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SPORTS & LEISURE Raiders `Buffaloed' again by Junior Sabres By EAMONN MAHER Staff Writer If the Ontario Jr. A Hockey League playoffs were to start tomorrow, the Georgetown Raiders would be relieved to know that the Buffalo Jr. Sabres wouldn't be among the top eight teams to qualify. The third-place Raiders have lost all three games this season to the 10th-place Jr. Sabres, including a 4-3 shootout decision in Georgetown Saturday evening. Coupled with a 6-3 loss to the struggling Aurora Tigers Friday night, the 328-3 Raiders have recently been plagued by poor finishing around the opponent's goal. They outshot the Tigers 39-30 and led Buffalo 2-0 in the second period Saturday before letting the visitors back into the game with a pair of goals 29 seconds apart. "Buffalo plays tough against us and for whatever reason we always choke," said rookie Raider forward Evan Rodrigues. Georgetown Raider Evan Rodrigues looks to have Buffalo Jr. Sabres' goalie Derek Mohney beaten during the shootout Saturday night but the rookie forward was foiled on his deke attempt. The Jr. Sabres prevailed by a 4-3 score for their third win in as many tries over the Raiders this season. Photo by Eamonn Maher "We need to pick things up and start afterwards. bearing down on our chances because Georgetown trails second-place we're on a streak where we've lost four Oakville by six points with a game in of our last six and we need to change hand on the Blades, who've won 18 of that." their last 21 starts. After visiting the 12th-place MissisThe Raiders hope to have all-star sauga Chargers last night (Monday), defender Nick Avgerinos back in the Georgetown faces the busiest part of lineup this week after taking a hard hit its regular-season schedule, beginning earlier this month, especially with rugThursday in Brampton, with seven ged blueliner Patrick Moran incurring games in a 10-day stretch. a six-game suspension for an incident They'll also travel to Trenton Friday Saturday that happened at the end of before hosting rival Oakville in Satur- the overtime period. day's Pink In The Rink fundraiser for Moran punched an unsuspecting breast cancer research, in which the Buffalo player in the head at the concluRaiders will be wearing special-edition sion of overtime, earning an attempt-topink jerseys that will be auctioned off injure match penalty, and then became involved in a fight with another Sabre. In the shootout, all three Raiders, including the 16-year-old Rodrigues, were stopped, with Pat Conte beating Michael Nishi for the clinching score. Jeremy Wick had all three Georgetown goals in regulation, marking the fifth time this season the 20-year-old from Grand Valley has had a hat trick or better in a game for a total of 36 overall. On Friday night, the Raiders trailed 4-1 early in the second period and couldn't recover, receiving markers from Dorian Peca, Sean Teakle and Justin Basso. Despite the team's recent slump, Rodrigues has enjoyed a superb freshman campaign in Georgetown, collecting 12 goals and 28 assists in 43 games. A 10th-round pick of the Ottawa 67's in last year's Ontario Hockey League draft, Rodrigues won several championships with the Toronto Marlboros' organization over a seven-year span and hopes to develop into a sniper similar to older brother Paul, a 98-point scorer with Vaughan a couple of years ago who is now in his first year at Oswego State University in New York. "It helps to be able to follow in his footsteps and it would be nice to accomplish what he's been able to do," said the Toronto resident. "I just have to work on getting stronger, building up my weight and balance. It's been a great experience to play at this level." 11 Independent & Free Press, Tuesday, January 26, 2010 Girls' night out Amanda Nonis (14) of the Brampton Canadette-Thunder is stopped on this breakaway by Vaughan Flames' goalkeeper Kendra Fisher during their Canadian Women's Hockey League contest at the Alcott Arena in Georgetown Friday night. The Flames were down 4-3 heading into the third period but received goals from Meghan Aarts and LaToya Clarke to pull off a 5-4 victory in front of about 800 spectators in the annual fundraising game hosted by the North Halton Twisters' Girls' Hockey Association. Photo by Eamonn Maher Blue Jays sign Hill The Blue Jays added yet another pitcher to their training camp roster Friday, signing Georgetown's Shawn Hill to a minor league deal. Hill, 28, went 1-1 in three starts for the San Diego Padres in 2009 before elbow replacement surgery ended his season in June. He'll attend spring training with the Jays but the club doesn't expect him to pitch competitively until midseason. Drafted by the Expos in 2000, Hill reached the majors in 2004 and has spent the last five seasons battling injuries and shuttling between the big leagues and the minors. His most successful major league season was 2007, when he went 4-5 in sixteen starts with the Washington Nationals, and posting a career low in ERA (3.42). Hill is a Mississauga native who spent his teen years in Georgetown, graduating from Bishop Reding High School in Milton. GEORGETOWN JUNIOR "A" GEORGETOWN JR. A GEORGETOWN TOYOTA RAIDERS vs OAKVILLE BLADES Saturday, January 30, 2010 7:30 pm Mold-Masters SportsPlex (Alcott Arena) www.georgetownraidersjra.com GAME OF THE WEEK