www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday May 16, 2007 - 31 Good start Strange feeling for cousins Continued from page 30 their second, a 19-7 loss to the League star Dan Dawson (Canada). Burlington Chiefs. However, the level For the Hristopoulos cousins, who of the opposition will rise dramaticalhave lived in Canada all their lives, ly at worlds. It's still a bit of a surreal experience Although they know they're to pull on the Australian jersey. bound to take their lumps, the "It is a little strange," Hristopoulos cousins Harry said. "They're a "They're a little are excited about the little hard to understand hard to understand opportunity to play sometimes but they've sometimes but against the best in the made it really easy to feel world. they've made it part of the team." "I'm looking forward For most of the really easy to feel to the level of play, getAustralians, although part of the team." ting to know how the they've played field pros play," Harry said. lacrosse for years, this is Harry Hristopoulos, Harrison, a goaltheir first exposure to talking about his tender, added, "I'm box lacrosse. That has Australian teammates lucky to have my cousin meant getting used to to share the experience playing with a shot clock, having to with me. They've already told me I'll operate and get shots away in tighter likely play against Canada. I'll just quarters as well as the heightened stand in there and hope for the best." physical play. ° Dawson's Sting loses NLL Though Harry is the youngest final -- page 32 player on the team, he's tried to help the team make adjustments to the indoor game. "They're still learning some of the rules," he said. "Box is a lot faster game and you have keep moving on offence and cutting through the middle. It's all on the outside in field. We just put in a new system for defence tonight so it's all coming together." It's been a rough go for the Australians so far, though they showed improvement from their first game against Kitchener-Waterloo to SECOND IN WEST NIAGARA: Playing their first tournament together, the Oakville Devils reached the premier division final of a recent under-10 invitational competition in West Niagara. Players on the team, which won its first four games before dropping the final in overtime to Kitchener, are Jaimin Rehal, Luka Milic, David MacKenzie, Stevan Vukcevic, Owen Huntington, Craig Mackie, Luke DeRango, Kael Bosland, Michael Cookish, Cedric Sobotta, Alan Russell, Oldri Kecaj, Daniel Peric and Scott Sandre. Buzz routs Nepean, still unbeaten Despite going undefeated in its first five games, Oakville Buzz coach Stuart Brown still let his team know he thought it was capable of more. "I gave them the ultimatum to pick it up or there would be a lot of running taking place at practice," the first-year Buzz coach said. "We had been playing down to the level of our opponents so I told them, if you're going to work hard all week, you might as well give your best effort in the games." The Buzz responded with an 18-5 victory Sunday over Nepean, pushing it to 5-0-1 on the Ontario Lacrosse Association junior B season. Braden Gallant led the charge with three goals and five assists for the Buzz, his third straight eightpoint game. While Gallant's scoring comes as no surprise to Brown -- who coached him last season with the Burlington Chiefs -- Brown has been pleasantly surprised by the supporting cast. Even without one of its top gunners, Harry Hristopoulos -- who is playing for Australia at the World Indoor Lacrosse Championships -- the Buzz managed to keep up its league-leading scoring pace. "There have been some nice surprises," Brown said. "I knew a lot of these guys. I've probably coached 15 of them at some point in the last four years but what I didn't expect is how many guys are scoring." Five players scored two or more goals, while eight had at least three points. Josh Barrick, who also chipped in with five assists, Taylor Sykes, Josh Ruys and Kevin Harper each scored twice while Spencer Taugher, Scott Drysdale, Reggie Traccitto, Dylan Gilbert, Ian Goertz, Ethan O'Connor and Connor Gamble also scored. Brown hopes to see the same kind of effort as the Buzz heads into a tough stretch of three games in four days. Oakville hosts Markham tomorrow and Halton Hills Friday (both 8 p.m. starts at the Glen Abbey Recreation Centre) before playing in Mississauga Sunday. Mississauga tied the Buzz in Oakville's season opener. -- Herb Garbutt Play Golf At This Holiday Weekend May 19th, 20th, 21st & We Will Pay For Your Gas!! Play 11:00 am to 4:30 pm on May 19th, 20th and 21st and Receive a $10.00 Pioneer Gas Gift Certificate! Please present this coupon. 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