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22- PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, December 9, 1997 "Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" < PORTS CHRIS HALL / PORT PERRY STAR Port hammers Uxbridge 7-2 to split series ModJacks solid in win over regional rivals By John B. McClelland Port Perry Star An important three-point weekend has moved the Port Perry MoJacks a bit closer to a playoff spot in the Central Junior C Hockey League. Modacks are now in a tie with the Georgina Ice for 5th place in the six team League with each club now having 17 points. More importantly, they are also within two points of the Uxbridge Bruins and Bobcaygeon Bullets, although these teams have a couple of games in hand over the green and white. The three points this past weekend came over the Bruins; a tough 5-4 loss Friday night in overtime, followed by a very solid 7-2 win on home ice Sunday. In the Central League, a team is awarded one point for a loss in OT. Coach Brad Menzies, who has had a lot of long nights behind the bench so far this season, was more than pleased with the way his team performed to earn those all important three points. "We played very well -- a good solid effort both games," said Menzies after the win Sunday night in front of a slightly larger crowd at the Scugog Arena. Naturally, he would have been happier That made it 6-1 and really put the contest out of reach. The Bruins managed to get one back before Rob Simms rounded out the scoring as he slapped home a rebound with under seven minutes left in the game. There's little doubt that Gray was the dominant player on the ice in this one, and with a bit of luck the Port Perry native could easily have had a five or six goal evening. As it was, he chipped in a with a pair of assists to give him five points for his night's work. Adam Bonneveld continued to hold a hot scoring hand for the MoJacks as he helped set up three goals for a four point outing. Heasman had three assists and Derek Crossman had a pair in a game the ModJacks owned from start to finish. In Friday night's game against the Bruins, the MoJacks were actually within three minutes of coming home with a victory and two points, but they allowed it to slip away as the home town team tied the contest 4-4 with 2:45 left in reg- ulation. "It seems this year that every time we make a mistake of any kind it has ROUGH NIGHT: The MoJacks tangled with their region rivals this weekend and managed to split the home-and-home series -- and collect three important points -- with the Uxbridge Bruins. After losing a tough one against the Bruins Friday night in Uxbridge by a score of 5- 4, the green and white squad returned to Port where they thoroughly cost us badly," said coach Menzies in ref- erence to Steve Evans' equalizer late in the third period. And the ModJacks were convinced the game-winner by Braden Crossin with 28 seconds left in OT should not have counted at all as netminder Jeff Mackie appeared to have the puck smothered and out of sight of the referee. But, there was no whistle and eventually the disc squirted free and Crossin was able to poke it into the net. Netminder Mackie was so convinced he had the puck covered that he argued had the OT loss Friday night been a vic- tory, but he noted that this was one of the few times this season the green and white has come up with a good effort in back-to-back outings. "I thought we played smart hockey, everybody contributed," he said in refer- ence to both games. - Certainly, the kind of effort the players turned in is a very positive sign and should be something they can build on as they get ready to head down the home stretch in their bid to qualify for post- season competition. defeated the Bruins 7-2. While the MoJacks found the net quite often they still managed to play a lit- tle physical as well. Here, two players release a little steam in a tussle in the second period (above) and a Port player finds himself just about to take a dive as a Bruin prepares to lift him off his skates. oe Senators No Fluke Ball Callery squad proves last week's Aces' upset no joke Ball Callery Senators 6 Pizza Delight Roosters 2 After the Senators last week upset the No. 1 Aces, they showed it was no fluke with a 6-2 romp of the Pizza Delight Roosters. Jason Warner opened up the scoring for the Roosters from Ed Olsen, but less than a minute later, Dave Cini scored from Steve Fox and Dave Buxsie to tie the game at one. Buxsie then, (filling in for Mike White) scored his first with an assist from Lee Wilbur. Lee Wilbur then found the back of the net for the Sens with helpers from Dave Buxsie and Steve Fox. Tom Warner then brought the game within one goal from Dave Dickson, but the Senators scored three more goals from Dave Buxsie (two) and Brian Till to run away with the win. Assists went to Jeremy Norton, Steve Fox, Brian Gallery 2 Las Steeves. arpentry Hawks 5 Pineridge Sports Wolves 3 Scott Heard opened up the scoring from "odd Turn to Page 23 Sunday night's game belonged almost completely to the MoJacks as they took charge right from the opening faceoff and never looked back enroute to the 7-2 win. In fact, they made it look easy, opening a 3-1 lead after 20 minutes after goals by Darryl Sennachal, Ryan Odette and Adam Bonneveld. And then it was Seth Gray's turn to go to work. He popped a couple of goals in the middle stanza and added one more midway through the third for a natural hat trick. And there was nothing chintzy about any of Gray's three markers. In fact, you'llgo a long way before you see three nicer goals in Junior C hockey. He started things off at 1:39 with an outstanding move just inside the Bruin blue line to get around an Uxbridge defender, and then drilled a waist high shot that was too hot to handle for net- minder Tim Little. He managed to get a piece of the rising shot, but the puck ounced behind him into the net. The MoJacks were on a power play at 7:11 when Gray struck for the second time. Scott Heasman sent a pass back to Gray who unleashed the proverbial rock- et that was in the net before Little had a chance to move. Miday through the third, Gray com- pleted the hat trick, and again, this came off a fine individual effort as he skated across the line, made a bit of a move to his right and fired back "across the grain" to catch the corner of the net low on the glove side. himself into a gross misconduct penalty at the conclusion of the game and will have to sit out a couple before he gets back in action. For the MoJacks, Barry Forth, Adam Bonneveld, Donovan Reid and Ryan Odette had the markers, with Crossman again adding a pair of assists from his blue line position. SLAPSHOTS: Blue liner Jeff Clarke was back in action for both weekend out- ings after a self-imposed hiatus of several games. Nice to see him back as the team can use his size and experience along the line. And he can handle the fists if the occasion calls for it. Matt Glen had to leave Sunday's game in the third period after hitting his head on the ice during a scrap. He'll be back for games this coming weekend. And likewise captain Heasman who was helped off after taking a puck on the knee. The MoJacks will need all hands on deck this coming Saturday night when they travel to Little Britain to take on the powerful Merchants at 7:30 p.m. The Merchants have been 4-3 and 7-4 winners over the MoJacks in the two previous meetings this season, and are in first place in the Central League standings. It is always an entertaining and spir- ited game whenever these two teams get together. Sunday night (Dec. 14) the MoJacks host the Colborne Black Hawks of the Eastern League in an inter-locking Turn to Page 24