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a durhamrcgion.com THE CANADIAN STATESMAN ♦ JULY 13,2005 ♦ PAGE 13 f Shawn Cayley. Birthday bash 25 ie continues Warriors lucked out A win on Sunday night in Peterborough Peterborough would have vaulted the Whitby Warriors into third place and a matchup matchup with à weaker Brampton Excelsiors squad in Ontario Lacrosse Association Jr.A playoff action." However, they lost and are now the fifth seed.. The loss meant they were in Peterborough Peterborough last night for game one of their first round series with the fourth seeded Lakers. , Believe it or not, the Warriors may have caught a break in avoiding the Excelsiors. No, really. It's true. Those of you laughing, please stop and consider this. A match-up with the Excelsiors had the possibility of becoming the OLA's version of the classic movie Slapshot. It would have marked the first time the teams squared off since the ugly Ryan ' Tower/Zack Greer incident and the bad blood would have been sure to boil over. Redemption -- and rightfully so -r- would have been on the minds of several Warrior'players. Redemption would have been on their minds so much so, that it would have been easy for the Warriors to forget the real reason they are in the playoffs: To capture a Minto Cup championship. Their biggest problem this season has been their lack of mental focus, which is something that surely wouldn't have improved until someone settled the score with Tower, and who knows,, that may not have happened until four or five games into the series. By then the War- 1 dors could have been eliminated. That brings us to a familiar foe in Peterborough. The Lakers,' led by Shawn Evans, will be looking for some revenge of their own. Their season came to a premature end at the hands of the Warriors in a seven-game first round series in last year's postseason'; Surely they don't want to suffer the same fate again. Knowing that, this is where the Warriors will need to conquer their toughest nemesis. The aforementioned mental focus.. Coach Jeff McComb is confident a tilt with the Lakers will do just that, and he is probably right. "Our mental focus has been a concern for me," says McComb. "But Peterborough Peterborough has always been a rival of ours and now that every game counts we will get into a zone." The playoffs often bring out the best in teams, and in this case, it should be no different for the Warriors.'They are a good team that can play at both ends' of the floor with the league's elite teams and are more than adequate between the pipes.- The formula for success exists in Warriorland. Against Peterborough, with no personal personal scores to settle, so to speak, the focus can be put solely on the game itself and players can hit the floor and play- to the best of their ability. After all, isn't that what playoff lacrosse is all about? moved to Montreal from Winnipeg MONTREAL - Whitby's Dave Mudge has a new CFL home. The 6-foot-7, 305-pound offensive tackle was traded Sunday from the Winnipeg Winnipeg ' Blue Bombers to the Montreal Alouettes in exchange for offensive guard Aaron Fiacconi, a 2006 conditional conditional draff pick and future considerations, Mudge, who started his CFL career with the Toronto Argonauts, has established established himself as one of the best at his position over the past eight years, winning winning the Most Outstanding Lineman Award in 2001, Darlington Men's Soccer League celebrates 125 years CLARINGTON -- It was 125 years in the making, and well worth the-wait. The Darlington Men's Soccer League celebrated its 125th anniversary on Sat-. urday, with a number of players, officials and administrators, old and new, taking part in the festivities to mark the significant significant milestone. Solina Fields was home to the start of • the day-long celebration that kicked off with a Team Skills Challenge, consisting of dribbling, ball control, passing and shooting. Winners of the events included. Nick DeFreitas of Maple Grove, Jeff , Bouma of Bowmanville, Casey Muiz- elaar of Orono and John Vander Groot- enveen of Tyrone. Following the Skills Challenge, an oldtimers' game was held to celebrate the storied history of the organization, with the Darlington Wanderers coming out ahead 3-1 over the Mighty Triffids of Burlington. An All-Star game concluded the outdoor activities with the Cryder- man division earning bragging rights for the remainder of the season with a 2-1 victory over the Baker division. Moving indoors to the Garnet B. Rickard Rickard Recreation Complex in the evening, a number of soccer dignitaries attended the banquet, including Vince Ursini from the Canadian Soccer Association, Colin Linford, president of the Ontario.Soccer Association, and Chris Graham of the Durham Region Soccer Association. A couple of Honourary Alumni awards were presented to Olin. Jose, a Canadian Canadian soccer historian, and Terry Kelly, a longtime supporter of soccer locally and nationally. The Baker and Cryderman family members were presented with Founding Family Membership plaques . from alumni president Mel-Hamon. The guest speaker for the evening was Even Pellerud, the head coach of the Canadian Women's World Cup team. JS|s ■ JJ .-if - ' - - . . fl ' ' Merle Robillard/The Canadian Statesman Mike Suess (left) of the Cryderman Division and Jonathon Prins of the Baker Division collide as they try to advance the ball during the Darlington Darlington Men's Soccer League's 125th anniversary all-star soccer match in Solina on Saturday. The day also included a skills competition, oldtimer's game and dinner banquet to celebrate the historic occasion. strong season WINNIPEG -- Oshawa's Derek Gillespie Gillespie continues to rise up the Canadian Tour's Order of Merit. A solid sixth place, finish at the Canadian Canadian MTS Classic at the Pine Ridge Golf Club has bumped Gillespie up to fourth on the tour's money list with $35,898 in earnings in nine events this season. Gillespie finished strong with a five- , under 66 on Sunday, which left him one-under for the tournament and seven back of winner Lee Williamson. An up- and-down weekend also included rounds of 74-67-76. Gillespie has his sights set on a top- two finish this season, something that eluded him by one position in 2002 and 2003. If he can accomplish that, he would earn an exemption through the first stage of PGA qualifying this fall. He is about $9,000 back of second place David Mathis and some $35,000 behind • leader Jaime Gomez. Whitby's Ed Maunder missed the cut after rounds of 84-75 and has yet to earn any money on the tour this season. In other golf news, Brooklin's Jon Mills and Oshawa's Angela Buzminski . both missed the cut on their respective tours over the weekend. Mills was three-over-par after rounds of 74-73 at the Nationwide Pete Dye Classic, an event won by Jason Gore, who made a name for himself two weeks earlier at the U.S. Open. Mills dropped two spots to 17th on the Order of Merit with $110,508 in earnings in 13 events. The top-20 at season's end earn PGA cards. Buzminski was seven strokes back of the cut after rounds of 77-74 at the LPGA . Jamie Farr Classic. She will compete at the BMO Financial Group Canadian Women's Open beginning tomorrow at the Glen Arbour Golf Course in Halifax. again in Clarington meets Akwesasne in Eastern Conference best-of-five semifinal BY BRAD KELLY Sports Ëditor CLARINGTON -- The Clarington Green Gaels have been down this road before, granted it is\a long one that extends east to the farthest, reaches of ■ the province. Last season, in the Eastern Confer- . ence 1 championship, the Green Gaels upset the Akwesasne Lightning in three straight games, guaranteeing a berth in the Founder's Cup tournament for the Canadian.Jr. B lacrosse championship that they would eventually lay claim to. . L'C V Well, the road to the next found of the post-season again, goes through Akwesasne (near Cornwall), this time in the Eastern Conference semifinals, as the teams hook up in a best-of-fiVe for the second year,in a row. Thé Green Gaels open in Akwesasne " with a pair on Saturday at 4 p.m, and again Sunday at 11 a.m. The series then shifts back to Clarington Clarington for the, final three, Friday, July 22 at 8 p.m., followed by Saturday, July 23 and Sunday, July 24, both at 2 p.m., if necessary, "T think it's going to- be a series . between two very competitive teams," says Green Gaels general manager Doug Lucy in an attempt to handicap the series. "Their stick skills are as good as any team in the league; They have a tough defence and good goaltending." goaltending." Basically, a well rounded team deserving of a 17-3-0 mark and the second seed in the East, despite what could be considered a soft schedule. The majority of games that comprised the schedule for Akwesasne came against pushovers in their Far East division, including Nepean (5-15-0)' and Gloucester (0-20-0). "They are deserving of the second seed," says Lucy of Akwcsasne's 1 ■ sw: 'it Wfk ■ • . Ron Pietroniro/The Canadian Statesman Shane Sargent (21) of the Clarington Green Gaels fends off Barrie's Caleb Wiles during Friday's 10-5 win to complete a three-game sweep of the Tornado. The Green Gaels now face the Akwesasne Lightning in a best-of-five Eastern Conference semifinal that opens Saturday. Series at a glance Akwesasne Lightning (#2) 17 -3-0 mi «389 ,fw ■MV v. ■; • ; ;.XrV 4,WK~? : v ' Clarington C-a Green Gaels (#3$ ||16-4-0 : 1wbw Eastern Conference . Best-of-five semifinal - ■ " ■ SHF 5 ® 1 at. esasne, 11 a.m. -W Game 3,'Friday, July 22 '* - ^ H?'. r-jf*\ --. Akwesasne at Clarington, 8 p.m. '«CL. : uM . ' .cfc Vfflf j-.*. . - > jf . Game 4, Saturday, July 23* Akwesasne aFiEïarington/l; p.m. ■■!■■■'» «Ï l Game s, Sgn%y, July 24» x ;i' * Akwesasne at Clarington, 2 p.m. necessary record, which was just two points better better than the Green Gaels mark of 16-4- 0. - ■ "They get some bonus games by playing Nepean and Gloucester, but they still played a lot of other teams in the East in a home and away." Included in that mix were the Green Gaels in the early going, both teams winning on their respective home floors, Akwesasne 10-7 back on'May 30 and the Green Gaels in the return game, 9-7 on June 15. Akwesasne is led on offence by Andrew Lazore, whom Lucy describes as "one of the most skilled players in the league." Lazore finished the season as his team's leader with 39-52-91 totals, third overall in the league, The Green Gaels' Shane Sargent led the league with 101 points. . Last year, the series between the • teams opened in Clarington, with the Green Gaels holding serve in the first two games, and then travelling ■ to Akwesasne to close out the series in Game 3. This year, Akwesasne is hoping to reverse that by hosting the opening two games, although they experienced some difficulty in reserving reserving floor time, resulting in a morning . game on Sunday for Game 2. THE SCOOP -- The Green Gaels advanced by sweeping the Barrie Barrie Tornado in three straight games, . the clincher coming on their home floor 10-5 on Friday. Akwesasne also advanced in the same manner on the same night with a win in Markham over the Ironhcads.Jn the other Eastern Eastern Conference semifinal series, the number one seeded Oakville Buzz, after disposing of eighth seed Huntsville Huntsville in .three straight, will face the fifth seeded Hallon Hills Bulldogs, who upset the fourth seeded Mimico Mountaineers in a three game sweep... Over in the Western Conference, Spartan Spartan of St, Catharines will face Eloru, while Orangeville meets Six Nations in the semifinals, I