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" v day, March 5, 1996 mp" 22 -- Scugog Citizen - Tu CITIZEN SPORTS Merchants prevail in game seven thriller by John B. McClelland Playing the brand of hockey that has served them well all season long, the Little Britain Merchants skated their way to a game seven victory over the Port Perry MoJacks in the Central Junior C semi final series in front of a big crowd at the Scugog Arena last Thursday evening. Merchants used their speed and fine positional play to hand MoJacks a 3-1 defeat, but they actually enjoyed a wider margin in play than the final score indicates. Were it not for the usual stellar performance in the cage by netminder Paul Roberts the score could easily have been considerably higher. Roberts faced nearly 50 shots in this one, whole MolJacks could muster just 24 in the direction of Mark Cairns at the other end of the frozen pond. Merchants didn't waste a lot of time as they jumped on a Port Perry miscue deep in the MoJack early in the first. Dan Wardlaw picked the pocket of Gavin Cochrane at the side of the net, stepped in front and put the puck behind a startled Roberts. Midway through the second, the MoJack big line of Keith Leslie," Steve Barkwell and Todd Dennis broke free from tenacious checking with Leslie finishing off a three way passing play to move the game into a 1-1 knot. After being badly out- played in the first, MoJacks pulled their game together in the middle frame and were able to apply some pressure on the Merchants. What proved to be the game and series winner for Merchants came at 3:34 of the final as Jake McLeay broke in from the right side and found the top corner off a rather sharp angle. MoJack coach Chic Carnegie yanked Roberts for the extra attacker with shoulder into the top half of the mesh. As expected, Pyke's marker set off a jubilant over two left, but with a minute on the clock Merchants wrapped things up nice and tidy when Tyler Jenkins put one in the open net for the 3-1 victory. GAME SIX OVERTIME WIN MoJacks were able to push the series to the 7th game withea 3-2 overtime win Feb. 28 in front of a large crowd at the Little Britain Community Centre. The sudden death overtime period was less than five minutes old when defenseman Matt Pyke put an end to it. He took a pass from Mike Pigeau and from the right point area fired a shot in the direction of the Merchant cage. The puck got through'a crowd of players swarming around netminder Mark Cairns, flew over his Dejected MoJacks offer congratulations to the victorious Little Britain Merchants after loss in game seven ended their season. Bruins take series lead After knocking out the Port Perry MoJacks in a dramatic game seven, the Little Britain Merchants find themselves in a deep hole in their best of seven Central Junior C League cham- pionship series with the Uxbridge Bruins. » On just 24 hours dumping the M Merchants opened the series with the Brujns in Uxbridge Friday night and went home on the losing end of a 10-4 thumping. Bruins enjoyed a 6-4 lead heading into the final frame and then exploded for four un-answered goals in the last 20 minutes. Things didn't get any better Sunday night in front of a large crowd at the Little Britain Commynity Centre as the Bruins continued their free wheeling ways and skated to a convincing 7-2 ° victory. In both outings, Bruins bolted from the starting gate with goals in the first minute of play and they never looked back. Chris Angus and Mark Hubble were the goal sco! for .the Merchants i Sunday's loss. A Merchant team spokesdgy man said the squad was battling fatigue after the long, hard hitting series with the MoJacks. The Bruins, on the other hand, had nearly a week's rest after bumping Sutton Ice four straight in their semi final series. The Merchant spokesman said he expects a much more solid performance from Little Britain when the series resumes tonight (Tuesday March 5). in Uxbridge with faceoff at 7:30 PM. Game four is Wedhesday night in Britain at 8:00 PM; game five swings back to Uxbridge on Friday at 8:30, and game gix is in Britain is coming Saturday at 8:00 the Merchants can get back in the series and push things to a seventh game, ~ it's scheduled for March 12 xbridge with faceoff at PM. rains finished the regular on in first place, two "points up on the MoJacks and four on the Merchants. However, the Bruins had the better of things during the head-to-head encounters with Merchants during the. regular ule. The hots will head east to take omithe champs from the pire Junior B loop. Nai api and Ernestown Jets are in the th Raiders having a one game lead thanks to a 5-' 4 home ice victory Sunday in overtime. Raiders have finished in first place in that league since it was formed seven years ago and in 1992- 93 captured the all-Ontario. Raiders are considered the favourites over the Jets in the series now going on. by the MoJacks who the pi _ cool to avoid un-necessary trips to the, sin bin. On more than one occasion, a MoJack "turned the other cheek," and skated away from a "there's no success if you don't advance in playoffs." As for his own future with the club, he said he wants to take some time to make night.on their home pond had seen the Merchants celebrate an OT win of their own. Wednesday night's do or die game for the MoJacks started out like it was going to be one of those high scoring affairs as Port took a 2-1 lead by the 4:20 mark of the opening stanza. Merchants counted first at 1:40 when Craig McGill tipped. a shot behind Paul Roberts from in close. Jeff Darrach and Corby Purdy drew the assists on the goal which came on their first shot on net. Two minutes later Cory Bricknell got MoJacks back into the contest as he beat Cairns with a rising back-hand shot to the top corner. Bricknell had been knocked to his knees in the faceoff circle when he got the shot away on the power play with Steve Barkwell and Py awing the A thinute later, MoJacks grabbed a 2-1 lead on a goal that Merchant netminder Cairns would dearly like to have back. Mike Pigeau carried into the Merchant zone ahd from about 35 feet out drilled one that Cairns appeared to handle easily. However, the puck came off his pads and trickled past him into the net. Pyke got the assist, giving him a hand in the three goals MoJacks scored that evening. MoJacks enjoyed an edge in the play during the first period, but the Merchants opened the second with a flourish. They used their speed and crisp passing to take the momentum and it paid off at 7:25 when Mark Hubble knotted things up at deuces. Off a two on quick break into the MoJack zone, Jeff Fierheller snapped a quick shot that Paul Roberts was able to block, but Hubble trailing the play swept home the rebound. Kirk Robertson drew the other assist. MoJacks were a tad fortunate to come out of the middle frame with the score tied as Merchants took the play to them forcing*Roberts to perform some nimble acrobatics to keep the puck out of the cage. "The third period settled into a close-checking affdir as both clubs were very wary of giving up the go- ahead Give MoJacks credit in this one for "smart hockey," as they kept their that could have led to off- setting penalties, but instead gave them a power play opportunity. SLAPSHOTS: MoJack head coach Chic Carnegie was perplexed at a ref's decision in the final minute not to grant a stick measurement against the Merchants, on the grounds that the request came after the MoJacks had called a time out. Carnegie, though disappointed with his club's exit from the post season party, gave credit to the Merchants for their victory. "They are a hell of 'a hockey team, always play * with a great deal of emotion," he said in the subdued atmosphere of the MoJack dressing room after the match. "I was counting on going to Uxbridge tomorrow, (Friday for game one of the championship series) night," he said with a rueful smile. . Lack of shots on goal which led to lack of quality scoring chances by the MoJacks hurt the team throughout the series. This lack of shots eventually caught up to the MoJacks, he said, noting that the Merchants effectively shut down the scoring attack. He said he noticed prior to the final game that the mood in the dressing room was low key--perhaps too low key. Looking back on the 1995-96 campaign in which the team finished a strong second, just a couple of points out of firét place, he termed it ful, but a decision on whether to return for another season. Assistant Brett Puckrin, who Carnegie praised for his efforts all year, indicated he wants to come back next season. Merchant head coach Rob Louttit, in a decidedly better mood than his counterpart, said after the win, his charges simply never quit when things got rough. Adding a couple of players to the line up for the final game and sticking with four lines up to:the last five minutes of the game 'kept the legs fresh," and that made a big difference, he said. Louttit said fags got their money's worth with this series. "Both teams had a lot of respect for each other, nobody was going to roll over. "It was a great series, great for the fans," he said, noting the play of MoJack netminder Roberts who "stood on his head out there." As for strategy in the Uxbridge series, Louttit said he'll continue to use his entire bench to make sure the legs stay fresh and see what develops as the series moves alopg. The Bruins "had the Merchants number in most games during the regular Louttit, but season, added that playoffs are a different matte: maften For the Mo. the team will havesa" gear complete new laok next year as 12 pl ill be lost to the age looks like a re-building' for the green and ried come training s 8 in Merchant coach Rob' Louttit and MoJack Gavin Cochrane. :