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PAGE 20, WHITBY FR EE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16,1987 SPORTS Redmenone winfrom p Brooklin Redmen's 12-10 victory over New Westminster Salmon- bellies Monday night put them ahead 3-2 in the best-of-seven fight for the Mann Cup, symbolic of the Canadian lacrosse champions. This is the first time Redmen have gone ahead in the series. New West took the first and third games, with Brooklin playing catch-up as they tied the series with wins in the second and fourth games. The hometown squad is now only one win away from taking all the marbles and by now, they might have done just that. They played the sixth game Tuesday night, but results were not known at press time. Should Salmonbellies once more tie the series, it would force a seventh, and final game Thursday nighti Redmen dropped the first game by a heartbreaking 12-11 score. Trailing 5-2 after 20 minutes of ac- tion, Brooklin outplayed the New West squad in the second period to tie the score at six each. Brooklin started the final stanza with a flurry, popping in three unanswered goals in an eight- minute time frame. But at the nine- minute mark, Salmonbellies' Ben Hieltjes started a scoring spree of his own, hitting with the first of three goals. With the score see- sawing, it appeared as though the game would be moving into over- time. The clock ticked down with the score knotted at 11, when, with 1:14 left New Westminster defen- seman Scott Liebling put the ball past Wayne Colley for the win. Colley played well in nets for Fiedmen, making 39 saves, while in the opposition net, Shawn Quinlan stopped 40 shots, to show how even the game was. The extra shot stop- ped by Quinlan proved to make the difference. Barry Brear accumulated three goals and assisted on another for Redmen. Jim Meredith popped in a pair of markers. Kevin Antrim and John Fusco each had a goal and two assists. Brian Hall and Brian Colm each counted for a goal and assist, while Paul St. John and Tom Wreggitt each scored once. Gil Nieuwendyk had three assists for the night, Derek Keenan and Emil Labaj one assist each. Hieltjes was the man of the hour for New Westminster with a hat trick and one assist. Tod Lorez had two goals and three assists, Eric Cowieson two goals and one assist. Picking up one goal and one assist were Scott Liebing, John Wilson and Mark Tuura. Lyle Robinson and Dave Thornhill each scored on- ce. The three-star selection for the game went to Hieltjes, Brear and Cowieson. Redmen general manager Bob Duignan told the Free Press that New Westminster was physically very strong and defensive. •"The (New West) are extremely tough...everything we expected," said Duignan. He attributed his team's loss to the two-week layoff they had ex- perienced prior to the national championships, combined with a certain amount of jet lag. The wooden floor at Queen's Park Arena didn't help the situation. Although the floor came as no sur- prise to the team (they had played there in 1985), Duignan said it was extremely slippery. "The flooring took some ad- justing to, and eight or nine players found they had to go out and buy new shoes," said Duignan. "The bounce on the ball isn't the same either, it's not as reactive as con- crete." Duignan was happier with Brooklin's performance on Wed- nesday night as they won 11-7 to tie the best of seven-series at one each. "The whole team ran hard and they were defensively strong," stated Duignan. "It madc all the difference." Redmen took control of the game from the opening whistle, leading 7-3 after the first period and 11-4 heading to the home stretch. Colley 'was ~superb between the pipes, facing 42 shots for the game. He was helped by his teammates who cut off the New West offence and outside shooting. Derek Keenan was the man of the JERRY FITZGERALD of the Redmen breaks away from New Westminster's ERIC PERRONI keeps New Westmin- ster's star Geordie Dean in check hour for Brooklin with three goals and two assists, a performance that earned him the first star award. Meredith (named third star) and Paul St. John each had two goals while Brear, Nieuwendyk, Fusco and Blaine Harrison rounded out the scoring. Replying for Salmonbellies were Cowieson with a hat trick (he was ramed second star), and Liebing, Tuura, Geordie Dean and Todd Lorezn with singles. Things didn't go so well for Brooklin in game three Friday night. Coach Peter Vipond was far from happy with his team's per- formance, calling it "flat." "In our own end we were terrible Jim Lightbody (1) and falling Geordie Dean in a game last week. Chris Helgren photo during Mann'Cup action last week. Chris Helgren photo on loose balls in front of ourown net and in the corners...in fact we were lucky to lose only by 11-9," said Vipond. Harrison led the way for Brooklin with two goals and two assists. Keenan pitched in with a goal and two assists, Meredith one and one, St. John, Brear, Nieuwendyk, Hal Hall and Dale Kernohan counted for singles. Replying for New West were An- dy Ogilvie with a hat trick, Dean with a goal and five assists, Bob Johnson with two goals and an assist, Robinson with two goals and two assists, and singles from Paul Dalmonte, Jim Lightbody and Tuura. It was a different Redmen squad that took to the floor on Saturday night. After a shaky first period, which they trailed 5-2 at one point, Redmen narrowed the gap to 6-5 heading for the centre frame. Out- shot again in the second, Redmen fell behind 13-10 before rallying to knot the score at 13 after 40 minutes of play. Goals by Nieuwendyk, Hall and Meredith (with his third of the night) in the last stanza put the game away as Brooklin won 16-14 to agin tie the series. Nieuwendyk was honored as the first star of the game after a tremendous two-goal, four-assist effort for Brooklin. Meredith's hat trick earned him the third star. Ad- ding singles in the winning effort were Eric Perroni, Andy Perroni, Kernohan, Wreggý,iand Keenan, Harrison, St. Johh and Hall each scored a pair of rparkers. Second star of the game, Dean, led Salmonbellies with a hat trick while Hieltjes, Dalmonte and John- son each netted doubles. Cowieson, Ogilvie, Scoft Patterson, Dave Durante and John Wilson rounded out the scoring. New Westminster outshot Brooklin 63-52. Colley, who started the game, was given the yank two minutes into the second period m favor of Ken Passfield. Passfield, in his first appearance of the finals, was nothing short of awesome as he stopped shot after shot. Once again, Brooklin came out flat at the start of Monday's match- up. New West took a 3-1 lead after 20 minutes of action. Whatever Vipond said to the players during the first break is not known, but whatever it was, it worked. Redmen came out flying in the centre frame scoring seven goals to eke out an 8-7 lead. They kept up the momentum during the third, edging New West four goals to three to finish up with the 12-10 win. Although victorious, Duignan felt his team did not play well. "Other than the second game (which Redmen won 11-7), we haven't had what you could call a total all-out effort," said Duignan. "There has been a fair bit of incon- sistency with some players peaking and other totally flat but we're looking for a solid effort tonight (Tuesday)." Wayne Colley went the distance between the pipes for Redmen stopping 35 shots. The three stars of the game were Meredith (Brooklin), Coweison (N.W.) and Nieuwendyk (Brooklin). Meredith deserved recognition for top star honors after a splendid. three-goal, three-assist performan- ce. Nieuwendyk picked up a pair of goals and an assist, as did Ker- nohan. Eric Perroni and Keenan accounted for a goal and two assists each, Harrison and Andy Perroni went one and one, while Brear' scored a single goal. Fusco, although not able to pop in a goal, played an excellent game and counted four assists. Wayne Colley, Colm, and Antrim each had an assist. Cowieson- was top gun for Salmonbellies with three goals for SEE PAGE 22 11,ýlf,ý-ý «ýýl'e lý