12 Independent & Free Press, Tuesday,July 20, 2010 Lopsided victories give 'Dogs control By EAMONN MAHER Staff Writer The Halton Hills Bulldogs rebounded from a series-opening loss to post two convincing victories on the weekend over the Newmarket Saints in Ontario Lacrosse Association Jr. B postseason action. Game four was scheduled for last night (Monday) in Newmarket, where the Bulldogs had an opportunity to eliminate the Saints in their best-of-5 OLA Eastern Conference semifinal matchup. If a fifth-and-deciding game is required, it will be played Wednesday in Georgetown beginning at 8 p.m. The series winner moves on to face the conference's top seed, the Green Gaels of Clarington, in the Eastern final. In both weekend wins, the `Dogs tallied early and limited the Saints' scoring chances to just a few, with Halton SPORTS & LEISURE Hills netminder Ryan Kelly allowing only four goals through 120 minutes of play. Leading scorer Shane Scott struck for a hat trick in Friday's 8-1 triumph in Newmarket, with Brendan MacDonald adding a pair of goals. Bradley Kri, Nic Grasby and Ethan O'Connor rounded out the scoring in a contest that featured several third-period fights. Unlike their loss in game one, the Bulldogs for the most part were much more disciplined, scoring three powerplay goals Friday and another in Saturday's 9-3 home win. They also potted three shorthanded markers in game three, including a couple by MacDonald, who shook off two Newmarket defenders on both occasions to score. "The first game, we took a ton of dumb penalties, and the last two games we got it together," said the 19-year-old MacDonald, who earned a lacrosse scholarship to the Rochester Institute of Technology starting in September in the engineering program. "They've got a lot of small forwards and I think we're wearing them down. There were a couple of fights (Friday) where they tried to intimidate us but they weren't as aggressive after that." Also scoring for the second-seeded Bulldogs were Leland de Langley, Dylan Gilbert, Michael Licata, Tyler Ferreira and O'Connor, with first-star Kelly improving his post-season record to 4-0 in front of about 700 spectators. Afterward, head coach Blaine McCauley was reluctant to discuss to a possible rematch of last year's Eastern Conference final series with the eventual-champion Green Gaels until the Saints were knocked out. "If we're going to be successful, no matter who we're playing, we need to be disciplined and stay out of the box like we did tonight," he said. The Green Gaels finished off their semifinal matchup with the Kahnawake Hunters over the weekend in Quebec with two wins to take the series 3-1. Newmarket Saint forward AJ Masson will likely be glad to see the last of the Halton Hills Bulldogs and their punishing defence led by Justin Reid (66) as their Ontario Lacrosse Association Jr. B playoff series nears a conclusion. The Bulldogs led the best-of-5 secondround series 2-1 heading into Monday night's game four in Newmarket and with a win can make their fourth consecutive trip to the OLA Eastern Conference finals. Photo by Eamonn Maher Bantam Bulldogs sit at .500 Georgetown's bantam #1 Bulldogs are 2-2-1 heading into the final six games of qualifying this weekend in Whitby for the Ontario Minor Lacrosse Association championships, to be played on the August long weekend. Brampton 7, Halton Hills 3; Halton Hills 8, Oakville 3; Halton Hills 2, Clarington 2; Orangeville 5, Halton Hills 3; Halton Hills 5, Kitchener-Waterloo 2 Tournament scoring: Teagan Gillian (4G, 4A); Cory Highfield (4G, 3A); Darren Raddysh (4G, 2A); David Kiss (2G, 3A); Michael Dowell (2G, A); Marty Burwell (2G); Jacob Hector (G, 2A); Stevie Rosa (G, A); Reece Shaw (G); Taylor Raddysh (3A); Theo Dol, Bret Allonby (2A); Matthew Hodgins, Campbell Parker, Cody Menzies (A); Adam Dobis (W); Drayden Patey (W, A). Regular season Halton Hills 6, Brampton 5: Highfield (3G, 2A); Hector (2G); Burwell (G); Allonby, Rosa (2A); Hodgins, Kiss, Parker, Dobis (A); Patey, Dobis (W). Mimico 3, Halton Hills 1: Highfield (G); Gillian (A). Jayson Crawford (right) of the Halton Hills Bulldogs strips Newmarket's Chris Clifford of the ball during a Jr. B lacrosse playoff game in Georgetown Saturday night. Photo by Eamonn Maher FREE DELIVERY Largest Selection of Patio Furniture in Halton Hills Since 1998 Furniture Hut INDOOR & OUTDOOR FURNITURE 136 Guelph St., Georgetown 905-873-9791 Across the road from Christ the King School O P E N 7 DAY S A W E E K