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16 THE NEW TANNER THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2007 DUCKS IN SCARBOROUGH: Back row, left to right, Nicole Merritt, Brittany Wilson-Walsh, Erica Shardlow, Lexie Kroezen, Sarah Waldie, Lindsay Lobelio. Front row, Laura Lobelio, Szilvia Paradi, Joanna Sadgrove. Aqua Ducks swim to Scarborough medals Acton Aqua Ducks Red squad showed their strength at the Cindy Nicholas Swim Classic held in Scarborough on the weekend. Coach Mackenzie Kimm was very excited, as she noted the club has been attending this meet for 20 years now and has always performed up to coaches expectations; this year was no different. Kimm reported even though this was the first time for some of the squad they turned in a number of top six finishes as well as a high percentage of personal best times. The veteran Duck results speak for themselves. Results as follows: 11 & 12 girls Lexie Kroezen: 50 back- Gold, 100 back-Gold, 50 breast-Gold, 200 free-Sil- ver, 100 breast-Silver. Szilvia Paradi: 50 back- Bronze, 200 I.M.-Bronze, 50 free-4th, 100 free-4th, 200 free-5th. Laura Lobelio: 50 back- 4th, 50 breast-5th. 13 & Over Joanna Sadgrove: 50 back-Gold, 50 breast-Gold, 50 free-4th, 100 free-4th, 200 free-5th. Sarah Waldie: 50 back- Silver, 50 breast-Bronze, 100 breast-5th, 50 free-6th. Nicole Merritt: 50 back- Bronze. Lindsay Lobelio: 50 back-4th, 50 breast-6th. Erica Shardlow: 50 back- 5th, 50 breast-5th. Brittany Wilson-Walsh: 50 back-6th. COGECO to carry curling for Tankard starting February 12 TVCOGECO is partnering with the Ontario Curling Association and the Sarnia Golf and Curling Club Host Committee in providing live coverage of the 2007 TSE Stores Tankard. As the official television provider, TVCOGECO is covering the championships from the opening ceremonies on Monday, February 12 to the final draws and closing ceremonies on Sunday, February 18. Halton Hills and Milton viewers can catch the cover- age on TVCOGECO, cable channel 14. The full local TVCOGECO schedule is available on the web site at: www.tvcogeco.com and on the TVCOGECO Billboard. Live Local program commitments occurring during draw times will not be pre-empted. Tankard coverage will fol- low immediately afterwards through tape delay for full coverage. Bantam AE Tanners face off with Fergus in playoff series -by Edith McDonell Down two games in the round robin OMHA playoffs against a team that al- ways seemed to scratch out a win against the Acton Firefighters Association Ban- tam AE team in regular season should have brought out a group of discouraged players, however, the boys were not in that frame of mind. They knew that if they put a well-played game together, they still had a chance to remain alive in the playoffs. On January 29, playing Dundas in the Dundas arena was the challenge. First period play saw the home team jump ahead 1-0 within the first few minutes, then a pass to Brandon Masini who reacted with a quick shot low on the ice and through the five hole tied the game. Unfortunately, this period did cost the team. Defenceman MacKenzie Mor- rison left the ice with a shoulder injury and was unable to return (all wishes to Mackie to mend soon). The second period saw the score switch back and forth. Acton went ahead on a bouncer into the net from the stick of defenceman Stefan Smelsky only to be tied up again by Dundas on a power play goal. Less than a minute later, defenceman Ellis Lavallee let a shot fly from the blue line into the far corner of the net and the Tanners were ahead once more. Although goaltender Colton Wiens claimed he was bored, several great saves made during this period could have changed the outcome of the game. The final period was a hold-them-off and lets-push-for-more scenario. One minute into the period found Brandon Lockyer parked midway between the blue line and the net. A pass out from the scrimmage by the side of the net found Brandons stick. A trickler in beside the Dundas goalie almost in slow motion brought us up 4-2. One more goal came from Josh McDonell who took a pass from Brandon Masini and put a sharp shot past the Dundas goalie who was covering the corner of his net. That would be enough to clinch this win 5-2. Face Fergus The following night brought Fergus to Acton for the Tanners final game of the round robin series. The Tanners were in a do or die situation and do they did! Half-way through period one started the scoring for the Tanners as a scramble in front of the net popped the puck out into the slot for Josh McDonell to raise a shot into the net. Good coverage of the Fergus players kept their chances limited. Intense play resulted in losing a second player to injury. Jake Lewis left the game and would not return again with a possible shoulder problem. The following period was riddled with penalties resulting in the Tanners play- ing short for almost nine consecutive minutes. The defence of Stefan Smelsky, Brandon Lockyer, AJ McConville and John White were kept busy but made quick work of clearing the zone. As neither team scored in the second pe- riod, this game looked as if it might be decided by a single goal. Both teams tired in the third but or- ganized rushes by the Tanners finally paid off as Jesse Spurrell took the puck in wide bringing the Fergus goalie to the left side of the net. Josh McDonell, wide open, received a well placed pass and let a sharp angled shot sail. The Tan- ners fans breathed a little easier with a two goal lead. Goalie Jesse Harris made certain Fer- gus would remain scoreless as he made several terrific saves. At the two minute mark, Fergus pulled their goalie hoping to narrow the gap. However, an empty- netter by #7 Josh McDonell gave him the hat-trick and sealed the win. Assists were awarded to Jesse Spurrell (3) and Brandon Masini (2). These two victories raised Actons hopes of continuing in the OMHA playdowns. This came with a number of ifs one of which was for Fergus to beat Dundas the following night. To the Tanners relief and surprise, Fergus did pull out a win and left all three teams with 4 points from the round robin. The next match-up to determine which team moves on saw Fergus vs Dundas in a sudden death playoff Saturday, the winner to go on to play the Tanners in a best two out of three series. The Bantam AE team will play Fergus (winners of the sudden death) on Tues. Feb. 6 in Fergus and Sat. Feb. 10 at 7p.m. in Acton. Come out and cheer on the hometeam! Deciding game Saturday Bantam BB Tanners, Lincoln Blades OMHA playoff series tied at 2-2 With game one under their belts, the Acton Tanners Home Hardware Bantam BB team headed to Beams- ville on Wednesday, Jan. 31, for the second game of the second round of the OMHA playdowns. This time, Lin- coln Blades seemed to lack the spunk seen in the first game in Acton. The Tanners were quick to chalk up the goals, putting seven on the board before the end of the game. Goals were scored by Adam Amato, assisted by Evan McMeekin, Dayne Black, assisted by Evan McMeekin and Nathan Bennett, Adam Amato assisted by Ryan Faber, Evan McMeekin, assisted by Jamie Campbell and Nathan Bennett, Steven Wolstenholme, assisted by Nathan Bennett, Brandyn McCarthy, assisted by Nick Eagan and Jamie Campblee, assisted by Ryan Faber. Andrew Cheeseman played a solid game between the pipes for Acton before he was robbed of a shutout with 2.5 seconds left to go in the game. Final score was 7-1 for Acton putting them up 2-0 in the series. Game three found the Tanners in Beamsville on Saturday, February 3. The Tanners went into the game hoping to put an end to this series but the Lincoln Blades came with a different game plan. Lincoln came out play- ing hard and continued the same level of play through- out the game. Although the Tanners scored the first two goals, it was Lincoln that came out on top. Acton battled to put three great goals up on the board but Lincoln refused to give up. With the series on the line, the Blades were much more aggressive than in the first two games. Netminder, Joey Drexler kept the Tanners in the game until he was pinned down on a play, by a Lincoln player, allowing one of the Blades to take a shot at virtually an empty net. The only penalty call on the play was against Acton. That seemed to give Lincoln the edge they needed. The Blades ended taking the game 4-3. Goals were scored by Adam Amato, assisted by Nick Eagan, Adam Amato, assisted by Ryan Faber and Brandyn McCarthy assisted by Adam Amato and Mat- thew Allain. Acton headed back home leading the series 2-1 but with an energized opponent. Tie up series On Monday, Feb. 4, Acton arena was buzzing with en- ergy as the Tanner Bantams and Lincoln Blades battled it out, again, for a berth in the third round of the OMHA Playdowns. With the Tanners leading the series, 2 games to 1, Acton was looking forward to sending Lincoln back home with their tails between their legs. Lin- coln had a different idea. Both teams came out strong in the first period but, again, the Tanners drew first blood. Lincoln not wanting to lose their momentum, kept pace with Acton in the scoring but by the 4:30 mark of the third period, the Tanners were leading by a score of 4-2. A major refereeing error then led to the ultimate demise of the Tanners. When Lincoln pulled their goalie, Acton headed down the ice on a one-on-one play ready to shoot at the empty net. The referee, failing to notice the reason for the ad- ditional Blades player, blew the whistle and stopped the rush with the puck on the Tanner stick. A refereeing error, but a face-off none- theless. The Blades took the centre ice draw and slipped a shot behind the Acton netminder. With 18 seconds left to go in the game, Lincoln tied the score sending the game into overtime. In the overtime period, the Blades showed Acton the power of persis- tence when they popped the winning goal into the Acton net. In the blink of an eye, the series was tied and Acton now looks ahead to a game five. Acton goals were netted by Angelo Colavecchia, as- sisted by Evan McMeekin, Dayne Black, assisted by Evan McMeekin, Evan Mc- Meekin, assisted by Brandyn McCarthy and Bradley Kri, and Brandyn McCarthy, as- sisted by Nathan Bennett. Final game of the series will be played in Beamsville on Saturday afternoon. The winner of that game will move on to the third round of the OMHA Playdowns. with The New Tanner Sports