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Wednesday, March 14, 2007 · Page 18 Santia heroics leave Essex one "W" from league final BY KEVIN E. NEELS After falling at home Tuesday in game three against the Wallaceburg Lakers 3-2, Essex returned the favour in Wallaceburg Wednesday night edging the Lakers 4-3 thanks to the third period efforts of Vince Santia. Essex now leads the best of seven semi-final 3-1, and can hopefully wrap the series up Tuesday at home. Last Tuesday Essex had a strong first period territorially, but failed to capitalize on their chances. Meanwhile the Lakers made the most of their opportunities, taking a 2-0 lead. The 73's turned the tables early in period two, evening the score on goals by Dan Croft and R.J. Hotts. Unfortunately the visitors cashed in on a late power play opportunity to take a 32 lead heading into the third period. The 73's threw everything they had at Wallaceburg in the third, but came up short once again on the scoreboard. Lakers goaltender Matt Berglund was busy in the third stopping all 23 shots that came his way, and stealing this one for his club. "Although we had plenty of shots we didn't create enough havoc in front of the net. I think he saw most of the shots," said Chris Barr. "Wallaceburg seemed to move a bit quicker tonight when they had the puck." "Anytime you get 53 shots on net, that should be enough to win," said Vince Santia. "This game was not a very smooth one. There were a lot of bouncing pucks out there. This was not the situation we were looking for, but we put ourselves in this position, and now we have to go back there (Wallaceburg), and play over their momentum and their crowd. Tomorrow will be a huge game for both teams." For the first two periods Wednesday, Essex really had no business being in the Not because game. Wallaceburg played that much better than the 73's, but mainly because Essex spent a good part of the game sitting in the penalty box. Fortunately for them, the Lakers could only capitalize on two of the numerous opportunities. Once again the Essex penaltykilling unit was exceptional. The home team took the early lead while on one of those power plays, but the lead was very short-lived. Chris Barr tied the game just thirteen seconds later leaving the score at 1-1 after the first. Wallaceburg regained the lead with a pair of quick goals three minutes apart early in period two, but the 73's came back a minute later to stay close, with Brit Ouellette getting his first goal since returning to the line-up. This set the stage for Santia's heroics in period three. Santia scored his first of the night early in the third, coming out from behind the net and stuffing the puck past a startled Matt Berglund. This goal sparked the visitors, who came on strong to dominate the remainder of the game. It paid off mid-period as Santia's long shot had eyes and found its way behind Berglund to give Essex the victory. Any chance Wallaceburg had of getting back in this game were dashed when they took a handful of undisciplined penalties in the final ten HOCKEY HIGHLIGHTS The Essex Raven PeeWee A team returned victorious from the Motown Classic tournament in Trenton, Michigan. Front (l-r): Brady Heil, Dustin Ridley. Middle row: Colin Ellis, Mitchell Carswell, Zach Heil, Jonathan Spidalieri, Tyler Bellaire, Eric Lee, Luca Acchione, Spencer Smith. Back row: Coach Erik Burden, Coach Drew Mulcaster, Evan Bechard, Justin Melo, Brandon Flood, Cody Spitse, Kyle Tremblay, Johnston Armstrong, Josh Davison, Coach Aaron Mulcaster, Coach Shawn Davidson. Missing: Coach Ryan Bradt. Pee Wee A Tim Hortons On the weekend of March 3, our team traveled to Trenton, Michigan for the Motown Classic tournament, where our boys were ready to do battle against some competitive teams from the U.S. After dropping game no. 1, the boys came alive and responded with back-toback wins to set up for the game we all dream about playing in -­ the finals. To play in the final game of a tournament only means one thing: a chance to be champions. The team responded the old-fashioned way by skating hard, backchecking and playing their positions, resulting in a 4-2 victory over the defending champs from Michigan. This was nothing short of a great team effort throughout and it paid off, being the champions that you are! Great job Dustin Ridley and Brady Heil in the pipes. Special mention to Brandon Flood for potting a hat trick in the semi-final and vaulting the Ravens to the championship game, and to Eric Lee for winning MVP of the tournament. Congratulations also to the rest of the Ravens who put forth great effort to pull off the win, and to our coaches for leading us to the top. Heart and desire = victory! minutes of play, frustration setting in. "We played very undisciplined in the first couple of periods, but managed to weather the storm," said Evan Stibbard. "It was nice to see some of the other guys step up tonight and score some big goals. Our success for Tuesday night will be to capitalize on our chances and stay out of the penalty box." "I hate to say this, but we seem to be a team that plays better when we are on the brink; we need to have our backs against the wall," said Jeremy Venables. "Our intensity level needs to pick up, we still are not where we should be." Games Remaining · Tues. March 13 Wallaceburg at Essex · Wed. March 14 Essex at Wallaceburg · Fri. March 16 Wallaceburg at Essex Game time: 7:30 pm Essex Athletic Association Presents: Atom AE Ram Contract Carriers The Ravens headed off to Amherstburg last Tuesday (March 6) for a very exciting game. The first goal for the Ravens came early in the first with Tyler St. Pierre, Gerard Busko and Zack Prentice all working hard in front of the net and Tyler made the play and snuck one in on Danielle Amherstburg. Dent and Alex Smith played awesome together keeping the puck out of the Ravens' zone. Not to say that the other defensive players weren't. Alec Robillard and Colton Kitchen hustled to shut down Amherstburg as well as Clay Kraynack and Matthew Zelko firing the puck to the other end on numerous occasions. In the second period an Amherst player fired a puck that was unstoppable even for the Ravens' goalie Kane Gagnon but this was the only goal they would get. Going into the third period tied 1-1, the Ravens decided they were not going to be beat. The team Alex worked hard. Anthony Stevenson, Iacobini and Cody Cooper had fantastic plays and awesome passes. Eric Rawlins, Luke Tremblay and Aidan Garant refused to let down, making Amherstburg pinch harder. Gerard Busko made the game winning goal assisted by defense man Alec Robillard. The Ravens will be working hard for the next week and a half in practice before they meet in Riverside on March 24 at 2 p.m. and in LaSalle on March 25 at 5 p.m. THE 1ST ANNUAL BOYS AND GIRLS BASKETBALL SPRING LEAGUE Date: Tuesdays & Thursdays from 6:30pm - 8:30pm at Essex District High School April 24, 26 May 1, 3, 8, 15, 17, 22, 24, 29 The Essex Athletic Association is providing a skills-based instructional league for boys and girls in grades 4 - 8. This is an opportunity to have your sons/daughters learn more about basketball in a fun, non-threatening environment! @ 519-776-4268 Call Ron today ental · 10 - 1 hour fundam developing sessions play · 10 - 1 hour league mes and championship ga , · Prizes for Camp MVP st Most Improved, Be Attitude · Free t-shirt · Small group and individual instruction · Shooting contests Camp Features: Improve Your Skills Camp Fee: $100 Sign-Up Forms must be submitted no later than March 26th, 2007 Please send Sign-Up sheets and cheques to: Essex District High School 244 Talbot S. North Essex, ON N8M 2E1 Ph.: 519-776-7344