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M Sports H Efic Cnnnbtiin 'Sbtiitctfmnn ♦ Auau Ef)C Cniîflbtan â)tatcgman ♦ August 23, 2006 ♦ durhamregion.com OSHAWA TOUGH FOOTBALL LEAGUE Che Lafoy III (F FOLLOW ALL OUR BLOGS durhamregion. typepad.com Shawn Cayley Changes ahead in Redmen land? There could be plenty of changes with the Brooklin Redmen this off-season. The makeover isn't needed so much on the floor. After all; with the likes of Shawn Williams, Gavin Prout, Jeff Zywicki, Gee Nash and so on, it's not as ' though talent is something that is missing missing with this club. However, public support and corporate ownership seem to be the lacking ingredients. ingredients. The Redmen are one of the few community community owned teams remaining in the Major Series Lacrosse league, and that reason alone means finances are hard to come by. Relying on large crowds, that for some reason never seem' to come out until playoff time, isn't going to cut it anymore. anymore. With so many volunteèrs doing a great job to keep the club afloat, it has to be disappointing when, pnly a couple of hundred people flock out to Iroquois Park to see what is essentially profes- " 1 sional lacrosse, and for a cheap prjce nonetheless. . , Think about that for just a second. Where else are you able to see Williams, Prout, Zywicki and Nash fight it out against the likes of John Tavares, Colin Doyle, Josh Sanderson and Scott Evans for less than 10 bucks? Nowhere. ■ If you want to see those guys, it's a 40- • minute trip, an expensive ticket, and a pricey beer at the Air Canada Centre for a Toronto Rock game. The fact people rush to do that, but won't step out of their own backyard for a Redmen game, unless is it late in the, post-season, is something that has GM Barry Johnson 1 frustrated and looking for answers. . "I don't get it," he says of the continued .poor attendance figures. "People don't have any problem going to Toronto for good lacrosse, but won't when it's right here; Any one of the final four teams in our league could beat any of those NLL teams. The talent is that good." Part of the problem could be the facility. facility. When the Redmen moved into Iroquois Park years ago, they played in a state of the art facility. When you look at the treat. Brampton fans get at the Powerade Centre with that facility, or look east to Peterbbrough and the Lakers at the Memorial Centre, Iroquois Park just doesn't stand up. With that in mind, Johnson says it could be time the Redmen look into . gaining corporate ownership. "These days, that seems to be the. way to do it," he says. "Doing that would make a lot of things so much .easier. If we could get a partnership like the NLL club's do with the NBA and NHL teams in their building, we'd be on the right track." . Though frustrated, Johnson wants nothing more than to see the Redmen . excel. This off-season is going to go a long way in determining just how successful they might be. ' Shawn Cayley's column appears every ■ third Wednesday. E-mail scayley@durhamregion.com . Cutting in front Photo By Mike Pochwat PORT PERRY - The Pineridge Express from Scugog played against Darlington in the Durham Girls' Soccer League Under 21 and Open Ladies Cup Tournament. Darlington's Megan Macleod jumped in front of Scugog's Heather Bredin to steal the ball during the second half of Saturday's game. Five game exhibition season opens Friday at home to Aurora BY BRAD KELLY Sports Editor BOWMANVILLE -- The Bowmanville Bowmanville Eagles are getting down to business business in a hurry. The defending Ontario Provincial Junior Hockey League East Conference Conference champions hit the ice Sunday for the start of training camp with slightly 1 more than 30 players vying for just a", precious few openings on the roster. "With the number of returning play : ers we have, and based on the new hockey Canada rules with interference and obstruction, we feel we needed to get going quicker and get into our systems systems quicker," says GM Perry Bowles. : With 11 players returning from a roster that posted a 39-5-5-0 record last season,, advancing to the league quarterfinals, and 17 players in total already signed, it doesn't leave a lot of openings .for those still in contention. contention. According to Bowles, only two or three forward positions need to be • filled, while onthe back end, just two 1 spots on the blue-line are 6pen, In goal, the team will be set with league rookie of the year Bryan Scott returning, returning, along with Jesse Pischlcr, who Eagles getting tuned up Complex. Pad ft 7 30 om Aurora Tigers at_ Bowmanville Eapjes ^ ^ Peterborough Stars at Bowmanville Eagles ^ - Bowmanville Eagles at Pickering Panthers Bowmanville Eagles at Aurora Tigers Pickering Panthers at Bowmanville Eagles appeared in five gamès last season with the Eagles, posting a 4-1 mark and .928 save percentage. Pischler is expected to arrive in training came any day. ■ ; ; ' The first opportunity to impress the brass in game action will come on Friday, when the Eaglcs : entertain the Aurora Tigers in the first of five preseason preseason games. Faceoff will be at 7:30 p.m. on Pad B of the Recreation Complex. Complex. - ' The game will also provide fans an opportunity to see the enforcement of the new rules, as games should simulate simulate the OHL and NHL, with obstruction obstruction and interference a thing of the past. . "I don't think there is going to be as big a learning curve as their was in the OHL and NHL," predicts Bowles, who attended a league-wide meeting meeting Monday night in Newmarket that welcomed former NHL referee Terry Gregson as a keynote speaker on rule changes. "Everybody across Canada has seen the new rules enforced. In the beginning beginning it might be rough to make the adjustment, but these players will be quicker to learn than the first players who were introduced to the changes." Subsequent home games will also be played Sunday, Aug. 27 against Peterborough Peterborough and Sunday, Sept. 3 against Pickering. The Eagles will travel to Pickering Tuesday, Aug. 29 and Aurora Aurora on Friday, Sept. V.; With so few spots available, the exhibition exhibition games will go a long way in determining the final roster. "We're looking for guys who are willing to work hard and play within our system, and the exhibition games will help us decide which way to go," says Bowles. See EAGLES, page B2 Storming to victory DARLINGTON - The Darlington Tornados Girls U-16 Premiere soccer club didn't' play the role of host very well recently. However, for the girls, that is a good thing as they captured the gold medal at their home tournament recently. The Tornados tasted victory with a 6-0 win over Oshawa Turul to open up the tournament. The second game was a tight match, ending in a 0-0 draw against a tough Oakville squad. In the third game of the day, the girls faced the Darlington Dynamo and powered their way to a 4-0 win. Oakville finished in second place, which determined that once again the Tornados would play against the team from Oakville. The girls started out with a strong first half leading 2-0, however, Oakville was relentless and continued to pressure pressure the Tornados for a goal, but were unsuccessful. When it was over, the girls celebrated celebrated a 2-0 win over Oakville. Goals scored for this tournament were by Jade Jingco (3), Sara Thomas (3), Patty Knowler (2), and single goals , by Michelle Cox, Olyvia Greentree, Cemone Ruddock-Morlese and Emily Vanderduim. Team members Carina Canonico, Megan Coull, Jessica G ratio, ratio, Joselyn Henning, Ashley Lambe,. Ashley Little, Tabitha Smith and Sabrina Sabrina Wishak maintained their high level ' of skills to contribute to the winning tournament weekend! Darlington U-21 sitting in second DARLINGTON - In their debut season Nick Harris and Herman Zwart have taken their Darlington U-21 Impact team all the way up into second spot in the Regional OSL tables. The next stop: provincials. The provincial championships are considered the highest level of amateur amateur soccer in Ontario.The Impact have been moving right along as they are enjoying a five-game unbeaten streak ; earning four wins and a dravy over that run including a thrilling 3-0 shutout over the first place Vaughan Shooters at the Hydro fields. Trevor Delpippo was the man of the match setting up two and scoring another, while Devon Potter and Yannick Yannick Diamani each,potted one marker. Lee Patterson registered his third clean sheet of the season. Breakaway Bolts are world champions OSHAWA - The Breakaway Bolts from Bowmanville/Courtice cap- ! tured the NSA Canadian World Series Championship during the Nationals held recently in Oshawa. Many teams from across Canada attended the event, including many of the top teams in Ontario. • The Bolts finished the round robin with a 2-1 record, good enough for third in their Rod. The only blemish was a loss to a great hitting team from Ottawa called Scared Hitless. After the Bolts regrouped in the beer tent they went on a mission and went undefeat- ■ ed to the finals en route to disposing of Team Divide in the finals. - Along the path of becoming National Champions the' Bolts faced many great teams in the tournament. The Bolts defeated All In, Cowboys and Indians, X-Metal, Sommervilles, BombSquad, Ravens and beat Team Divide twice to win their first National Championship, making the local contingent contingent proud. Members of the National Champs Include Chris Brown, Glenn Wagg, Adam Bonneveld, Ray Driscoll, Dan Mackenzie, Dan Titterton, Kevin Stephenson, Stephenson, Jason Joy, Trevor Mackenzie, Mackenzie, Jason Bailey, lain Adamson, Shawn Caruk, Randy Rixx and Jimmy Goules. Hawkey es hit new s with victory in title game Oshawa downs Milton for first Northern Football Conference championship BY BRIAN MCNAIR Staff Editor , MILTON -- They certainly didn't take the road less-travelled, but in the end there was no stopping the Oshawa Ilawkeycs' drive toward a championship this season, In their sixth year of play in the Northern Northern Football Conference, the Ilawkeycs have captured their first senior provincial provincial title, defeating the Milton Marauders Marauders 20-17 in the championship game Saturday in Milton. It was the third straight road playoff victory for the Ilawkeycs! whose 6-2 regular season record was tainted by a 28-0 forfeit loss to the same Marauders last month. Had they played and won that game, the Ilawkeycs would have enjoyed home field advantage throughout throughout the playoffs. "Talk about doing it the hard way," says Ian Bunting, one of the team's founders and current general manager. "When you sit down and figure it out, we had only two games at home this season... It's even nicer when you do it 1 the hard way," In addition to the forfeit, the Ilawkeycs had to play another 'home' game at Pine Ridge Secondary School when Civic Stadium was closed due to rain. But the hope is all this time spent playing on the road will serve them well when they head to Red Deer, Alberta, for the national championship game Sept. 23. "For a lot of these guys, it's a once in a lifetime opportunity," says Bunting. "If you go out there and win, you'll take that memory to the grave." They created some nice memories on Saturday, as well, none better than a blocked field goal with 32 seconds remaining, preserving the three-point lead and leaving only a couple of knccl- downs to bring on the celebration. , About seven minutes earlier, Evan Davis carried the ball in from the six- yard line to give Oshawa the margin of victory. "It's not the kind of game you want to be standing on the sidelines because your heart is in your throat," says Bunting. Bunting. "But when it's all over, as long as' you're on the winning end, you. don't mind." Milton jumped out to a 3-0 lead 4:30 into the game, but the Ilawkeycs countered countered late in the first quarter when Chris Foster hit Dave Beaulieu for a 34-yard touchdown strike for a 7-3 Oshawa lead. The Marauders took a lead into jialf- time with a touchdown pass late in the first half, but again the Ilawkeycs responded when Dave Dinnall rushed one in from seven yards out for a 14-10 Ilawkeycs advantage early in the third quarter. The Marauders grabbed the dead one final time on à touchdown run late in the third quarter, only to have it offset again with Davis's winning scamper. . "I think our guys showed a lot. of determination and had no quit in them." Bunting says, "It's the way a championship championship game should be. back and forth like that." Foster ended up with 161 yards after completing 10 of 20 attempts, while Davis was the Ilawkeycs' top rusher with 4-1 yards on six carries, according See HAWKEYES, page B3 »üi : ! m ■ % : > «SB