCann, Pete Phouttharath and Wes Johnson played particularly well. The win gave the seniors a 6-2 record for the season. In Huron semifinal action Feb. 20, the senior boys defeated Central Huron 65- 38 with an excellent all round effort. The team started slowly but put it into high gear in the second quarter and never looked back. Dionne had 21 points followed by Clifford with 12, Sean Murray with seven, Shayne Andrews with six and Tyler Robinson and Eric Cosman with five each. The team played very well defensively as well and will now play in the Huron final today (Wednesday) and the Huron Perth crossover semifinals Friday. The junior boys finished their regular season Feb. 16 with a perfect 8-0 record after defeating Goderich 39-38. Spencer Baehnisch led the attack with 12 points followed by Delaney Siren with six, and five each from Tyler Knip and Justin Knee. Dustin Clifford played a strong game defensively in a character win for the boys as they started slowly and had to claw their way back for the victory. The junior boys were in the Huron semifinal Feb. 20 and came away with a 56-36 win over Central Huron. Top scorers were Knee with 17 points and Baehnisch with 13 as well as Siren with seven, Jordan Skinner with six and Knip five. Clifford had a strong game defensively as the boys played well as a team and controlled the boards through the game. It was an excellent effort by all players. first overall in goalie wins fourth overall with a com- with 23 and fourth with a bined team 3.26 g.a.a 2.91 g.a.a... Lucan was Lucan Irish goalie Joe Dobbie stops Mitchell's Chris Ward on a penalty shot Feb. 18 in Lucan. Lucan won game one of the series with Mitchell 4-3 in overtime, but the Hawks rebounded Friday night to tie the series. (photo/Scott Nixon) SH Panthers boys hockey EXETER — The Panther boys hock- ey team captured the Huron title Feb. 20 with a 7-3 win over Madill in South Huron. The Panthers will be in the Huron - Perth tournament Friday against Madill, Listowel and either Stratford Central or Stratford Northwestern. The Panthers were led by a four point effort from Jamie Bibby,who had a hat trick and an assist in the win. Jesse McCann opened the scoring in the first period and Bibby gave the Panthers a 2-0 lead minutes later with an unassisted effort. Greg Thompson made it 3-0 before the period was over. Bibby's second of the game early in the second gave the Panthers a four goal spread but Madill got on the board under a minute later for a 4-1 South Huron lead. Bibby completed his hat trick with five minutes left in the period but Madill replied again seconds later for a 5-2 Panther lead. Jordan Darling put the Panthers up by four with a minute left in the peri- od, but a Madill goal in the last sec- onds of the period cut the lead again. But it was all they would get and Ryan Knee put the game away in the last minute to make it a 7-3 win. Getting assists in the victory were Mitch Homuth, Jeff Vanbergen, Mark Dietrich and Knee. Panther coach Tony Convay said the game was closer than what the score showed and Panthers goalie Sean Ellison provided excellent goaltend- ing. The tournament begins Friday at 9 a.m. with Madill playing Listowel. South Huron will play its first game at 10:30 a.m. with the finals at 2 p.m.