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Stunning overtime win clinches series with the Eagles MolJacks spin special kind of mag By John B. McClelland It was never in doubt, was it? Of course not. In what has to be the most dramatic moment since Port Perry first put a Junior C hock- ey club on the ice some 20 years ago, the ModJacks defeated the Bowmanville Eagles 6-4 in overtime last Thursday night to win the Central League championship and the right to meet Napanee Raiders in the next round of all-Ontario play- downs. They did it in near unbe- lievable fashion in front of a packed house at the Bowman- ville Arena, pulling themselves back from the brink in the third period. It was a game that left sup- porters of both teams weak in the knees as the MoJacks tied things with three straight goals, then took a 4-3 lead with 1:44 left, before the Eagles sent the game into OT on a goal with 21 seconds to play in regula- tion. John Harman gave the Mo- Jacks a 5-4lead at the 31 second mark of the straight ten-minute OT period tipping in a centering pass from Brad Menzies and Warren Geer. For the next nine minutes, the Eagles buzzed around the ModJack zone, desperate in their bid to tie the score. But as he did all game and all series, Tony Sortino turned aside the wave of red jerseys, making the big saves to give his mates a chance to clear the puck. As the OT clicked down, the tension mounted until Brad Menzies put an end to things with 13 seconds to play. Told not to quit The ModJack fortunes never looked bleaker after two periods in the seventh and deciding game against Bowmanville Ea- gles last Thursday night. The Eagles had a 3-0 lead and appeared to be in control of the game. But the MoJacks somehow turned things around in the fi- nal frame, and went on to victo- ry in OT in what must rank as the most exciting moment in the history of the franchise. So, did coach Ken Harman have anything to say to his troops before that third period? As amatterofact, he did. "I told them not to quit or give up. Our plan was to go out (in the third) and try to get an early goal, and take the momen- tum away from the Eagles," the coach told the Star later. And he reminded his troops that the Eagle defense ap- peared to be getting tired to- wards the end of the second pe- riod, and that was something that could be exploited. It obviously worked as the MoJacks had tied the game by the 13 minute mark, and the rest, as they say, is history. The "Chiet" as he's called, collected a loose puck near cen- tre ice, calmly stepped over the red line (to prevent an icing) and drifted a shotinto the wide open Eagle net that had been vacated in favour of an extra at- tacker. It was perhaps fitting that captain Menzies should get the goal that nailed down the game and the series. He's been the leader all season and was named MVP in the Central League. MoJack fans, and there were plenty of them in Bow- manville that night, were deliri- ous with joy as League convenor Andy McLauchlan presented Menzies with the League cham- pionship trophy, for the second timein three years. Eagle supporters appeared almost shell-shocked at the dra- matic ending because for 45 minutes in this game, it looked like they would be the ones do- It was a zany series Long time Junior C hockey observers from both Port Perry and Bowmanville were scratch- ing their heads trying to put some sense to the strange series between the MoJacks and the Eagles. Consider, in seven games, the MoJacks out-scored Eagles 34-17, yet the series went down to the final seconds in overtime of the seventh and deciding game. Both teams recorded shut- outs; the Eagles by a 3-0 margin and the MoJacks in a 9-0 romp, one of two blow-outs for Port Perry. The other ended 11-1 against a team that had a fine defensive record all season long. Consider, home ice, usually an advantage in a tough series, right? Wrongin this one. MoJacks won three of four in Bowman- ville, including the crucial game seven. The Eagles took two of three on Port's home turf. So much for that theory. And how have the MoJacks fared in goals for and against since they hit the playoff trail away back when against the Ajax Axemen. Well, they took the Axemen in out in five games, scoring 31 and surrendering 17. The Uxbridge series, which went the distance, saw Mo- Jacks score 30 times, and give up 25. Heading into the series against Napanee this past weekend, MoJacks had played 19 post-season games. Considering the regular schedule consists of 36 games, that's better than half a season already on the playoff trail. No wonder, they call the playoffs "the second season." ing the celebrating. The Eagles started this game right where they left offin game six Tuesday night in Port Perry, which they won 4-2. They came out of the chute in a hurry, scoring on the power play as George Pithie found the | w § | luck the rest of the way. Eagle sharp-shooter Glenn Campbell extends t tional post-game hand-shake after a tough and bitter series in which he was checked feroclously by MoJacks Darrin Lee. The Eagles, to their credit after such a disappointing loss, went out with class, and several of them wandered down to the MoJack dressing room to wish the team good ic rangeat 1:15. Pithie did it again at 12:42, again on a power play to give Eagles a 2-0lead. And they did a pretty solid job shutting off the MoJacks in the neutral zone, and then turn- (Turn to page 17) PE iin he tradl- One heck of a good reason to celebrate. Members of the Port Perry MoJacks whoop it up In the dressing room after defeating the Eagles 6-4 in game seven to take the Central Junior C League title. And they did the hard way, In over- time. After tralling 3-0 for better than two periods, the "nev- (IBN OEY EPR RRP RIRERTER UY FREE ARRT UTEP REARS RAARSKASHREI AARNE SEER AN AN ESR ARS er-say-quit" MoJacks fought back In the final frame and clinched the 6-4 win with an empty netter in the final sec- onds of OT. See stories for all the detalls and the outcome of the first two games against the Napanee Ralders. t [I t . Ph PY PE WRT a BS Bette Bn RES SB Wt TIN AB WW AAAS L. an te § ~ -- Yn a,