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Home My WebLink AboutThe Times Advocate, 2008-12-17, Page 1818 Times -Advocate Wednesday, December 17, 2008 THIS WEEK IN SPORTS... Jets within reach of first place PAGE 19 SHDHS girls hockey season update PAGE 20 SPORTS TIP? CONTACT TIMES -ADVOCATE Ben Forrest • 519-235-1336 ext. 114 Fax 519-235-0766 • E-mail bforrest@southhuron.com SPORTS LEISL,'RE Exeter Hawks remain in last place after loss to Mt.Brydges By Ben Forrest TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF EXETER The Exeter Hawks lost 7-3 to Mt. Brydges Sunday, moving them deeper into the basement of the Southern Ontario Junior Hockey League (SOJHL) s Yeck Conference. The game was close 4-3 with 10 minutes to play, ac- cording to Hawks coach Jamie Pearce but a defensive lapse allowed Mt. Brydges to put the game out of reach. Defensive zone coverage this year, said Pearce, has been absolutely terrible. Injuries have had a significant toll on the Hawks to date, often leaving them short on defence and forcing forwards to play out of position. Still, Pearce feels his team should be functioning better than it has. We are short-handed defensively, but you can t make that excuse anymore, he said. We should have adjusted by now with regards to the injuries we have. The team played well for much of the game against Mt. Brydges, Pearce noted, highlighting the play of goaltender Justin Webb. Webb faced more than 70 shots on the day, and at least one of the goals allowed were impossible to stop, according to Pearce. One in particular that was very deflating was a deflec- tion to put them up 3-0 ... there was no possible way he could grab it, Pearce said. He s just inundated with shots. He probably goes home and dreams of pucks hitting him. Pearce also noted Exeter s effectiveness on the power play as a bright spot in the game. Our penalty killing was flawless, he said. Every pen- alty we took, we killed off. Defence will be the focus in practice this week, Pearce said. When we have a huge is- sue like that we really need to concentrate on it, he said. Unfortunately it takes away from other parts of the game, but right now it seems to be the spot where we need it. Overall, I m very happy with the offensive perfor- mance, he added. The guys are putting the puck behind the other goalie fair- ly regularly. We just need to keep it out of our own net. The Hawks face Lambeth next the team that sits three points ahead of them in the standings. If the guys in the room don t realize how big a game Friday s game against Lam- beth is, then I m not doing my job right, Pearce said. It s of the most importance .... Lambeth is our goal right now. Pearce noted the team is getting healthier, despite the loss of forward Justin Reid due to a concussion in Sunday s game. Pearce anticipates having close to a full line-up next week, and is optimistic about the rest of the season. I m optimistic about every game I play, he said. The team has the potential to go out there each and every night to beat any team that we play against. We ve proven that. The guys have seen that they can do that. I think maybe they just need to believe it each and every Bangin away Hawks forward Jake Jeffrey attempts (unsuccessfully) to bang in a goal Sunday against Mt. Brydges. (photo/Pat Bolen) night. Reid injury An ambulance was called following Reid s concussion, though Reid suffered no spinal or neck injuries, Pearce said. Pearce anticipated Reid might be on skates for Tuesday s practice. Pearce was awaiting a trainer s report at press time and could not say how long it will be before Reid can play again. Mohawks drop consecutive one -goal games at home By Ben Forrest TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF EXETER The Exeter Mohawks lost consecutive one -goal games on the weekend, dropping a 3-2 deci- sion to the Lucan Ilderton Jets and a 6-5 tilt against the Clinton Radars. Against the Jets Exeter did not score until the third period, then added two goals in the final 10 minutes, according to coach Mark Livermore. The Mohawks came close at the end, he said, but failed to tie the game before the final buzzer. It s about our fifth one -goal loss, Livermore said. We ve lost five games by one goal, and it s kind of hard to swallow. Livermore acknowledged the rivalry between Ex- eter and Lucan made the loss more difficult to ab- sorb. Even the minor hockey system has always had a rivalry with Lucan, he said. Livermore added the Hensall Sherwoods the Mohawks name before relocating to Exeter had a bigger rivalry with Clinton. I think that s still alive today, because it was a pretty scrappy affair on Saturday night, Livermore said. Clinton jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first 10 minutes of the game, and the score was 3-1 after 20 minutes. Clinton came back with force in the second period, scoring five goals to Exeter s one, leaving the score 5-4. We let them back in the game, and we had to fight back to try to tie it up at the end of the game, said Livermore. Indeed, the Mohawks did tie it, but Clinton add- ed another goal with 7:13 remaining, putting them ahead to stay. We played a very poor second period, said Liv- ermore. We were taking too many undisciplined penalties and that allowed Clinton to score ... five unanswered goals, and two of them were power play goals. We just couldn t get our rhythm because we were going to the box all period. Livermore noted the play of Tyson Clinton and Na- than Doan two newcomers to the Mohawks who have added an offensive spark. They re really impressing me, Livermore said. They re putting the puck in the net, and its what we needed. Last year we struggled to score goals. This year I don t think goal scoring s a problem. We ve got to work on playing a lot more defensive - minded hockey. Livermore admitted the Mohawks are not where they would like to be at this point in the season, but they aim to repay a debt this weekend against God- erich. We are what we are: we re a .500 team, he said. We win two, we lose two. We re going up and down but we re not making any jumps up the standings. Goderich, they re much improved this year so it s a big game, because we lost to them a couple weeks ago. We d like to return the favour on home ice. REGAIN THAT NEW LOOK tolYiL8/4/aLn°10 IF IT ROLLS, FLOATS OR FLIES... WE CLEAN IT! GIFT CERTIFICATES Make the Perfect Gift SHOP 519-262-3098 CELL 519-318-4411 JERRY SMITH GjrC�rflmi. eft No cigar Exeter Mohawks winger Tyson Clinton (right) attempts to beat Lucan Ilderton Jets goalie K.J. Robinson Friday at the South Huron Recreation Centre. Clinton failed to score on the play. 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