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7 2 -- 7 i 7 22 EE a Wellington takes controversial series with overtime victory End of the hocke by JohnB. McClelland Maybe it just wasn't in the cards for the Port Perry Mo- Jacks, ty : Their hockey season drew to a close late Sunday night at the Arena as the Well- ington es scored a 5-4 dou- ble overtime victory to win the best of seven series that had more than its share of contro- versy. : It was a bitterly disanpoint. ed and frustrated MoJack team that left the ice after nearly 85 minutes of hockey. : Facing elimination and a controversial protest lodged by 'the Dukes over game five Good * Friday in Wellington, the Mo- Jacks looked like they were go- ing to extend the series as they opened a 4-0 lead near the end of the second period. But the Dukes chipped away at that lead, and sent the game into overtime with 2:01 left in regulation as they scored with a two man advantage, thanks to a pair of stick meas- urement infractions called agains theMoJacks. After a scoreless straight ten minute OT period, the game went into sudden death and the Dukes ended it at 12:33 when their captain Mike Maracle sent a Pick behind Jeff Lynch in the MoJack cage for the 5-4 Vietery. : The Dukes now have a Jot in She Central Junior C ampionship against Lakefield who dispatched the Bowmanville Eagles 5-4 on Sunday night. Scoring for the MoJacks were Todd Taylor, Dean Sme- thurst, Steve Connors and War- ren Geer. Stick measurements played a huge role in this series as the double Penalty late in Sunday's e led to the Dukes tying goal, and it was a stick measurement call by the Mo- Jacks in the overtime period Friday night in Wellington that led to the protest of that game lodged by the Dukes. This is what happened in Wellington. : After trailing 3-0, the Mo Jacks dug way down deep and fought back to tie the game at 3- 8 with a goal in the final two minutes by John Harman. 'Midway through the straight ten minute overtime, ators sed e four minute slash- ing penalty, and with 5:63 to play, the es scored to go ahead4-3. MoJack defenseman Chris Aresenault was assessed a five minute spearing penalty called by the linesman after the Duke al. £ That would have left the MoJacks short-handed for the rest of the period, so coach Ken Harman called for a stick meas- urement nst one of the Dukes, it resulted in a Duke al . . "With A teams five-aside, : Chris Edmonson scored to tie the game at 4-4, and with 3:34 left, John Harman banged in a rebound for the go-ahead goal. The MoJacks managed to kill the rest of the clock in what was an incredibly gutsy come- back. : But the Dukes lodged the protest on the grounds that a stick measurement request can- . not be made during a stoppage in play after a goal has been scored. : Had the Dukes lost game six in Port Perry, the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) head office was to rule on the protest Monday morning, and if the protest was up-held, the Mo- Jacks would have been stripped of the victory in Wellington, forng the entire game to be re- played. 2 : It was a messy and poten- tially embarassing situation for the OHA, partly because the in- fraction was of such a minor technical nature, but mainly be- cause the referee in Wellington allowed the MoJacks to proceed with the stick measurement Susie the stop in play for a But the Duke victory Sun- _day night which ended the se- ries made the issue "academic." If ever there was a game the MoJacks deserved to win in this series, it was the match last Wednesday night in front of a large crowd at the Scugog Are- na. The MoJacks did just about everything right but still came out on the short end of a 4-3 score as the Dukes took a com- manding three games to one lead in the series. They out-shot the visitors 36-15 over the 60 minutes, and in the final frame fired 17 pucks against Al Bigg in the Welling- ton cage, while holding the Dukes to just one shot on Jeff Lynch. It was much the same story in the first period as they out- shot Wellington 15-3. "It was a bit of a different story in the middle frame as the Dukes came to life and out-shot the MoJacks 10-5. . il - The difference in the out- come was the Dukes made the best of the handful of decent scoring chances they had in the (- 2 PT Possibly an omen of things , to come for the MoJacks took place in the first period when winger Jeff Fitchett snapped a shot that had "goal" written all over it, but the puck rang off the post and ended up in the corner. Mid-w with the acks exerting great pressure to get the tyi al, Steve Connors watch is deflected shot dance along the top of the cross bar before the puck dropped beside the crease. It was just one of those games, League scoring champ y PREIS Sts peta Sie LE ----_------ through the third, reached a feverish pitch over the weekend as series. But it came to an end late Sunday night when the Du to win 5-4 and take the series four games to two. Jacks came up with a gutsy performance to win 5- detalls) Howie Dowdle gave the Dukes a 1-0 lead in the first on a power play opportunity at6:38. arren Geer tied things at 1-1earlyin thesecond as he was sent in alone on passes from lin- emates John Harman and Brad Menzies. - Less than a minute later, Rob Patterson of the Dukes went end to end on abreakaway to give his team thelead again. - At 8:28, it was Greg War- riner's turn on a breakaway af- ter he knocked down a pass at the Duke blue line and beat the goalie with a high shot. : The Dukes again used the power play to go. ahead 8-2, and at 18:02, they converted a two ononebreak tograb a4-2lead. The MoJacks started the third period with a flurry and at 8:08 Dean Smethurst snapped a 30-footer past Bigg with as- sists from Todd Taylor and _ Steve Fountain. The fl continued with- out a break for the rest of the match with the MoJacks buzz- ing around the Wellington net, but they simply were not able to convert the many good scoring chances. While the MoJacks and' their fans went home disap- ; Jointed this was an entertain- n g hockey game: clean crisp and hard hitting with just a handful of minor penalties to each side as ref Gil Nieuwendyk "let them play." Junior C playoff action between the Port Perry MoJacks and Wellington Dukes the MoJacks fought gallantly to extend the kes scored in double overtime On Friday night in Wellington, the Mo- 4, also in overtime. (see story for all the NOTEPAD, FINAL: Some of the MoJacks were complaining bitterly after Sunday's. game about the officiating in that game and the one in Wellington Fridayevening. They were especially upset atthe double slashing callin OT Friday night, and the five min- ute "spearing" call, also in OT Friday. One of the slashing pen- alties was justified, the other highly "iffy." The "spear" was a tap on the pads that might have warranted a minor penalty for slashing. But what really upset some of the players was an incident in the sudden death period Sun- day when MoJack Bill Lawren- son took a vicious high stick in the throat in plain view of a linesman. The MoJacks felt a high sticking major was war- ranted. This of course may sound a bit like "sour grapes," but from my vantage point, the officiat- ing was inconsistent, especially when it came to stick infrac- tions. For some reason, flagrant fouls seem to be over-looked (against both sides) and at oth- er times, fairly minor fouls were called. a But that's all water under the bridge for the MoJacks and their legions of loyal support- ers, The MoJacks had their chances to win the series. Cer- tainly, in my opinion, the turn- ing point had nothing to do with the officiating or protest, but " MoJa y trail for Jr. C MoJacks came in game four last Wednes- day night in Port Perry. The 8 did everything right, butlostit 4-3 to allow the Dukes to pull ahead three games to one. A MoJacks win in that game would have thrown a whole new complexion on the series. And in Sunday's double OT loss, the MoJacks did at one time own a 4-0 lead and looked to be in complete control of the me. They had the Dukes reel- ing badly, but could not deliver the knock-out punch in. that me. 8 While the end was bitterly disappointing for the MoJacks, there were certainly plenty of bright spots for this team over the season. The fact that they even reached the semis in this tough league is notable as last Novém- ber, it appeared as if the team was fading fast. But the players stayed with it,salvaged the rest of the sea- son, and played some fine hock- eyin the process. For my money, Ken Har- man established himself as an excellent coach, and hopefully, he'll be behind the bench next season. I was mighty impressed with the play of all the guys who suited up game in and game out, but a few individuals should be mentioned. The line of Harman-Geer and Menzies scored picture (Turn to page 27) Rr ry SE Re TS Rin EI Ee RT