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56 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, October 22, 1999 M id g e ts im p r o v e t o 6 - 3 w i t h p a ir o f im p r e s s iv e w in s A five goal first period proved enough for the O ak v ille R a n g e rs trip le -A m id g e t re p te a m in Brampton on Friday as they held on for a 5-4 win. Brampton scored two in the first period and one each in the second and third periods, the latter with just over three minutes left in the game to make things interesting. Scoring for Oakville were Eric Melander, Mark Murray, Don Hartt, Bryan Mills and Ed Fiore with assists to Jeff Rrown (2), Ryan Gow (2), Jeff Curtis, Ryan Andrews, Melander and Murray. In part, the Rangers' success was due to the ongoing efforts of the coaching staff to encourage the players to take ; fewer penalties. The team has traditionally given up at least one p o w er' play goal in each game and taken penalties at key times, sometimes giving up hard-won flow control, sometimes in the last few minutes as the team is trying to come from behind or defend a narrow lead. The discipline shown by the players in this game, taking only two penalties, was admirable and hopefully bodes well for the future. On Sunday night, the Midgets travelled to Niagara Falls where they handed the hosts only their second defeat of the season, beating them 6-5. Having lost to Niagara Falls in their home opener, the Rangers felt they had something to prove but both teams came out strong and it took half of the first period before Eric Melander found the net on a power play from Jeff Brown and Mike Capaldo. Scoring in the second were ... Jeff Curtis from Brown and Melander ... Don Hartt from Mike Zujko ... and Brown from Curtis, short-handed. In the third period, Mike Enns scored on a power play from Ryan Gow and Curtis. Brown scored the insurance goal from Curtis and Capaldo putting the Rangers up by two with less than five minutes left on the clock so when Niagara Falls scored with just over one minute left in the game, it was too little too late and even pulling the goalie didn't give them the thrust needed to break through the Oakville defence. With these two wins, the Rangers record is 6-3 over the season so far. So come out and see the Midget AAA Rangers in action at their next home game, next Wednesday (Oct. 27th), 8 p.m., at Oakville Arena. Hard work, including some dryland training at the Minor Oaks Hockey Association (MOHA) Mitron training centre at Oakville Arena, have earned Oakville's triple-A peewee team an invite to the prestigious Quebec pee wee tournament This photo was from a workout this past Wednesday. Photo by Ron Kuzyk DeFazio remembers the excitement in Quebec (C ontinued from pag e 35 ) ers have been together from their tyke (7) days. This is something they've been aspiring to for a long time. What a great opportunity this is for the whole team, all 17 of them." "We are strong in goal with Chris Rowan and Matt Pike," McKenzie stated. "Our defence grouping of Connor Farris, Ben Heersink, Andy MacDonald, Mario Mancuso, Dan Ringwald and Graham Tough, has really come in to their own. Our cen tres Nick Dodge, Justin Donati, and Charlie Giffen, give us tremendous leadership, and their left wingers Tyler Donati, Brett Lain and Brad McKenzie, along with right wingers Nick Davis, Daniel Hannigan-Daley, and Nick* Prescott, give us the dynam ics of a strong, cohesive offensive thrust." The m id-February tournam ent runs for 10 days, with all of the play ers being billeted with Quebec fami lies. So it's not just a hockey tourna ment. The cultural benefits and camaraderie that go with it, make it something to remember. Dean D eFazio, who was a Pittsburgh draftee in the early `80s and who now coaches the minor novice AA team in Oakville, has cer tainly never forgotten the experi ence. "When you skate out on the ice at the Quebec Coliseum, with 12,000 roaring fans, that is something that I'll never forget." A c o u p le o f c lo s e g a m e s The Oakville Rangers double-A minor novice rep team, coached by Dean DeFazio and Mark Kirton, lost a tough 3-2 deci sion to host Caledon Hawks on Oct. 2. Oakville erased a 2-0 deficit before Caledon popped in the winner. Scoring for Oakville were Mathew Feric and Jeremy DeFazio. Assists went to Travis James, Kelly Barchan, Bryn Johnson and Alex Patterson. On Oct. 4, Oakville built up a 2-0 lead on the host Milton Winter Hawks but had to settle for a 2-2 tie. Goals were scored by Lucas Currah and Alex Patterson. Assists went to Jeremy DeFazio and Lachlan Neil. Oakville are at home most Sundays at noon at Oakville Arena. Win over Marties secures Hamilton tourney title The Oakville Rangers peewee rep hockey team took home the trophy after winning the Tim H orton's Tournam ent in H am ilton on the T hanksgiving Weekend. They advanced to the final championship game after beating out both London and Cleveland 4-1, Pittsburgh 5-1 and Ottawa 8-1, losing only to the Toronto Marlies, 3-1, leading up to the championship game. They found themselves on Monday once again pit ted against the M arlies to battle for the trophy in the final game. The game got off to a strange start after the parents proudly sang the national anthem when the music couldn't be found. Oakville played a good clean game resulting in no penalties and a *1-1 tie at the end o f regular play m ak ing overtime necessary. Brad M acKenzie scored the first goal, assisted by Justin Donati and Charlie Griffin. The overtime period was short-lived, when Justin Donati managed to score the winning goal off the faceoff.