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THE CANADIAN STATESMAN, OCTOBER 25,2000 PAGE B1 Gens win | pair on weekend | BY BRIAN LEGREE Staff Editor Talk about an about-face. The Oshawa Generals, winless in their first nine games of the Ontario Hockey League season, knocked off the Barrie Colts 5-2 Sunday at the Civic Auditorium, capping capping a weekend which they started with a 3-2 win in Ottawa Ottawa Friday. ; The Generals (2-7-1 -1), who have struggled with their third period play all season, twice blowing two-goal leads in the final frame, once again encountered some difficulty closing the deal against the Colts, who suffered just their third loss of the season (8-3- 1-0). , After Oshawa's lead was extended to 4-0 on rookie Ladislav Kolda's power-play marker at 3:25 of the third period, period, Barrie's Matt Dzieduszycki scored on a power play at 4:55 and again at 7:14, with Lindsay Plunkett Plunkett in the penalty box after being nabbed for playing with an illegal stick. , Trailing 4-2, the Colts continued to buzz the Generals Generals but Derek Dolson was strong, finishing with 42 saves, including 18 in the final period. "We're closer, but we still have to learn to play with, a lead in the third period," said Oshawa coach George Burnett. Burnett. "We're making belter decisions, we didn't turn the puck over nearly as much, but again, there's a point when it's 4-2, 5-2 when scoring goals doesn't need to be a concern to us.............. "Bill we're learning some lessons and if you can learn some lessons and still win, that's a great combination." While Oshawa's victory in a win-starved season was the dominant theme of the night, there were other sub-plots, including the return of former Generals' assistant coach and player, Bud Stefanski, as head coach of the Colts. Stefanski had the extra emotional baggage of coaching coaching against his son Sean, a rookie with the Generals. "First of all, you hope he doesn't get hurt," the father said of coaching against his son. "But it's exciting and we'll have a little row, a little rivalry when we get going." Vladimir Repnev, returning returning from a three-game spearing spearing suspension, scored two goals for the Generals, while rookie Ben Eager added a goal and an assist. Brandon Cullen had the other goal. Brad Walford, acquired from North Bay for future considerations considerations Thursday, added two assists, giving him four assists assists in two games. GENERALLY SPEAKING: SPEAKING: Former General great Tony Tanti, who holds the OHL rookie record for most goals in a season (81), was on hand for a ceremonial face- off... Neil Posillico, traded by the Generals to the Colts earlier earlier this season, didn't dress for Barrie... The OHL is reviewing reviewing an incident involving Oshawa defenceman Richard Spence and Lance Galbraith of the 67's, Spence was assessed assessed a game misconduct, but no further suspension is anticipated, according to Burnett... Burnett... Whitby's Blaine Down had an assist, giving him 10- 8-18 totals in 12 games... Oshawa Oshawa returns to action Friday in Kingston, hosts the Frontenacs Frontenacs Saturday at 2:05 p.in. at the Civic Auditorium and entertains entertains Sank Sle, Marie Sunday Sunday at 6:05 p.m. 'It took us getting down a couple of gocds before we really woke up Eagles coach Curtis Hodgins Winless skid extended to six games Stars and stripes for Bowmanville Eagles goalie Rick Marnon at home in net, whether in the U.S. or Canada BY BRAD KELLY Sport Editor After sleeping through the first half of Sunday's Provincial Provincial Junior Hockey League game, the Bowmanville Eagles were given a rude awakening in overtime by the Syracuse Crunch. Syracuse's Tim Sestito walked out in front from the side of the' net and placed a backhand through the pads of Bowmanville goaltender Rick Marnon giving the visitors a 4- 3 win 3:35 into a five-minute overtime period. Overtime was necessary after Jason McAuley scored for Bowmanville early in the third period on the power play to tie the game 3-3.• It was the sixth game without without a win for the Eagles, who have slumped to four losses and two ties over that span. The team's recent slumber was evident evident early in Sunday's game, says Bowmanville's coach. "It took us getting down a couple of goals before we really really woke up," said coach Curtis Hodgins' of his team's funk through the first period-and-a- half. He had seen enough after Syracuse went up 3-1 midway through the second period after a scoreless opening period, and yanked starting goaltender Joel Whitmarsh in favour of Marnon. "Our guys were sleeping and Joel wasn't having a particularly particularly strong game in net. I just wanted to wake the team up a bit, but we're not down on Joel by any means," said Hodgins of the move. The Eagles responded, as Andrew Smale scored a minute later to close the gap to 3-2 after a slapshot from Nick Stacey, hit. him in the foot and., changed direction, McAuley's goal tied the game in the third. Because of the tie at the end of regulation time, Bowmanville Eagles defenceman Andrew Beck (26) is knocked off the puck by a Syracuse player while goaltender Matthieu Blanchard (25) readies for a shot during Provitt- A.J. GROEN / Statesman photo cial Junior League action at the Garnet B. Rickard Recreation Recreation Complex on Sunday. Syracuse won in overtime 4-3, extending extending Bowmanville's winless streak to six games. the Eagles picked up a single point in the standings. Adam Speight had Bowmanville's Bowmanville's other goal two minutes minutes into the second period, cutting Syracuse's.lead to 2-1 at the time. Both goaltenders made spectacular stops in the final minutes of the third period to send the game to overtime. Syracuse goaltender Matthieu Blanchard robbed Bowmanville's Brad Foote with a glove save, while at the . other end of the rink, Marnon made a stop on a Syracuse's 1 TJ. Fox on a breakaway. The Eagles hosted Wellington Wellington Tuesday night (after States man deadline) to start a busy week. Thursday the team is in Kingston, Friday in Bancroft and home Sunday to Port Hope. THE SCOOP - .The . loss was only the second for the Eagles Eagles in seven games at the Garnet Garnet B. Rickard Recreation Complex this season...Friday night in Lindsay, the Eagles dropped a 5-2 decision to the division leaders. Seth Gray and Jon Ross scored for Bowmanville...Defenceman Bowmanville...Defenceman Dan TXircottc is now playing Jr. C with Little Britain...Kyle Crouch, Ken Chesher and Cory Adclman were out of Sunday's lineup with injuries. row that Marnon has played for a team outside of his hometown hometown of Canton, Michigan. Last season, he split time between a Jr. A team in Fargo, N.D., and a Jr. B team in Iron Range, Minn. It was the Jr. B team that advanced to the National National Championships, losing 5-4 in overtime of the final game. Unsure of where he was going to play his final season of junior hockey eligibili ty, he took the advice of a couple of friends who previously came to Canada to play in the Provincial Provincial Junior League and "after they told me what it was like, I was anxious to come here." Of course, the opportunity to play a lot for a competitive team was enticing as well. "After (Ed Sullivan) told me I would get a shot at playing, I came up here and was ready to go," says Marnon, adding "if I play well enough, hopefully I can get a scholarship," to an NCAA Division I school. The influx of players from the States coming north to play junior hockey has become more and more common the past couple of seasons. With "just a wealth of talent" in the States, Sullivan thinks that the trend will continue. Players south of the border haven't developed a knack for self-promotion to big-time U.S. schools yet, says Sullivan, and the opportunity to get that exposure by playing in the Provincial Junior League is what attracts them to Ontario. "Canadians arc still the elite players as far as (U.S. kids) are RICK MARNON 'I feel like I've played relatively well so fat:' concerned and Canada is where everyone wants to play. Talk to some of the kids and they can't wait to come up here," says Sullivan. Bowmanville has four imports imports from the States on the roster including Billy Burgio, Jay Medenwaldt, Cory Adel- man and Marnon. In Marnon's case, he wasn't getting the playing time he felt he deserved in Minnesota, so the choice to come to Bowmanville Bowmanville was an easy one. He hopes that his strong play over the course of the season will be enough of a selling feature to attract a scholarship back home. BY BRAD KELLY Sports Editor Back in the spring, at the year-end banquet for the Bowmanville Bowmanville Eagles, Mike Laing, the Director of Hockey Operations, Operations, vowed in his speech that the hockey club was going to be a better one this season. The team had tried to re ANDREWIWANOWSKI/Statesman photo Bowmanville Eagles goaltender Rick Marnon is playing a long way from home this season. The Canton, Michigan resident resident is hoping to land a scholarship following the season. main loyal to local players the past couple of seasons, but as the record would indicate, the talent pool was just a little too thin to get the team to the next level. So the hockey club brought in Ed Sullivan as the general manager and expanded its scouting program in search of quality players. One of the stops Sullivan made was the United States Jr. B National Championships where he was impressed with a goaltender by the name of Rick Marnon. After a couple of discussions, discussions, Marnon was sold on the idea of packing his goalie equipment and heading to Canada to ply his trade with the Eagles. The sell was an easy one, says Sullivan. "The desire to play is just incredible. A kid like Marnon is hoping to get one shot at a scholarship or maybe get a chance to play minor pro somewhere. "The way he is playing, I think he might get a shot." So far, Marnon has received the bulk of the work in net, posting a 3.76 goals against average average in the first 14 games of the season. Making the adjustment adjustment to a new environment and team has been a smooth transition transition for the 20-year-old. "I feel like I've played relatively relatively well so far," he says in assessing his own performance. performance. "Hopefully I can get into a rhythm and get things going.' 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