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~ [ "A Family Tradition for 132 Years" 4 PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, January 6, 1998 - 19 | Ee ---------------------------------- Spr I S(O) LH WY 8 D1 LES WNT PAV 2% ORTS -= MOST THERE: | GHRIS HALL/PORT PERRY STAR vy age | | Getting Closer After a dreary early season, the Modacks find themselves in a battle for a playoff spot By John B. McClelland Port Perry Star For a team that has had a dearth of lucky breaks all season long, the hockey gods may finally be starting to smile on the Port Perry MoJacks. A fortunate bounce late in the game Sunday at the Scugog Arena helped the Modacks to a tough 4-2 victory over the Bobcaygeon Bullets, one of the three teams the ModJacks are battling for a playoff berth in the Central Junior C League with. Nursing a 3-2 lead in the final minute and with the Bullet goalie at the bench for an extra skater, the MoJack's Rob Simms collected a loose puck just inside his own blue line. He fired it at the side boards and the puck came off at a pefect angle to slide the length of the ice into the empty cage. That iced the win and provided the green and white with a hugely important two points as they take a solid run at one of the final two berths for post-season play. A few weeks ago, when the ModJacks couldn't catch a break of any sort, Simms' bank shot would have missed that empty net. With a 5-3 win in Lakefield earlier last week, the MoJacks now have 27 points, good enough for a fourth-place tie with the Bullets. They are two ahead of Uxbridge and, more importantly, just one back of Georgina for third spot in the six-team league. Georgina has two games in hand on both the MoJacks and the Bullets. With nine games left in the schedule, the MoJacks have their destiny squarely on their own shoulders as they will meet Uxbridge three times and Georgina twice. Suffice to say that victories in those five games would probably be enough to put the MoJacks into a playoff spot. But they also have two with Lakefield and two with Little Britain. While Simms' fortunate bank shot cemented the win for the MoJacks, the team showed a lot of pluck and grit in the all important match with Bobcaygeon. Several players were out of the line up with injuries and school commitments, so the entire bench had to dig a little deeper to come up with the victory. Trailing 1-0 after a ragged opening 20 minutes, the MoJacks caught a life in the second and jumped into a 3-1 lead. They get full marks for it, too, as they controlled play at both ends of the pond. Casey Van Schagen got things going at 4:21. He snapped a shot from 30 feet, low to the stick side that beat Justin Rowder cleanly. Exactly four mintes later, Rob Simms got his first of the game -- a typical goal from the guy who led the ModJacks in scoring last season but has struggled at times this year. He one-timed his shot from the short side and the puck was in before Rowder could move. And, at 14:18, Seth Gray used the short side advantage to give the ModJacks a two-goal bulge. Cutting in sharply from the right side, Gray found twine just below the cross bar on a perfectly placed shot. Give the ModJack penalty killers a lot of credit as they kept the Bullets off the board late in the period. The Bullets turned their game up in the third period and had the ModJacks back on their heels as they pressed to tie the contest. Chris Rainey finally beat Jeff Mackie at 14:35, finishing off a two-on-one break after a MoJack turnover at the blue line. Mackie got most of the shot, but the puck somehow trickled over the red line. The 3-2 score stood until 19:29 when Simms took out the old pool cue and played the perfect "cross bank to the cor- ner pocket". Head coach Brad Menzies was relieved to get the two points and noted that the team probably tired in third third period as his players were logging a lot of ice time due to the depleted on ly And Turn to Pago 20 Jeff Brownell shuts the door as Pineridge Sports rolls to a 3-0 win over Compton Cable By Jon Sanders Special to The Star Harrison Fuels Flames 4 Van & Truck World Sharks 2 In the opening game the Flames prevailed over the Sharks by a score of 4-2. The Flames did find themselves behind in this game though as they went into the second period trailing the Sharks 2-0. Finding the net for the Sharks was Mark Jobb who was setup by Rick Campbell and Wayne Fox and also scoring for the Sharks was Mike Adam with assists going to Rick Campbell and Mark Jobb. But the second period belonged to the Flames as they i. four unanswered goals to take the victory. Larry Pilkey got the Flames on the board after being set up by Doug Bronson and. Todd Wilbur. The tying goal was provided by Jim Beatty after he took passes from Mark Decosta and Doug Bronson. In the third period the Flames completed their come- back as Mark Decosta scored the game winning goal after receiving passes from Rick Sheehey and Brian Pomeroy. Late in the third period the Flames added an empty net goal that came off the stick of Larry Pilkey for his second goal of the game after taking a pass from Doug Bronson to close out the scoring in this close game. Monsma Electric Chargers 5 Ball Callery Senators 3 The second game of the day turned out to be a very close matchup between the Chargers and the Senators but the Chargers came out on top with a pair of third period goals. The Senators were first to find the net in this game as Brian Till was set up by Jeremy Norton but the Chargers would answer back with a goal from Mike McQuade after he took a pass from Rob Scott. The Senators regained their lead though when Dave Cini found the net with assists being hand- ed out to Lee Steeves and Brian Callery. With one second remaining in the opening period the Chargers evened things up again as Jeff Card beat the Senators goalie after being set up by Willie Edwards and Brad urst. In the second period the two teams once again exchanged goals with Lee Steeves provid- ing the Senators goal with assists going to Dave Cini and Steve Fox. The Chargers goal came off the stick of Bob Collins after he was set up by Rob Scott and Steve Connors. The third period proved to be all Chargers however as they put two more goals on the board including the game winner from Rob Scott with assists going to Brad Hurst and Mike McQuade. The other Chargers goal came" from Willie Edwards as he found the net after being set up by Wayne Norton to close out the scoring in this back and forth game. Pineridge Sports Wolves 3 Compton Cable TV Comets 0 In a low scoring affair, the Wolves were victorious over the Comets by a score of 3-0. The shutout was provided by Wolves howling after blanking Comets Jeff Brownell who made many key saves in this game. Jamie Menzies opened the scoring late in the second period after receiving passes from Paul Stanley and Phil Lalonde. Midway through the third period the Wolves got on the board again-when Paul Stanley provided the offense for the Wolves after being set up by Phil Lalonde and Ken Smart. The Wolves added one more goal late in the third period as Jamie Menzies put in his second of the game with assists going to Bill Bridge and Ken Smart to close out the scoring in this low scoring game. Cedar Creek v Contracting Clippers 3 Pizza Delight Roosters 2 Turn to Page 20