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Sports Oakville Beaver By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF www.aplushomes.ca Adam Campbell Broker of Record 905-844-4444 B R O K E R A G E I N D E P E N D E N T LY O W N E D A N D O P E R AT E D SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 255) Fax 905-337-5567 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · WEDNESDAY, MAY 21, 2008 33 Dawson denied again Pulling away Sniper records nine points in NLL final, but on losing end for third straight time The National Lacrosse League championship is turning into one big tease for Dan Dawson. For the third time in four years, the Oakville native reached the Champions Cup final only to be dealt a heartbreaking loss. And this may be the toughest one yet. The Buffalo Bandits held off a late Dawson-led rally to edge the Portland Lumberjax 14-13 in Saturday's final. Each time Dawson has made it to the final, his team has got a little closer to the elusive title, but it has remained out of his grasp. In 2005, the Toronto Rock beat Dawson's Arizona Sting 19-13. Last year, the Rochester Knighthawks edged the Sting 13-11. Portland's failure to capture the big prize certainly can't be pinned on Dawson. He had three goals and six assists Saturday. "I like to think my game comes to the next level in the playoffs," Dawson said before the final. "The regular season is great, but all the great players step up their game in the playoffs." Saturday capped a remarkable playoff run for Dawson. He had 15 goals and 31 points in Portland's three postseason games. That followed a season in which he led Portland with 38 goals and 81 points in 16 regular season games. Dawson figured in on five of Portland six first-half goals Saturday with two goals and three assists. The Lumberjax, however, headed into the break trailing 9-6. Trailing 13-10, Dawson set up Peter Morgan's power-play goal in the final minute of the third quarter. He then cut the lead to one with his third goal of the game just over a minute into the final quarter. Buffalo restored its twogoal advantage with 5:37 remaining, but Portland kept its hopes alive, scoring with the extra attacker with 48 seconds left. Portland would not be able to get the equalizer, though. Making this season's loss even tougher to take is the fact Dawson has likely played his last game with Portland. His former team, Arizona, has until June 1 to announce its intentions to revive the team after taking a year off. If it does return, Dawson will head back to the desert. If the Sting folds, Dawson will be put into a dispersal draft for the second year in a row. With Boston coming in as an expansion team, it's likely it would pick Dawson first overall -- just as Portland did last year. WINNING WEEKEND: Niagara Thunder captain Jon Goldie (with ball) eludes the tackle of New Brunswick Black Spruce's Hosam Mobarak during Rugby Canada Super League action Saturday at Crusader Park. Goldie had two tries, Andrew Lombard and Dan West added singles, and Spencer Fullerton converted a pair of penalties as Oakville players factored heavily into the Thunder's 42-5 rout of the Spruce. The following day, Mike Pletch, West, Lombard and Goldie each scored tries as Niagara whipped the Nova Scotia Keltics 49-5. PHOTOS BY CHRIS KORNACKI/ SPECIAL TO THE OAKVILLE BEAVER BOOK YOUR SUMMER CAMP ONLINE AND AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT!! www.oakvillesoccer.ca LOCATION Shell Park Shell Park Shell Park Shell Park Shell Park Shell Park Shell Park Shell Park Shell Park Shell Park SEE WEBSITE TYPE OF CAMP Session 1 Session 2 Session 3 Session 4 Session 5 Session 6 DATES July 7-11 July 14-18 July 21-25 Jul 28 - Aug 1 Aug 18-22 Aug 25-29 Aug 11-15 8am - 9am 4pm - 5:30pm 8am - 9am & 4pm -5:30pm WEEKLY FULLDAY $250 $250 $250 $250 $250 $250 $300 $40 $55 $90 $20.00 HALFDAY $150 $150 $150 $150 $150 $150 N/A $40 N/A N/A RANGERS FC CAMP Pre Camp Care Post Camp Care Post Camp Care NSPORTATION NOW AVAILABLE CAMP DETAILS Every Player will receive: Camp Ball, Camp T-shirt, Quality Soccer Instruction, Skill Testing Prizes throughout the Week, Two Out of Park Adventures: Monday-Bowling & Wednesday Movie Afternoon (full day campers only), Friday lunch provided by Pizza Pizza (full day campers only) CONTESTS OPEN TO ALL OSC MEMBERS PHOTO CONTEST SPIRIT OF SOCCER HOUSE LEAGUE COACH OF THE YEAR Sponsor: 504 Iroquois Shore Rd., Unit #11, Oakville, ON L6H 3K4 The Oakville Beaver Tel: 905-849-4436 Fax: 905-849-3677 A Proud Sponsor of Oakville Soccer Club