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Editor: Norm Nelson Phone: 905-84 5 -3 8 2 4 (ext. 2 5 5 ) Fax: 905-337-5567 e-mail: nnelson@haltonsearch.com SPORTS Oakville minor lacrosse expects record registration With the increasing popularity of lacrosse across Canada, the Oakville Minor Lacrosse Association continues to grow and expects record registration numbers for the 2004 season. Spaces are still available in all house league divisions for players bom from between 1988 and 2000. Registration forms are available from the pro shop at National Sports in Oakville on the North Service Road. Registration applications will be accepted through Saturday, March 20. Copies of birth certificates are required for new registrants. Registration forms may be mailed to OMLA president Brian Kruse, 1374 Winterbourne Dr., Oakville, L6J 7A6. The lacrosse season runs from late April through the end of June. House league players practice once a week and play once a week, generally on Saturdays. The highly successful rep teams begin field play in the spring and go indoors for box competition during the summer. All house league players participate in Gala Day, the sea son finale and celebration of the sport on the last weekend in June. The Oakville Minor Lacrosse Association is in need of coaches at some levels and a convenor for the tyke division (players bom 1996-1997). Please check the league out at www.oakvillelacrosse.com and contact the appropriate executive member if you can lend some volunteer time to this exciting, fast-paced and fastgrowing sport. §^1 Herb Garbutt · Special to the B eaver Oakville Blades goaltender Dan Giffin is put to the test. The Blades passed the test in game three, winning 3-2 to take a 2-1 series lead. They host game four tonight (Friday) at Vic Johnson Arena in Streetsville. MOMS dinner/dance April 16 The Minor Oaks MOMS annual dinner/dance and silent auction is set for Friday, April 16 and tickets sales are brisk. Avoid disappointment and get yours now. Book a table of 10 with teammates, friends or neighbours. Call Adele Arsenault at 905-469-9565 for tickets or drop by the MOHA office at 1026 Speers Rd. Tickets are $50 per per son for a spectacular evening of fine dining, entertainment and awesome auction items. Dance to the sounds of Dave Hinton from Hinton's DJ Central following cock tails at 6:30 p.m. and a fourcourse meal at 7:30 p.m. This year's festivities are at the newly refurbished Le Dome Banquet Hall, 1173 North Service Road E. As in previous years, this season-ending celebra tion is the MOMS main fundraiser with all proceeds used to pay for ice time, timekeepers, referees and trophies during the playoff championships, known as Awards Week. This year, the Minor Oaks Hockey Association (MOHA) iced 228 teams and boasted record numbers of players so the MOMS expect an overwhelming turnout and stiff competi tion during the silent auc tion bidding. Donations for the silent auction are welcome up to March 30. Donors will be adver tised in the silent auction program and gratefully acknowledged on bidding sheets. Contact auction co chairs Kelly Nault-White at 905-847-1252 or Lynne James at 905-842-6478 to contribute items. The Minor Oaks MOMS is a not-for-profit organiza tion that supports house league and rep hockey in Oakville through team and tournament sponsorships, player training and team building activities and events. The MOMS provides community services, actively promotes the-, MOHA and manages and funds Awards Week, the grand finale of the houseleague season. Blades take a 2-1 series lead host Raiders tonight in Streetsville By Jon Kuiperi] OAKVILJLE BEAVER STAFF In compiling a division-best 40-53-1 record, the Georgetown Raiders lost only three games on home ice this season. However, after three games of the Provincial Junior A Hockey League's West Conference final, the Oakville Blades have already managed to win a pair of games at the Mold-Masters Sportsplex. The Blades' most recent triumph in Georgetown came Wednesday night as Oakville rallied for a pair of third period goals to edge the Raiders 3-2, grabbing a 2-1 lead in the series. Game four is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. tonight (Friday) at the Vic Johnson Community Centre in Streestville, the Blades' home rink throughout the rest of the playoffs. "(Winning two games in Georgetown) is very good for our team," said Jason Dopaco, who scored the game-winner with 11:44 remain ing in regulation, converting a beauti ful pass from Austin Corredato. "We have a lot of confidence in this; rink. They don't lose here, but w e've shown them it doesn't matter where we play." Ryan Angelow tied the game 2-2 earlier in the third period with a quick snapshot from the right faceoff dot, a similar shot that Blades captain Nick Dodge used to open the scoring in the first period. The Raiders struck for a pair of goals in the middle frame to take the lead. Defenceman Frank Burgio was credited with Georgetown's first goal, a shot from the line that appeared to change direction in front of Blades' goaltender Dan Giffin, while Vince Laise tipped in Jason Hicks' point shot with 6:02 remaining in the sec ond. Giffin once again was solid in goal for Oakville, stopping 26 Raiders shots to record the victory. Although Georgetown might have underestimated the Blades at the beginning of the series, the favoured Raiders now appear to believe Oakville is capable of pulling off an upset. As the game wore on, Georgetown snipers appeared increas ingly frustrated with the tight-check ing Blades and began appealing to the on-ice officials for penalty calls.' "Georgetown came into the series thinking we would be a cakewalk," said the 19-year-old Dopaco. "I think they're a little scared right now." Oakville's victory Wednesday came on the heels of a 4-3 overtime loss to the Raiders the previous night in Streetsville. The Blades scored three times in the third period to tie the game before Georgetown notched the overtime winner. "We were happy we came back, we proved we could score three goals on them in a period, so we had some con fidence," Oakville coach Frank Carnevale said. "We went and stretched, rode the bike and got some thing to eat together, so we didn't just lose and go home. It enabled us to talk it through so (Wednesday) it wasn't even part of our thoughts anymore." After tonight's game four, the series resumes tomorrow (Saturday) in Georgetown. Game time is sched uled for 8 p.m. Game six, if necessary, will be played Tuesday in Streetsville, begin ning at 8 p.m. C U U I Hockey Tips for Tots TWO WEEKS Powerskating · High Performance 15-19 i n m i March Girls Only · Elite Shoot to Score l ± J i March 2 2 -2 6 SPGStTfS R E G IS T E R N O W ! 9 0 5 -8 4 5 -6 9 S 9 O H LAST CHANCE TO REGISTER! w w w .ic e s p o r fs x o m