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The Times Advocate, 2008-07-23, Page 1010 SPORTS Times -Advocate Wednesday, July 23, 2008 4-0 loss for shorthanded Fury EXETER — The Exeter Fury suffered a 4-0 defeat to Taxandria Saturday in Arkona extending the team's winless streak to eight games. The Fury only managed to field a team of 12 play- ers due to injuries and work commitments which has become the norm over the last few weeks. The home team jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first half on a blast the Fury keeper Ryan Masse got a piece of but the shot had enough to make it to the back of the net. The Fury had a great chance to tie but Pete McAllister's shot to the corner was cleared off the line by a Taxandria defender. The rebound was also missed by Nick Williams allowing Taxandria to maintain their lead. A few minutes later Trevor Boersma's corner kick found Williams' head in the box but his redi- rected header sailed over the bar. Down a goal to start the second half, the Fury were eager to begin the comeback. Right off the kickoff, Matt Strano and Jason McFalls came close to tying the score. Strano managed to drib- ble the ball around the last defender but with the ball a few feet in front of the striker, midfielder McFalls cut in for the shot only to back off at the last second. Strano was then only able to use his toe to fire the ball over the net due to McFalls' close proximi- ty to the play. The play proved to be the turning point of the contest. Taxandria was awarded a penalty shot later in the half to make it 2-0 which forced the Fury to take some chances which resulted in two more goals against to make the score 4-0. Exeter did have some great chances to break the shutout including Strano's long breakaway attempt that ended in a shot off of the post on what looked like a sure goal. Stephen Troyer also had a bad angle shot clang off of the post and land out of bounds. Tom Skinner had a solid second half for the Fury on defense engaging in many one on one battles for the loose balls. "The core bunch of guys we have are playing through some tough injuries and I can't ask anymore of them than what they are giving us," Fury spokesperson Jason McFalls stated. "We have had to rely on loyal retired former team- mates to come out and help us out because we can't get a few of our guys to give us enough or any notice that they won't be making the games. I would rather play with 11 or 12 committed players than carry another three or four that don't have any passion for the game or the team they play for," McFalls added. The Fury's next action is Wednesday at home at 8:30 p.m. against Balkan F.0 from London. Weekly minor league soccer scores U7 July 17 The back and forth battle between the Blue and Gold team happened again on Wednesday. It was a hot night and Gold opened the scoring. Blue tied it up with a penalty shot by Peter that hit both posts before it crossed the line. Colin made an amazing save when a bullet was shot about shoulder height and 10 yards out. Hanna gave it her all in midfield and was relentless in her efforts to win the ball. Michelle worked hard at keeping the ball in the Gold end. Dylan dialed it up a notch on defense with some well timed kicks. Emma came close to scoring but Gold went ahead. Blue answered back as Peter once again scored. Ben made some exceptional passes under Gold pressure. Lexy made her mark in the game but had to stop playing due to injury. Logan was back after vacation with a vengence. Jakob defended their best player with ease and got the ball out of the Blue end many times but in the end Blue lost the game by a goal. Well done Blue. U7 The gold team played an incredible game this week on a very hot and humid night against a very tough blue team. Alexis had some wonder- ful kicks that kept the ball out of our end. Great defense by Katie and Meghan made all the dif- ference. Kobe was super in net with some great saves. Conner had a stellar game and made some key plays. Vanessa played with a lot of determination and had some long kicks. With some great teamwork and passing Nathan and Cameron were able to score goals. After a very long and exciting game the score ended in a 3-3 tie. Well done gold team. U9 Blue SH 4 versus Grand Bend Red 1 Goals: Jakob (3) and Chad (1). Goaltenders:Emily and Megan SH 0 versus North Middlesex Red 2 Goaltenders: Nathan and Wes. Comments: They ended up winning second in the B -division. Excellent work team, you all played great and it was a very good sea- son for all. U10 boys The team competed in the St. Thomas Mini -Fest tournament on July 19. Jacob Hrudka drove home the team's first goal in the opening 2-1 loss to Sarnia Bluewater. Sam McEwan played excellent in goal to keep the game close. In the second game, McEwan, Jared DenOtter, and Fraser Fulton scored in the team's 3-0 victory over London's German - Canadian Club. Hrudka and Luc Arbour combined for the shut -out. Guest player Georgia Wilder pounded home the team's lone goal in the final 3-1 loss to London City Dynamite. The team played extremely well throughout the tourna- ment. Brendan Gordon, Jake Tyler, and Kevin Vanderlaan were amazing on defense all day. Great passing and strong defense were the keys to the team's success. The next game is Sunday at 11 a.m. against Lambeth. U11 July 17 South Huron Lightning 0 versus North Midddlesex 1 7 Good effort by our girls who played a strong game against a very strong North Middlesex team. Keep up the great work and the results will come. July 21 South Huron 7 versus Coldstream 0 Goals: Curtis Henderson, Ben Ryan, Zach Smith, Evan Hardie, Kevin Vanderlaan, Brett Bryson (2) Comments: A great game with many great passes to set up our goals - good work moving the ball around guys. Great work in net by Zach Smith and Wesley Dearing for the shut out. Next Game July 28 at Nabisco vs. Lucan 7pm. U13 Strathroy Syndicate 2 versus South Huron 5 A great game and an excellent all round perfor- mance our outstanding player T. Eam brought his A game tonight. Goals from Kurtis (3), Taylor and Sean, and some very brave goalkeeping from Rob and Kaleb. Records smashed at Motorplex Grand Bend — It was another weekend of flames and record setting speeds in Grand Bend at the IHRA Mopar Canadian Nationals. With next year the 10th anniversary of the event, negotia- tions are being worked on for an extension, said IHRA president Aaron Polburn. Terry McMillen was the fastest driver not just of the weekend but ever at the Motorplex with a speed of 322 m.p.h. during the top fuel quarter -finals, eclips- ing Clay Millican's 320 m.p.h. qualifying run in 2006. McMillen also knocked off rookie Spencer Massey in the Torco Pro Nitro Top Fuel final round to put a second Hoosier Thunder Motorsports car in the winner's circle at Grand Bend Motorplex. "What a weekend...this is something you can just dream about," McMillen said. "Getting both cars to the finals was a goal, to be fortunate enough to have both cars win is really amazing." McMillen defeated Spencer Massey in the Top Fuel final while Noakes knocked off Larry Dobbs in the AFC class. Noakes drives the car McMillen left behind when he stepped into a Top Fueler, a car McMillen never took to the winner's circle. "My hat is off to Les Mellows, Paul's crew chief, and his entire crew for what they were able to accom- plish this weekend," McMillen said. "I also have to give the credit to my team here and the entire gang at the shop back home. McMillen, who broke Clay Millican's two-year-old track speed record in his first elimination round against Kevin Jones, ran a 4.867 at 278 m.p.h. in the final to top Massey's tire- s p i n n i n g 5.393/201pass. His first-round 322 m.p.h. pass set the new motorplex speed standard. Noakes had a rough road to the finals, but it was not as rough as it could have been. He had to knock off number one qualifier Tom Carter in the first round before fac- ing three -time world champion Rob Atchison in the semi- finals. He was up to the task, eliminating Carter when Carter rolled through the beams and lit the red- light before outrun- ning Atchison. Laurie Cannister, a four -time winner on the IHRA circuit this season, was on the other side of the lad- der and fell to Dobbs in the semifinals. "We had a plan when we got here," Noakes said. "Les has really high expectations of me and he's amazing at tuning these cars...he's the best in the business." Noakes left the car he owns to step into McMillen's '99 Avenger this season. "This is a new car for me so there's a lot on me," he said. "I'm starting to fig- ure the car out but it's not as easy as people think to move from one Funny Car to another. I could not do this without my guys, they keep mak- ing this car easier and easier for me to drive." Terry Haddock won his second career national event Ironman when he stopped Steven Macklyn in the Torco Pro Nitro Funny Car fmal. Haddock's other win also came in Canada, as he won the Rocky Mountain Nationals championship in Edmonton last sea- son. Haddock drove through Matt Hagan, a two-time winner on the tour this season, in the first round before defeating Motor City Nationals champion Paul Lee in the semifinals. Before the final he did not know if Macklyn was going to be able to make the call due to severe damage to his clutch in the semifinals against Jack Wyatt. He did get there in time but could not top Haddock's 5.183/254 pass. "You never underes- timate anybody and you run your own race...that's what we were doing," Haddock said. Haddock qualified number two on the ladder and, with the victory, took over the 2008 NFC points lead from two-time defending champion Dale Creasy Jr., who suffered a season - ending injury in Edmonton two weeks ago. "The points are really tightening up at the top, but we really miss Dale out here," Haddock said. "If he was here he would have been over there working on our car to help get us to the finals with every- one else." It has been a long time between wins for Canadian Nationals champion Ed Hoover. He last claimed an Ironman last season in Edmonton, but was able to snap his dry spell in Grand Bend where he edged Tommy D'Aprile to win the Torco Pro Modified title. Hoover qualified in the top half of the field, ending up num- ber five on the sheet, and defeated Mark Nielson, Jason Hamstra and Mike Janis to reach the final round. He was able to step it up even more in the run for the champi- onship, clocking a 6.062/234 pass to top D'Aprile's 6.873/220. "We went to the finals at Budds Creek and didn't give it enough to get the win," he said. "This time we leaned on it a little bit because we didn't want to fall short. You have to have a consis- tent car and have to get down the track. We were able to do that this weekend." Hoover wanted to thank his car owner Paul Trussell. "Paul is a motor - head, a car enthusi- ast, and I knew if I ever got him to a drag race and got him on the starting line he would be hooked," Hoover said. "I wouldn't do this for anyone else. Paul has always been a gentle- man and a man of his word. That's how he and I operate and there couldn't be a closer friend to me than him." Frank Gugliotta ended up in the win- ner's circle for the second time this sea- son when he stopped Pete Berner in the Torco Pro Stock final. It wasn't easy as the final round was the closest Pro Stock race of the weekend, with Gugliotta lighting the win light by a mere four thousandths of a second. "I saw him the whole time," Gugliotta said of Berner in the final. "He was in front of me, then I got around him and held on. Pete and I have had some battles over the years, really good races, and the track was awe- some the whole week long."