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16 Independent & Free Press, Wednesday, July 23, 2008 SPORTS & LEISURE Facing their third fifth-and-deciding game on the road in the last two post-sea- sons, the Halton Hills Bulldogs improved their record to 3-0 in those series finales after an 8-3 victory over the Green Gaels of Clarington on Monday night in Bowmanville. The fourth-seeded Bulldogs somewhat shockingly knocked off the second-place Gaels on their home floor for the second time in the series, after swiping the opener 6-4. Clarington had lost just twice all season at home and had thrashed visiting Halton Hills 13-3 in game three on Thursday evening, but the Bulldogs clinched their sec- ond consecutive berth in the Ontario Lacrosse Association Jr. B East Conference final series by winning at home convincingly 9-4 on Saturday, followed by Mondays comeback triumph. Next up for head coach Blaine McCauleys squad is a potentially riveting matchup with division-rival Mimico, tenta- tively set to begin Friday at Georgetowns Alcott Arena beginning at 8 p.m. Game two will be in Mimico Sunday at 7 p.m. with game three at Alcott Wednesday (July 30) at 8 p.m. If necessary, game four goes in Mimico Friday, Aug. 1 (8 p.m.) with a deciding match set for Alcott Sunday, Aug. 5 (7 p.m.). I cant say how proud and happy we are for our guys. They worked hard for this and made a lot of sacrifices to get to this point, said McCauley, in his third season as coach of the club. To go into their barn with all the history and tradition there and put in that type of effort, especially after what happened there Thursday night, is a great achievement. Clarington got a boost with some of the guys they had come back from the World Under-19 Field Lacrosse Championships, and then we came back ourselves with a great game on Saturday night. Its exciting to be going back to the con- ference finals, but we have to put the second round behind us now and focus on trying to beat a very strong Mimico team. In Mondays clincher, Bulldog goalkeeper Michael Cregan and his Green Gael counter- part, Zack Higgins, were superb, resulting in a scoreless opening period. The hosts took a 2-0 lead before defender Daniel Patterson, who scored just twice during the regular season, potted the first of his two goals on the night to cut the lead to one heading into the final frame. Backstopped by more big saves by Cregan, the Dogs received goals from Kyle Davis, Evan Whillans and Mike Burke in the opening 3:19 of the third to grab the momentum and then added an exclamation point with a pair of shorthanded markers by Davis and defenceman Nik Matwijszyn. Peter Laidlaw rounded out the scoring. In game four Saturday, Pat Saunders scored three times for the Bulldogs, includ- ing an empty-netter in the games final minute. Davis (2), Chad Cummings, Mike Brown, Michael Licata and Kody Lyons contributed to the attack for Halton Hills, which owned intermission leads of 5-0 and 7-1. Burke chipped in four assists. The Dogs were facing elimination in the best-of-5 series after being blown out 13-3 Thursday in Clarington. Burke led the Bulldogs with a goal and two assists while Ryan Haynes and Cummings also scored. Halton Hills trailed 3-0 after the first period and were down 9-2 after 40 minutes, also losing veteran sniper Nic Grasby to an injury for the rest of the series. He is expected to return this weekend. Were fortunate that with the depth on our team, we have some extra players to step in when theyre called upon and they dont complain when theyre not playing. Thats the sort of thing that makes a team a better team, McCauley noted. And as much as we like to talk about putting the team first, you have to some- times acknowledge individual players, and Cregan was just spectacular. Youre not going to go anywhere in the playoffs without good goaltending. Mimico finished as the sixth seed in the conference but defeated Nepean in the first round and then eliminated top-ranked Oakville last week, both in four games. The Bulldogs won the season series 3-1 with the Mountaineers and also knocked off Mimico in five games during last years sec- ond round of playoffs. Bulldogs stun Gaels for spot in East final Todd Collins (22) of the Green Gaels is stymied in his scoring attempt by Halton Hills Bulldogs goaltender Mike Cregan Saturday in game four of their OLA Jr. B East Conference semifinal series at the Alcott Arena. The Bulldogs dominated this contest in front of about 500 spectators, winning 9-4, and then earned a spot in the the conference finals against Mimico by beating the host Gaels 8-3 in Bowmanville Monday in the deciding game of the series. Photo by Eamonn Maher EAMONN MAHER Staff Writer Georgetowns Robbie Greenwell finished in a three- way tie for 18th place 13 shots back of winner Dave Bunker of Woodbridge at the Ontario Amateur Championship at Islington Golf Club recently. The Ontario Amateur Championship is restricted to Golf Association of Ontario members carrying an 8.4 handicap factor or less. The field of 156 was cut to 62 after 36 holes of play. Greenwell, a member at North Halton Golf Club, post- ed rounds of 70-68-78-74 for a total of six over par 290. Gavin Aldridge of Georgetown and also a North Halton member missed the cut after rounds of 79-76. Twelve-year-old Samantha Spencer of Georgetown fin- ished in fourth place after rounds of 84 and 81 (25 over par) at the Ontario Golf Association Bantam Girls cham- pionship tournament held at the Goderich Sunset Golf Club last week. Spencer was 24 shots behind winner Christina Foster of Concord. Earlier, Spencer won the girls division at the Canadian Junior Golf Associations KJS2-Kaneff Junior Series at Royal Niagara by firing a 22-over par 94 and edging Bramptons Karyn Lee Ping, the only other competitor, by one shot. Spencer finished just off the lead in the open girls division at the CJGA Kaneff Junior Series event held recently at Century Pines near Hamilton. The North Halton Golf & Country Club member shot an 88 to place four strokes out of top spot. Spencer earlier tied for third at the GAO Bantam ClubLink Tour stop at Caledon Woods, recording a 91, 14 shots back of the winner. At the Investors Group Ontario Junior Girls Championship held at Goderich Sunset Golf Club last week North Halton Golf and Country Club member Candice Swartz finished in 47th place and was 53 over par following rounds of 88-87-88 for a 263 total. Jennifer Kirby of Paris won the event with a 211 total. Two North Halton Golf and Country Club members reached the second round of the Investors Group Junior Boys Match Play Championship held at Batteaux Creek Golf roundup Greenwell ties for 18th at Ontario Amateur Championship See CASS, pg. 16