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The Canadien Champion, Fniday Octaber 3,1997 - 26 Merchants must rally to earn win By STEVE LeBLANC Special to The Champion The Milton Merchants hent but didn't break Tuesday at Hamnilton's Mountain Arena. Rallying from a miserable second-period performance, Marty Williamson's crew got their beads together long enougb to dlaim a 6-5 overtime victory against 'the Ki lty B's. Tbe less than aesthetically pleasing win was capped midway througb tbe five-minuie sudden death frame, when rookie Winger Cbad Blundy stuffed bome a loose puck left by Troy Walczak. Also assisting on the play was captain Jeif Haydar. "We didn't play a very good game tonight. Our odd-man rush- es and defensive zone coverage wasn't wbere it sbould be, but fortunately they gutted out the win," said Williamson. Putting Milton in position for an overtime triumph with third- period tallies were Darren Haydar and Randy Stolec. The two sopbomnore forwards scored earlier as well for their first multi-goal outputs this season. Haydar wcnt upstairs twice on goalie Steve McFarlane while Stolec positioned bimself in front and dumpcd in rebounds. The Mercbants were caugbt napping in the second. Their mid- evening snooze allowed Hamilton to unload witb four unan- swered goals, including three in a minute and five seconds. Tbey also ran into penalty trouble in the opening frame. Fortunaîely, their bos bit a scoring slump at the same time and managed just seven shots and no goals on four powerplays. As a result, Milton escaped the period with a one-goal lead thanka to Stolec's initial tally and a few key saves by David Cinelli. Also scoring on the night was third-year defenceman Mark McPhail while Ron Baker collected three assista. Steve French and Shawn Smith doew two belpers a piece. Leading Hamnilton's offensive efforts was second-year rear- guard David Russell, who scooed once and added two assista. Merehant notes: Ron Baker and Kevin O'Flaherty have assist- ed in ail four regular season gaines ... Milton bas killed 18 of 20 penalties so far this year ... Ongoing foot soreness forced Shane Sullivan to leave after the first period Tuesday ... The Merchants travel to Iceland next Tuesday to battle the Mississauga Chargers. Reid saves the fie MatI Reid scored two goals, including a last-minute equalizer Monday at Memorial Arena, in the Halton Lift Truck AA major atoma' 3-3 draw witb Oakville. Taking passes from Daniel Lynch and David Tielemans, Rei 'd tied the game witb just five seconds remaining to salvage Milton's home opener. Also scoring on the night was Nathan Keitb while lamiùe Webb, Kyle Strung and NoIe Controuzas drew the assists. Robert Smith was outstanding in the cage, with ample defen- sive belp provided by Justin Deshaw, Matt Lenardon and Tim Warmels. Photo by GRAHAM PAINE Are we having fun yet? Youthful participants ln the two-kllomnetre Mountsberg Fun Run looked fairly serlous as they jogged along a nature trail last Sunday. Hundreda tumaed out for the races, whlch also lncluded a more serlous 1 0-kilometre compe- tition. The event le an annual fundralser for the conservation area. Maddy bounces backfrom layoff Mystical Maddy may have missed the summer heat but she continued on ber siz- zling faîl pace in the $126,000 Milton Stakes Saturday evening. Sidehined for tbree months this summer witb a leg injury and then sickness, the four-year-old daughter of Matts Scooter flasbed ber usual brilliant formi in rolling to ber second consecutive stakes win since ber retuin. Sitting Iiftb in the six-borse field past the baif, driver Michel Lachance pulled the trigger tbree-wide, surging to the front by the tbree quarter mark in 1:24.2. The gritty mare tben kept enougb in reserve to figbt off a bard cbarging laya Table to win by one-and-one-quarter lengtbs in a splendid 1:53.1 mile. Pace-setter Maddys Image held on for third. "I'mt very happy witb ber, sbte couldn't be any better," said Lachance of Mystical Maddy, wbo was sent off as the beavy 2-5 favorite. "Sbe's just a great, great mare and we're very lucky to bave ber back. It doesn't make up for tbe time sbte lost. It wasn't ber fault. It was nobody's fault, it waa just an accident." Lachance was referring to tbe freak injury Mystical Maddy suffered in ber staîl wben spooked during a tbunderstorm in lune. Prior to the Milton Stakes, Mystical Maddy's two comeback starts resulted in a second and then a victory in the $131,000 final of the Roses Are Red Series at , Hoof Bea t Woodbine on September 5th. "11i' just happy to have ber racing," added owner Bob Glazer of the Peter Pan Stables of Ohio. "It's sucb a thrill for me to watcb ber race. 1 don't get too nervous watching a lot of borses race, but t stili get pretty nervous watching ber. Sbe's provid- ed us with a lot of tbrills." esee CONDREN on page 27 TSupme Expeence 1~9 _ DEL1VERY e Medium Supreme Pizza e 12 Wings or Lrg. Garden Salad e Family Size Pasta e Large Order of Bread Sticks e 4 Slices of Garlic Bread No Coupon required Iimited time offer. Milton Pizza Hut Hwys 25 & Derry Rd. 875 You'll love the stuff m4890 we're made off1 M -.. DINE-IN COMBO e Medium Supreme Pizza