32 Sports Oakville Beaver www.aplushomes.ca Adam Campbell 905-844-4444 R E A L T YC O R P. B R O K E R A G E I N D E P E N D E N T LY O W N E D A N D O P E R AT E D Broker of Record SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 432) Fax 905-337-5571 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23, 2010 Heading to first Seymour's two TDs lead Longhorns to first win of season Led by an impressive performance by Dan Seymour, the Oakville Longhorns earned their first victory of the Northern Football Conference season Saturday in Burlington. Seymour carried the ball 19 times for 183 yards, including a 54-yard touchdown scamper, and also added a 70-yard punt return for a major as the Longhorns (1-3) downed the 0-2 Sarnia Imperials 31-23 at Corpus Christi Secondary School. Oakville's other two touchdowns came on passes from Mark Demerling to Will Thompson and Stephen Moore. Rick Rodrigues was good on two converts and a field goal, while Thompson added a two-point conversion. Kyle Kneller contributed 34 rushing yards on six carries and Jason Adamko notched 27 yards on four carries as Oakville finished the contest with 246 yards on the ground, countering Sarnia's 302 passing yards in the contest. Steve Healy had five tackles for the Longhorns defence, which recovered two fumbles on the evening. Oakville stands to have a good chance at a second straight win this weekend when it plays host to the 04 North Bay Bulldogs, a 7 p.m. kickoff Saturday at Corpus Christi. MICHELLE SIU / SPECIAL TO THE OAKVILLE BEAVER JUNIOR JAY: Connor Donnell of the Blue Jays follows his hit during Oakville Minor Baseball Association t-ball action Monday at Brookdale Park. Buzz coach hopes team kicks things into gear in playoffs By Jon Kuiperij BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR Following a pedestrian regular-season showing from his squad, Sam Rook is optimistic that a different-looking Oakville Buzz club will show up in the Ontario Lacrosse Association junior B playoffs. Oakville is the seventh seed in the Western Conference after concluding an up-and-down regular season with an 11-9 record. The Buzz will draw the second-ranked Elora Mohawks (16-3-1) in the opening round of the playoffs, a best-of-five series that begins Saturday in Elora. Rook hopes his veteran-laden team, which he says has lacked concentration at key times this year, will turn things up in the postseason. "We've got eight last-year players, and I think a lot of them know it's a different season and have been through the wars before," said Rook. "They will probably be a lot more focused mentally now that we're getting into the meat of the season for them." Focus will have to be at a season high in order for the Buzz to pull off the upset of Elora, a squad with a history of success and strong fan support. The Mohawks defeated Oakville 10-8 two months ago in the only regular-season meeting between the teams. "Elora's a very good squad," Rook said. "It's a tough place to play... and they're a good offensive team." Up front, Elora is led by Kyle Dobbie (18 goals, 42 assists in 60 games) and Jake Weidner (22 goals, 31 assists). Mark Pfohl and Brady Hseltine also scored 20-plus goals for the Mohawks. "We think they're, offensively, a little bit more finesse," said Rook. "We want to make sure defensively we're taking away what (the Mohawks) like to do. The Mohawks also have a solid veteran goaltender in last-year player Ricky McGarr, who they picked up from Guelph this season. McGarr is 10-3 with a 5.71 goals-against aver- age and .841 save percentage, helping Elora allow the second-least goals in the West. "We've shown we can score some goals this year when we play the way we have to," Rook said. "We don't have a lopsided offence. It's predicated on ball movement. If we keep doing that, we'll get our chances and it's just a matter of putting it in." The Buzz bolstered its offence last week by acquiring Andy Wreggit from the Markham Ironheads. Wreggit has put up nine points in two games with the Buzz, including two goals and four helpers in Sunday's season-ending 10-8 victory over the Sarnia Pacers. "He's added a lot of depth and composure to the right side of our offence," Rook said. "He's pretty sharp... not a flashy player by any means, but one of those kids that just reads the play very well. He knows where to get the ball to the guys and when they need to get it." The Buzz will be without rookie Dan Lomas (concussion) in the first round, while defender Elliott Cowburn will also likely be sidelined by a thumb injury. NOTES: Game 2 of the series will be Sunday at Glen Abbey Recreation Centre... The Buzz actually anticipated facing the third-seeded Windsor Clippers in the opening round, but the Owen Sound North Stars bumped Oakville down to seventh Monday night with an 8-6 win over the Orangeville Northmen... In Oakville's other games last weekend, the team fell 18-9 Friday to the undefeated Six Nations Arrows and then lost 9-5 to Windsor Saturday at Glen Abbey... Bryan Cole (two), Bryan Campbell, Patrick Corbett, Cedric Soubry, Kevin Harper, Connor Gamble, Braden Gallant and Spencer Gallant scored for Oakville against Six Nations. Jack Matthews, Braden Gallant, Spencer Gallant, Campbell and Wreggit found the net Saturday. Corbett notched a hat trick and Connor Gamble (two), Sam White, Spencer Gallant and Harper complemented Wreggit's effort Sunday. Tyler Sullivan was in goal for the Buzz Friday, with Ian Duffy tending the Oakville net in the other two games.