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THE NEW TANNERTHURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2008 11THE NEW TANNER THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 200810 with The New Tanner Sports SCORES: Mark Wells scores for the Acton Midget BB Tanner through the five hole. - Sumbitted photo. The Atom BB Tanners played in a round robin series for the qualifying portion of the OMHA playoffs over the last few weeks, eliminating Dundas and now facing Fergus. Fergus and Dundas were the opposing teams and although the initial two games were lost to Fergus, the Tanners were able to handle Dundas in a home and home series. Game One was played in Acton which showcased some spectacular goaltending from Chris Giordano resulting in his second shut out of the year. Timely goals were credited to Kevin Giordano, Michael Kri, Cody Arney and Nick Molinaro with assists given to Kevin Giordano, Michael Kri and Liam OConnell (2). Game Two was played in Dundas and the Blues really came out flying. Eight penalties were handed out to the Acton team, three of those in the first period which had the Tanners on their heels. Fine defensive work by Ian Engstrom and Neil Mowat along with some beautiful saves by goaltender Braidyn Vidler kept the Tanners in the game. Dalton Smith threw out some heavy body checks and Jason Goodfellow produced some good plays and by the end of the first period it was Dundas 3 - Tanners 2. The second and third periods showed the Tanners edging out their opponent with speed and some nice sharp shooting. Nick Molinaro ended up with a hat trick and one assist while David Lafrance, Riley Spear, Kevin Giordano (2) and Theo Warren netted the other 5 goals. Assists were given to Travis Baker, Michael Kri, Theo Warren (2), Kevin Giordano (2), Riley Spear (2), Jordan Clark and David Lafrance. Final score, Tanners 8 - Dundas 4. The Tanners will now face Fergus in a best two out of three series which started Wednesday, Feb. 6 in Fergus. Game Two is Saturday, Feb. 9 in Acton at 7 p.m. with the final game (if necessary) in Fergus on Sunday, Feb. 10. Atom BB Tanners take series On Saturday, Feb. 2, the Acton Tanners Midget (Staying Alive Fitness) team, tied in the series, travelled to Fergus for game four of their OMHA playoff series. As was the case in the previous games, the fans were treated to an exciting game. Acton, with a very short bench and no call-ups, managed to hold their own against a strong Fergus squad through al- most 4 periods of play and stole a 6-5 overtime win. Jessy Kuenzig opened the scoring for Acton with a shot past the Fergus net- minder. Assisting were Bradley Kri and Dylan Creasey. Reminiscent of Tuesday evenings game, Fergus wasnt about to af- ford the Tanners a lead for long. At 8:01 they put their mark up on the board. At 7:47, the Tanners coun- tered once again, with the goal from Mark Wells right through the five hole. Evan McMeekins skillful pass to Adam Amato was matched by a solid pass to Marks stick for the final pass in the well timed sequence. The first period ended in a draw. The second period saw more action from the Tan- ners. Ryan Faber was first to score at 9:01 when he and Jessy Kuenzig com- bined efforts to beat the Fergus defence. When the Fergus defence cre- ated a screen in front of the net, Adam Amato, with assistance from Tyler Ein- mann and Bradley Kri, took advantage of the goalies handicap and fired the puck into the back of the net. Tanners were up by two goals! Fergus was quick to narrow the gap to a one goal lead at 8:21. Acton extended the lead again at 2:32, when Dylan Creasey managed a very timely goal at 2:32 with the teamwork of Bradley Kri, firing num- ber 5 into the net. Just as Acton had domi- nated the second period, Fergus shone in the third. Two goals for Fergus, once again brought the game to a tie. Unfortunately, the Tanners were unable to capitalize on any of their shots in the third period. For the third time, in this close series, the teams headed to a 10 minute overtime! As the minutes dwindled down in the 4th period, the fans began wondering if the series would remain tied. With just 46.6 seconds to go, Dylan Creasey with Bradley Kri, and fired a bullet shot to the top of the net ending the agony for the Tanner fans. The Tanners stole the game 6 - 5 and lead the very close series 5 points to 3. Midget Tanners take 5-3 lead in playoff with Fergus On Tuesday, January 29, the Acton Tanners (St. Lawrence Cement) Midget BB team treated their fans to some great hockey! Fergus arrived in Acton ready to play hockey and the Tanners were up to the challenge. Both teams started the game with lots of vim and vigor that never seemed to quit. It was Acton who drew first blood this time. Josh McDonell managed to find a hole in the Fergus defence at 10:17 of the first period after a great setup by Bradley Kri to put Acton first on the board. With the scored tied and 28 seconds to go in the opening period, Ryan Faber put away the Tanners second goal to pull ahead of Fergus. The lead would, once again, be shortlived after Fergus tied up the game at 14:23 in the second period. Acton regained the lead at 12:24 when Acton continued to put pressure on the Fergus defence. Mark Wells was able to tuck one in past the goalie after passes from Dayne Black and Gordie McKeon put the puck on his stick. After Fergus managed to tie the game a third time, Acton took advantage of a powerplay at the end of the second period with 53.8 seconds remain- ing. Jessy Kuenzig teamed up with Ryan Faber and Evan McMeekin for goal number 4 and a timely lead going into the dressing room. The third period was a nail biter for the fans with a narrow one goal lead. Both Acton and Fergus had several chances but were stoned by the goalies at every shot until 1:57 when Fergus found their way to the back of the Tanner net, tying the game for the fourth time. Disappointed, but still ener- gized, the Tanners were headed to overtime for the second time in this tight series. Fortunately for the Tanners and their fans, they wouldnt have to endure the unknown for too long. At 8:34 in the 10 minute overtime period, Bradley Kri fired a shot, unas- sisted, past the glove of the Fergus netminder to end the game with a 6-5 win for the Tanners. Once again, many thanks go out to the call-ups for their hard work during these tough playdown games. Midget BB Tanners tie playoff series with Fergus Win Series The Acton Tanner Midget BB team won their third nail- biting game in a row against Fergus 2-1 in regulation time (only the second regulation game in the 5 game series) to take the playoff series. Tanner goalie Joey Drexler played a great game. Next series will probably be against Lincoln no date on the start of that series. Senior Bearcats wrap up season on winning note The Acton Bearcat Se- nior Boys Basketball team wrapped up their season on Tuesday, Feb. 5 with a 23 point win over the White Oaks Wildcats today., 54-31. All team members chipped in on the scoring with fire- plug TJ Fry leading the way with 10 points and 17 assists for the double double. Victor Thompson also had 10, Josh Essiembre 7, David Garvie 6 and most everyone else with 4 including rookie Danny Holmes who made some finesse one on one moves to score a couple of buckets. This has been the Cats most successful season to date with 6 wins and 4 losses in 10 league games. They have scored 471 points and given up 395 in those 10 games. When one looks a bit closer they can see that the team could have been undefeated with a couple of breaks as they lost 3 of those games by only one point in the final seconds and lost the other by 6 under similar circumstances. The quick moving TJ Fry at point guard has distributed the ball well all season and has had good vision with his passing. Combine that with some clutch shooting and driving by Josh Essiembre and Victor Thompson and you can see the team of- fensive punch this season for what is traditionally a defensive squad. JD Hart- nagle, Anthony Gilbert, Dan Kearns and Kevin Holder have rebounded well to re- place 7 gooter Adam Grove who moved onto Sheridan College after Christmas and could be heading to the Cape Breton University Capers come fall. Kearns and Hartnagle will likely play university foot- ball next year whil TJ hopes to continue his basketball at the university level. Kevin Holder, Anthony Gilbert, Corey Tennier and David Garvie are also all slated to graduate this year and are weighing their post sec- ondary options with several colleges on the radar. Coach Spike Adams has tried to make his players quality human beings with ambitions to succeed inside and outside athletics. He said recently after the teams trip to New York that I have not met a nicer group of kids. The playoffs begin at home on Feb. 15 as the team aims for a shot at the Halton title as well as a chance to advance to OFSAA in Port Hope later in the month. The Bearcats are: Number Name Height Year 12 Adam Grove 611 1/2 Senior 10 TJ Fry 56 Senior 44 Josh Essiembre 6 Senior 3 Corey Tennier 6 Senior 21 Victor Thompson 6 Junior 23 Dan Kearns 6 Senior 1 Kevin Holder 6 Senior 50 Anthony Gilbert 511 Junior 33 JD Hartnagle 65 Senior 22 Zack Fry 58 Rookie 25 Kyle Stevenson 6 Rookie 4 Danny Holmes 57 Rookie 13 David Garvie 61 Rookie More sports on page 12