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SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 255) Fax 905-337-5567 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · SATURDAY, MARCH 25, 2006 Vanderjagt to kick field goals for America's Team Plagued by inconsistent place-kicking the past several seasons, the Dallas Cowboys have turned to Oakville native Mike Vanderjagt. Vanderjagt, the all-time NFL leader in field goal percentage (217 of 248, 87.5 per cent), inked a three-year contract with the Cowboys Thursday. The signing came one day after Vanderjagt's former team, the Indianapolis Colts, signed ex-New England Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri to a five-year deal. Vanderjagt's contract could potentially be worth more than $6 million. It includes a signing bonus of $2.5 million with base salaries of $810,000 the next two years and $1 million in 2008. Three of the Cowboys' seven losses last season came by three points or less. During the past two seasons, Dallas kickers have made seven of 11 field goal attempts (63.6 per cent) in the fourth quarter or overtime of games, the third-worst success rate in the league during that span. Vanderjagt's resume suggests he can turn Dallas' place-kicking struggles around. He has scored 100-plus points in all eight NFL seasons he has played and leaves Indianapolis as the club's all-time leading scorer (995 career points). He owns the league record for consecutive field goals made (42), has 14 career field goals of 50 yards or longer, and has 11 game-winning field goals in the final 15 seconds of a game. However, the 35-year-old White Oaks grad will have to erase the memories of his most recent kick -- a 46-yard attempt he missed badly in the final minute of Indianapolis' 2118 playoff loss to Pittsburgh Jan. 15. That boot, combined with an appearance on the Late Show With David Letterman sev eral days later when Vanderjagt joked about the miss, seemed ,to be the last straw for the Colts. Vanderjagt had a rocky relationship with Indianapolis head coach Tony Dungy and quarterback Peyton Manning since pub licly criticizing both several years ago after a 41-0 playoff loss to the New York Jets. "Mike was a different type of personality, but he lined up and did his job and did it well," Dungy said at a press conference announcing the signing of Vinatieri. "Adam is going to be a different personality. He's going to be great for us." Mike Vanderjagt -- Jon Kuiperij Scamurra, Beca shine as Blades daim series opener By Jon Kuiperij BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR Don Edwards' belief in rotating netminders appears to be paying off again. The Oakville Blades head coach and general manager has alternated David Scamurra and Marc Stuart in goal throughout the Blades' current run in the Provincial Junior A Hockey League playoffs -- a strategy Edwards used when he was goaltenders coach with the Carolina Hurricanes, help ing Carolina reach the Stanley Cup final in 2002 with the netminding tandem of Arturs Irbe and Kevin Weekes. Scamurra and Stuart have made their coach look like a genius so far. Scamurra, who started Game 1 of the Blades' North/West championship series in Stouffville Thursday, made 20 first-period saves to keep his team in the game and allow Oakville to eventually pull out a 5-4 overtime triumph. Stuart will likely get the call today (Saturday) as the Blades and Spirit meet for Game 2 of the series, a 7:30 p.m. start at Dominion TWin Rinks. "I really believe we've got two quality guys. Why put all the burden on one guy? You get guys to share the load and, if you believe in them, it helps reduce the stress on them," Edwards said. "If you put all your eggs in one basket and one guy has an off-night, then you can be in trouble." Matt Beca netted the game-winner for the Blades Thursday, finishing a 3-on-2 break 5:09 into the first overtime period. Seconds earlier, Oakville defenceman Dan Ringwald had made a diving play to break up a Spirit 3-on-l rush. It was the second goal of the game for Beca, the West Conference regular-season MVP who recent ly accepted a four-year scholarship offer from Clarkson University -- where he'll join Blades captain and local resident Nick Dodge. Trevor Elliott also scored a pair for Oakville. Bryan Peters added a single, giving the Blades a 43 lead late in the third period. Spirit forward Joel Sheppar tying the game with 21 seconds remaining in reg ulation time and Stouffville netminder Dan McWhinney on the bench in favour of an extra attacker. Sheppard had two goals for the Spirit, which also got markers fromv Will Acton and Jake Van Allen. `We gave up the late goal, and it was one of those situations where a couple guys got caught in bad positioning, but we learn by those things," Edwards said. "Our poise is real good. We didn't get down on ourselves and we got back to our game plan again." Jesse Paul and Brandon DeFazio each con tributed a pair of assists for the Blades. Game 3 of the series is scheduled for Thursday in Stouffville, with the Blades hosting Game 4 the following evening at Dominion TWin Rinks. IN C H EC K : Oakville's Daniel Calitri (in blue) ties up Stouffville Spirit forward Will Acton Thursday in Stouffville. BILL ROBERTS / SPECIAL TO OAKVILLE BEAVER 'WJ ? Jk ' Keep them WARM & COZY this winter m m AIE CALM w B B m c u m a tr c a b i. comfort A m m rn M ty . Mtenet, A new high efficiency furnace installed by the experts at Air Culm CHmat«Care delivers improved comfort, better efficiency, significant fuel savings and most of all, a little peace-of-mlnd, 9 0 5 -8 4 4 -7 3 5 4 on f^f&«hSiTM&9 O D a TM iv e Ontario s largest noting &Sc.iim cooling cO cooperative e-mail: alrcalm@cJlmatecare.com