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The Times Advocate, 2008-01-30, Page 18THIS WEEK IN SPORTS Sp orts Exeter Skating Club Page 19 Midgets Page 19 18 TIMES ADVOCATE SPORTS TIPS? Contact Times Advocate Tel: Pat Bolen (519) 235-1336 x113 Fax: (519) 235-0766 E-mail: sports@southhuron.com Wednesday, January 30, 2008 The Mohawk Minute By: Todd McCann EXETER MOHAWKS SR. "A" HOCKEY CLUB Well here it is...the much anticipated "Mohawk Minute". After shelving my article for a month or so, here is the newest version. It took much coaxing from the "Minute's" biggest fan, "Cowboy." Actually the timing couldn't be better. We have just com- pleted our first regular season back in Exeter, finishing the season with 17 wins and 9 losses. That was good for 34 points and a fourth place fin- ish. Once again we match up against the first place team in the north conference, the Saugeen Shores Winterhawks. New to the WOAA this year and arguably the best team in the North, finishing with a 23, and 3 record. This team is made up of local talent from around Port Elgin and about seven or eight players from other rival teams. Led by their captain and former Elora Rock, Greg Thede, their leading scorer Chad Little and former Durham Thundercat, Troy Loucks. They have a lot of depth, balanced scoring and experience. This is the time of year we play for. The Mohawk man- agement has assembled one of the deepest line- ups we've had in a few years and I believe we will match up well with the Winterhawks. It's always a very exciting time of year and coming up against the unknown makes it even more exciting. Not only are we playing a team that's new to the league, but a team we don't play in the regular season. The talk around the league is that we need to stay out of the penalty box to suc- ceed against them. Mark Livermore has worked all year to get us here and prepare the guys for exactly this. With the experience we have this year I'm very excited to get this rolling. The playoff schedule has not been set yet, but it won't start until the weekend of Feb 7. Team News: I'd like to thank Dave Delbridge and Kristyn Darling of South Huron Minor hockey, Phil Potter of the Exeter Hawks, Scott Darling of Country Corners, Iggy, Bellzie, Rauzer, Cowboy and Byrd for all the help during the planning and execution of the Hockey Day in South Huron. To see three organiza- tions come together and make this day such a great success was absolutely awesome. Congratulations to all the teams, players and fans involved. Exeter truly is "Hockey Town". I'm very excited to see it happen again next year. Next home dates: It's time to "Mojo Up" and Git-R...It's playoff time. Jets edged 1-0 by Exeter Mohawks By Nina Van Lieshout TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF LUCAN — The Lucan Ilderton Jets lost 1-0 to the Exeter Mohawks last Saturday during the Country Corners Hockey Day at the South Huron Recreation Centre in Exeter. Lucan Ilderton Jets gener- al manager Rob Andrews says it was "a really good hockey game," adding the loss won't affect where the Jets are in the playoff stand- ings. Neither team scored in the first period. During the sec- ond, the Mohawks Jeremy Geoffrey fired a shot into net, getting the first and only goal of the night to make the score 1-0. The third remained scoreless, with Exeter beating the Jets 1-0. Andrews says Lucan was outplayed in the first, but came out strong in the sec- ond and third period, despite the loss. Andrews says both goalies, including the Jets K.J. Robinson played well. "Both played good," and, "they were definitely the dif- ference in the game." On Jan. 25, the Jets played the Thedford Dirty Dogs, taking an early 3-1 lead in the first period with Jason Wilson scoring two goals, while Alex Butkus fired another into the net. During the second period, Thedford came back, tying the game 3-3. In the third period, the Jets were then able to regain their lead, beating the Dirty Dogs 5-3, with Mark Landon and Wilson scoring his third goal of the night in the last five minutes of the game. "Dave Riddell had a great game in goal," says Andrews, adding the team is looking forward to the play- offs. The Jets finished third in its south division, with Tavistock finishing first in the south division and the overall league. Clinton was second, while Exeter placed fourth going into the play- offs. The Jets play the Elora Rocks beginning the week- end of Feb. 8, something Andrews is pleased with. "They are one of the teams we would like to play," says Andrews, adding the teams have a bit of play- off history with each other. The Rocks beat the Jets in four games in the 2005- 2006 playoffs and last year in six games. Andrews says the Jets are in a good spot with playoff experience. "They are one of the classier teams in the league. We'll have our hands full, but they're not going to walk all over us," says Andrews. Irish edge Exeter Hawks 5-3 LUCAN — The Lucan Irish ended their week off on a pos- itive note with a 5-3 win over the Exeter Hawks last Saturday, after coming off a 4-3 loss Jan. 23 to Mount Brydges. The game, in conjunction with the Country Corners Hockey Day in Exeter, saw two goals in the first period by Lucan. Nick Engel scored on a power play while Alex Regan fired an unassisted shot into the net, with a 2-2 tie going into the second. The Irish scored two more goals in the second, a short- handed goal by Kevin Dean and an unassisted goal by Justin Lightfoot, with Lucan having a 4-2 lead going into the third. In the third period, both teams scored, with Lucan's Trevor Liddle firing the Irish's last goal of the night into an empty net, winning the game 5-3. Lucan's game Jan. 23 was- n't as successful, with the Mount Brydges Bulldogs beat- ing the Irish 4-3. Lucan took an early lead in the first with two goals both on the power play by Ryan Clarke and Engel. In the second, the Bulldogs answered back with two goals, while the Irish's Bob Martin fired another shot into net for a 3-2 lead. During the third, Mount Brydges tied the game 3-3, going into overtime where neither team scored. After a five -shot shootout, the Bulldogs edged the Irish with a 4-3 win. Lucan has two games this week starting at home tonight (Wednesday) at 7:45 p.m. against Lambeth. The Irish then travels to Mount Brydges Friday at 8:30 p.m. Community event —The Country Corners Hockey Day last Saturday, with the help of South Huron Minor Hockey, the Exeter Junior Hawks and the SeniorA Exeter Mohawks, was a success.Also supporting the event was Lucan, which brought its teams to town. Hockey activities were also part of the community event, featuring breakfast with the Hawks, lunch with the Mohawks,face painting and a Coach's Colouring Corner, hockey games and an outdoor area for the participants.Above front from left are Evan and Ally Hayter who are sporting painted hockey symbols; back row are Hockey Day volunteers Katey Potter and JenessaVarley and Jack Robinson who also par- ticipated in the face painting. Below Zack Bedard takes his best aim at"Top Shot," presented by the OMHA Events Team. (photos/Nina Van Lieshout) Bantams win tournament EXETER — The South Huron Bantam Girls won the "A" championship in Orangeville Jan. 18-20. Game one was a fast paced game with South Huron coming away with a 4-2 victo- ry over host Orangeville. South Huron goals were Lynn Weber with two and Nicole Pavkeje and Nicole VanOss with one each. Assists went to Jolene McCann, Emily Lovie, Weber, Michelle Hall, Hailey Thomas, Jaylene Coates and Carly Johns. Game two saw South Huron coming away with a 4-1 win over Grand River. Goals were scored by Weber with two and singles from Thomas and Coates. Assists were from McCann and Riley Taylor. Game three was hard fought but South Huron came up just short on the score- board and ended there round robin with a 2-1 loss to Waterloo. The Sabres lone goal was scored by Melanie Hern with assists going to Weber and Anna Bilcke. Game four was a fresh start to Sunday for these young ladies. The girls played well in front of some fine goaltending from Melissa Cronyn who posted her first shutout of the tournament in a 2-0 victory over Kitchener. Goals for South Huron were scored by Weber and Coates with the lone assist to Erin Wells. Game five saw a great rematch with Waterloo and South Huron. Every girl played exceptionally well in the semi-final game and their hard work payed off as they came away with a 4-2 victo- ry and a berth into the championship game. Scoring for South Huron were McCann and Weber with the hat trick. The "A" champi- onship final saw another rematch for the weekend. The girls faced off with Kitchener again and one more time the girls shut down the offence of Kitchener in a 1-0 win. South Huron also had another phenomi- nal performance between the pipes from Cronyn who shutout Kitchener for the second time in the same day and was chosen as the tourna- ment MVP. Scoring for the Sabres was Weber with assists to Jessica Slaght and Thomas. It was a great week- end of hockey by all the girls and hon- ourable mention goes to Kristen Dawson for her outstanding play which ended early in the final due to an injury. Keep up the good work ladies and con- gratulations on a well deserved "A" champio- ship.