OMHA action heats up for Raiders: Bantams sweep Newmarket; AE squad one win away

The Georgetown Raiders are on the verge of having two bantam rep teams claim Ontario Minor Hockey Association titles in the same season as the provincial playdowns wind down. Thanks to a 3-0 sweep of Newmarket in the best-of-five OMHA bantam AA championship series, the Georgetown RV Raiders capped an undefeated playoff run, clinching the hardware with a 3-1 road win on Saturday. Meanwhile, Georgetown's Goebelle MacAdam Alexander additional entry rep Raiders can sew up the OMHA bantam Group 1 title with a victory over the host Caledon Hawks on Wednesday night at the Mayfield Arena at 7 p.m. The bantam AE Raiders lead the best-of-five matchup 2-1 after a convincing 5-2 triumph over Caledon on Monday evening at the Mold-Masters SportsPlex. It was the first provincial championship for many of the bantam AA Raiders, said coach Bill Sudeyko, and to boast two OMHA champions in one age group in the same year is a rare achievement for any minor hockey organization. "It's a really nice talent pool we have at this level," said Sudeyko, who like bantam AE coach Dave McMahon won't be returning next season to guide the team at the minor midget level. "Whoever comes in is going to inherit a great group of kids. Both teams were very supportive of each other-- their team came out to cheer us on during our games and we came out to support them. I think that for our last game in Newmarket we must have had about 200 Georgetown fans backing us." McMahon's squad punished visiting Caledon physically in game three Monday night and received picture goals from Brandon Medeiros and Mark Giordano in the first period. Many of these bantam AE Raiders won the OMHA crown as peewees and have had another spectacular season in 2005-06, capturing three tournament titles while finishing first in the league standings. "These guys have been focused on winning

this since day one because it's one of their goals and they're determined that (Caledon) isn't going to stop them," McMahon added. "It's a total team effort. We've got 17 guys on the team and about nine of them are considered leaders." Giordano ended up with two goals and two assists for Georgetown's bantam AEs on Monday, with Patrick White and Dylan Hanzelka adding single markers. The Raiders lost the opening game at home 5-2 on Thursday before responding with a 4-1 victory Saturday in Caledon, headed up by Cam Maltby's two-goal effort. Georgetown's bantam AAs finished third during the regular season but saved their best hockey for the playoffs, which included a tough series with Tecumseh. The goaltending duo of Marc Drake and Marcus Rees combined for a goals-against average of just 1.33, with offence coming from players throughout the lineup. Brendan MacDonald (3), Keegan Witton (2), Zach Austin (2), Colin Dickson, Trevor Hill, Chase Nieuwendyk, Robbie Robertson and A.J. Van Doorn supplied the Raider goals in the Newmarket series. And the season isn't over just yet for Sudeyko's Raiders as they've qualified for the Ontario Hockey Federation's Tournament of Champions in Brampton April 7-9. Two more Georgetown Raider rep teams are still in contention for OMHA hardware. The Sports Unlimited minor atom AE Raiders dropped their opening game versus Aurora 6-5 here on Thursday night, then won 7-2 and 4-1 to come to within one game of the championship in the best-of-five series, with game four Wednesday in the Tigers' den. Georgetown's McMaster's Meats & Deli Raiders are battling Uxbridge in the OMHA atom AA finals. After taking game one handily, the Raiders lost 4-1 and 2-1 over the weekend and must win on the road tonight in Uxbridge to extend the series. The Georgetown Toyota peewees were swept by Barrie in the AA championship series, completed with 6-1 and 4-1 Icemen victories this past weekend.