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-u The Canadian Champion, Friday, November 8, 2002- 91 Merchants humbled at hands of Raiders Milton suffersfirst blowout loss in years to G'town By STEVE LeBLANC The Champion Longtime Milton junior hockey fans have seen their share of lop- sided affairs in the ongoing battie of north Halton. Until Tuesday night, how- ever, pretty much ail of these biowouts had gone in favour of their hometown Merchants. Eager to live up to its fan forum hype and maintain sec-Â ond place in the Western Conference, Georgetown soundly thrashed its neighbouning rivais for the tirst time in severai years- dismantiing Milton 7-2 in front of a iess-than-spirited crowd at Cordon Aicott Memorial Arena. Lukewarm spectator support was com- plimenteil by a thoroughly uninspired per- formance from the now 13-5-1 Merchants - who hesides a short-iived span in period two dispiayed none of the spark expected for such a crucial encounter. Milton's two goals both came in the lasi 11i minutes of play, by which time hopes for a comeback victory had been pretty much abandoned. Though an early goal could weil have changed thc complexion of the gamne, the visitors were outdone in virtuaiiy every aspect of play. That mncluded physicai pres- ence, which has usually heen thetr trump card in tilts with Georgetown. "Not everyone gave their ail, and il was pretty noticeabie out there," said newly- appointed captain Craig Macdonald of the ego-bruismng defeat. "We didn't show how we can play." S Adding to the series intrigue was the Raiders' recent addi- tion of assistant coach Mike Currer, who was having trouble fitting in with Milton at thc start of Uic tesson and ieft in October. He joins players Vince Laise and Shane Remenda - who had a pair of goal and assisted on anoUier- as former Merchants now toilimg with Georgetown. For Milton, Dean Strong struck from close-range on Uic powerplay to end a 105- minute scoring drought Uiat went back to the ftrst period against Oakville Saturday. It was also the team's first goal in a dozen tries with the man-advantage. Wes Clarke would add a rather meaning- less goal nine minutes laser on a nifty pass- ing play. Macdonald, James Duhamel, Pat Lee and Jon Omelas picked up the assists. ,see MILTON on page B2 ,/A real triple threat Miftonians (tram left) Kyle Goertz, Adam Rutz and Matt Decaire were part of the Halton His Bulldogs field lacrosse team which recently struck gold in the Ontario 'B' championships in Oshawa. The Buildoga clinched the provincial titis with an overtime victory against Peterborough. Decaire scored four goals, including one in the extra session, while Goertz and Rutz offered strong defensive play. Photo by GRAHAM PAINE