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20 - The Canadian Champion, Friday, November 27,1998 +SPORTS Defensive focus is paying off well By STEVE LeBLANC The Champion Defensive prowess continues to be the AA midgets' most reli- able commodity. A case in point was Monday at Memorial Arena, where on a night when the Winterhawks had lots of trouble finishing around the net they still managed a 3-2 triumph over feisty Caledon. Milton afforded the visitors under two dozen shots en route to their fourth win in five outings. At 12-5-1, they now occupy sole possession of first place in Tri County's Bowen Division. Led by Bryan Gent and Jeremy Robert, the Spectrum Airways sponsored crew was highly effective at clogging up both the mid- dle of the ice and passing lanes for most of the evening. They also got rock-solid corner work from Andrew Gluck down the stretch and won a couple of key faceoffs in their own end within the last minute of play. "You see that defensive style? It's really gelling," said head coach Glynn Hancott, whose team sports a goals-against average of just 2.3 in their last 10 games. "It (the defensive focus) has caused a couple of players to leave the team but it's been well worth it. I'm pleased as punch." Providing the heroics was Paul Pento, who negotiated past a pair of defenders and deposited a wide-angle wrister by opposing cager James Partland four minutes into the final frame. His tally gave the Winterhawks their third one-goal lead of the game. Putting them ahead in the first and second respectively were Gent and Kevin Heffron. Assisting on both goals was Derek Mewhinney, while spark plug Jordan Jeans fiished with a pair of helpers as well. Caledon's two goals came inside a 90-second span around the midway mark of the game. Other than blowing a long-range slap- shot that somehow got through his pads, local goalie Chris Kovachik gave a solid performance and was particularly effective when challenged downstairs. The Winterhawks were by far the more offensively creative team but had trouble pulling the trigger through periods one and two. Their penalty killing was a perfect 4-for-4, with standout per- formances given by Gent and Paul Faggion. Milton will do battle at the Pickering Invitational Toumament this weekend before returning home to face Guelph Monday. Game time, as usual, is 9:15 p.m. Photo by GRAHAM PAINE Men on a mission Rory hMcDonnell (foreground) and fellow E.C. Drury wrestlers Kevin Heffron, John McCart and Blair Beaulieu are looklng to lead the team to another successful season. All four struck gold last weekend at their opening tournament in Hagersville. Streak dies with last second heartbreaker A goal against at the final buzzer brought the single A major atoms' eight-game winning streak to a crashing halt last Wednesday. Milton had battled back from a 3-1 deficit before the last-sec- ond reversal of fortunes. Leading the comeback brigade with a pair of goals was Nicholas Vipond. Ryan Mitchell potted the other while Stephen Kays chipped in two assists. Three days later the Winterhawks would take out their frustra- tions on unsuspecting Hespeler - in a 9-0 thrashing. Carl Chan was rock solid between the pipes for another shutout. The biggest slice of the scoring pie went to Mitchell, who tumed in a hat-trick and added one assist. Ross Nicholls amassed three helpers while Vipond, Anthony Perruzza and Eric Reid all tallied twice. End drought Milton's single A minor novices staged an exciting third period rally to trim Elora 2-1 Saturday - for their first win of the sea- son. Providing the heroics was Ryan Cochrane, who scored both the equalizer and go-ahead goal inside the last four minutes of play. His markers each came while the Winterhawks were shorthand- ed. Drawing assists were Krista Dermott and Matthew Fratarcangeli. Taylor Prestidge was outstanding in net. Sound performances were also turned in by Mark Brown, Eric Gottwald, Jordan Haggart and Mark Thompson. From there the local crew completed their best weekend effort this year by tying Erin 2-2. Again they used a late comeback to fend off defeat. Scoring third period goals were Cochrane and Kris DelNin while Jonathan Cragg, Jonathan Riding and Marshall Vince com- bined for a strong defensive effort. On a roll Alex Bemdt and Luke Hartwick each scored twice to help their AA minor atoms wrestle three of four points away from the com- petition last week. The Wallace Pontiac Buick sponsored crew began with a 2-1 decision over Burlington - with Hartwick netting both goals - and finished with a 3-3 stalemate against Oakville. • see SHARP on page 21