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32 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday June 18, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com Cricketers win first home match Led by a century performance by Abraiz Gul, the Oakville Cricket Club rallied to win its first game at its new pitch Saturday at Glenashton Park. Gul punctuated his 100-run showing by belting a ball onto the roof of a nearby water facility building, giving Oakville a 250-246 victory over St. Catharines. Oakville needed only 25 overs to collect its total, while St. Catharines -- which batted first -- used up its allotted 40 overs. "What a memorable win," said club president Zain Khot. Ali Shah and John Kirstien both provided half-centuries for Oakville. Oakville, finalists in its league two of the past four seasons, evened its record at 2-2 with the victory. The team will visit the Mississauga Colts this weekend and is not scheduled to play at home again until July 12, when it hosts Brantford. PHOTO CONTEST WINNER MICHAEL IVANIN / SPECIAL TO THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Ali Kamal (left) looks on as Nasru Syed (right) makes the catch after Shahid Akhter missed a pitch during Saturday's first game on the Oakville Cricket Club's new field in Glenashton Park. Oakville christened its new field with a 250-246 victory over St. Catharines. Buzz sitting in the driver's seat ek 5 Photo by Les Lengyel www.oakvillesoccer.ca The Oakville Beaver A Proud Sponsor of Oakville Soccer Club BOYS & GIRLS AGES 7­14 SPORT CAMP HOCKEY · DRYLAND GOLF · BASKETBALL · 2 hours of hockey skills development · 1 hour of speed and condition training · 1 hour of basketball · 2 hours of golfing at Vic Hadfield Golf Centre WEEK 1: July 7­11 WEEK 2: July 14­18 W EK 3: WEEK 3 July 21­25 WEEK 4 July 28­August 1 EK EK 4: FE includes GST inc $ 399 New technical director of skating club Former provincial and national novice ladies skating champion Joni McPhail is the new technical director of the Oakville Skating Club. McPhail has more than 20 years of experience as a certified skating coach in Ontario and British Columbia. She is a former member of the Coaches Committee for Skate Canada - COS, and also served as the high performance director for Skate Canada BC Section, where she was responsible for selecting skaters for the Canada Winter Games, athlete funding and provincial teams. After victories over two of the top teams in the league, the Oakville Buzz has the inside track on first place in the Ontario Lacrosse Association's junior B standings. Oakville earned wins over the Halton Hills Bulldogs and Clarington Green Gaels last weekend to improve to 14-3 and take over top spot in the South East Division. The victories, which came on the heels of a 8-6 overtime win over the Bulldogs last Thursday in Georgetown, also lifted the Buzz to within two points of the league-leading Green Gaels. Oakville has a game in hand on Clarington and owns the tie-breaker after beating the Gaels Friday, meaning the Buzz needs only to win its three remaining games to finish first in the East and enjoy home field advantage throughout the conference playoffs. "Two weeks ago, we looked around in the standings, saw the teams ahead of us and got it rolling," said Oakville head coach Stu Brown. "We have three games remaining and, if we win them all, we finish first in the East. All three are games we expect to win." Those remaining games are against the Markham Ironheads, Mississauga Tomahawks and Barrie Tornado. Markham and Mississauga have a combined record of 4-28, although Barrie sits second in the Mid East with a 12-4-1 mark. With his team coming off three emotional and come-from-behind wins, Brown said he is doing what he can to ensure the Buzz does not suffer a letdown when it visits Markham Friday. "These three remaining games will determine who will start in the playoffs," he said. "We've worked too hard to get to where we are now to throw it away against three weaker teams." Oakville yielded the first five goals of Thursday's game against the Bulldogs, but scored the final six markers of the contest -- overcoming a three-goal deficit in the third period to force overtime, where recent addition Joel Zalasky netted the winner in an 8-6 decision. The Buzz returned home the following night against the Green Gaels and trailed 8-6 in the second period before staging another rally. Tied 8-8 after 40 minutes, the Buzz outscored Clarington 5-2 in the opening 12 minutes of the third period and held on for a 14-13 win. Sunday, the Buzz was down 5-4 going into the third period, but blitzed the Bulldogs with three quick goals en route to a 9-7 triumph. Brown attributed Oakville's recent third-period success to the team's emphasis this year on conditioning. "Other teams are giving the best they've got for two periods. Then, when we turn it on, we're leaving teams behind," he said. "That was the plan from day one." Josh Ruys and Zalasky both scored twice in Thursday's win over Halton, with Mark White contributing three points. Zalasky had six points while Harry Hristopoulos and Ruys added five each in the win over Clarington. Sunday, Hristopoulos and White each scored twice. The Buzz is not scheduled to play at home again before the end of the regular season. -- Jon Kuiperij 905-593-2987 4190 Sladeview Cres., Unit 4 Mississauga (Near 403 and Winston Churchill) www.enduresports.com McPhail also worked as an international broadcaster for the 1997 and 1998 world figure skating championships. McPhail will be responsible for all the technical aspects of the club's program, and will report directly to the OSC's board of directors. "I know that Joni will be an exceptional addition to the club," said OSC board president Michael LeBlanc, "and we look forward to working with Joni in respect to continuing to grow the club, its reputation in the skating world and in the community at large."