10 Independent & Free Press, Tuesday,December 14, 2010 Struggling Raiders fall 7-5 to Junior Sabres By EAMONN MAHER Staff Writer You could chalk up the Georgetown Raiders' 7-5 loss to the Buffalo Jr. Sabres Saturday as "one of those nights," only it's been happening far too often recently to be just a case of bad luck. The 23-9-2 Raiders dropped their third game in four tries against the fifth-place Jr. Sabres this season and now two-thirds of the way through this Ontario Jr. Hockey League campaign, second-place Georgetown has fallen seven points behind frontrunning Burlington in the West Division standings after being tied only a couple of weeks ago. Unable to bury the third-period equalizer Saturday, the Raiders had many misadventures in their own end and were outshot 30-28 overall, leaving head coach Greg Walters shaking his head over the state of his underachieving lineup. "Our consistency needs to get a lot better," said standout forward Evan Rodrigues, who was held to a rare pointless night while taking two minor penalties. "We come out and play a good game and then get shut down the next. Penalties killed us tonight and we can't afford to be doing that. We've just got to figure out where our game is right now." Georgetown led 3-2 midway through the contest before giving up three goals in six minutes to the 14-17-2 Jr. Sabres, who received a penalty shot stop from goalie Seth Anderson on Raider Duston HebeHockey League's Prospect Series in Dauphin, Man., not long after being named to the tournament all-star team at the World Jr. A Challenge in Penticton, B.C., in which his Team Canada East squad earned silver medals. The 5-foot-10, 170-pound Rodrigues, who is eligible for next summer's NHL Draft, has 12 goals and 22 assists in 22 games with the Raiders this season after a 51-point rookie year in 2009-10. "There were a couple of other schools I was looking at but I went down to Boston and visited the city and it just stood out for me over the other schools," he said. "It's good to get the recognition and hopefully I can keep it going the rest of the year." Rodrigues would do well to follow the lead of former Raider Brandon Pirri, who at age 19 has already played a game for the Stanley Cup-champion Chicago Blackhawks. The Toronto Beaches resident had a superb half-season in Georgetown two years ago before moving on to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in Troy, N.Y., for 200910, signing with the Blackhawks after a stellar freshman campaign. A 6-foot-180-pound centre, Pirri has five goals and six assists in 23 games with the American Hockey League's Rockford IceHogs and was invited to attend this week's Team Canada tryouts in Toronto for the World Junior Hockey Championships later this month in Buffalo. SPORTS & LEISURE Georgetown Raiders' defenceman Matt Chiarantano tries to make the job of Buffalo Jr. Sabres' goalie Seth Anderson difficult during Buffalo's 7-5 Ontario Jr. Hockey League win Saturday evening at the Alcott Arena. Photo by Eamonn Maher brand in the final frame that would have tied the score. Scott Wilson (2), Justin Basso, Anthony Cortellessa and Matt Chiarantano tallied for the hosts Saturday. On Thursday, the Raiders scored twice in the final four minutes of the third to edge the Spirit in Stouffville 5-4. Newcomer Tyler Walsh (2), Alex D'Oliveira, Travis Fulton and Hebebrand were the Georgetown marksmen in the victory. Ahead this week for the Raiders is a trip to Milton Friday, followed by a home date with the 18-12-5 Huntsville Otters Saturday at the Alcott Arena beginning at 7:30 p.m. Despite his team's recent slide, Rodrigues has personally enjoyed a December to remember, committing to one of U.S. college hockey's top programs, the Boston University Terriers, beginning next fall. The 17-year-old from Etobicoke was named Team East's MVP in one of the games at last week's Canadian Junior Rebel robbery Ethan Spence (89) of Christ the King's Jaguars was stopped on this scoring attempt by Georgetown District High School's Brandon Bodiam last week at Alcott Arena in a matchup of Halton high school squads. Dylan Hannan scored his second goal of the game with 36 seconds left in regulation time for the equalizer in a 2-2 tie, after Rebels Brandon Allison and Cam Hryciw had tallied late in the third period. The 2-0-2 Jaguars are in first place in the Richardson Division standings and will host Oakville-Trafalgar Wednesday at 2:45 p.m., while the 1-2-2 Rebels visited Loyola yesterday (Monday). Photo by Eamonn Maher Looking for Shamrocks Calling all former Erin Shamrock and Acton Sabre alumni. The Shamrocks are holding their annual "Alumni Night" on Monday, Dec. 27 at the Erin Arena and are looking for players from those teams to join them for the festivities. The Erin Shamrocks moved from Acton to Erin a number of years ago. There will be four alumni teams with games at 6 and 7 p.m. with a booster club and dance, featuring The Practically Hip. Join the Shamrocks and meet your former teammates from years gone by. To register for the game, visit www. erinshamrocks.org and follow the link or contact Gerry Corrigan at 519-833-2509. OFFERS END DECEMBER 31ST! Cash rebates available only to cash purchasers on select new in-stock 2010 Honda models. Up to $2,750.00 available on select new 2010 Civic models; up to $4,000.00 available on select new 2010 Accord models; up to $2,500.00 available on other select new2010 Fit models. ¥0.9% purchase financing available for up to 60 months on other select new in-stock 2010 Honda models. No payments for 90 days offer applies to purchase finance offers on all new 2010 and 2011 models purchased and delivered by November 30th, 2010. Offer available only through Honda Financial Services onapproved credit. Monthly payments are deferred for 90 days. Contracts will be extended accordingly. Interest charge (if any) will not accrue during the first 60 days of the contract. After 60 days, interest (if any) starts to accrue and the purchaser will repay principal and interest (if any) monthly over the term of the contract. No purchase necessary. Open to residents of Ontario (age of majority) who are the parent/legal guardian of a child 12 years of age or under. One entry per child. Contest endsDecember 31st, 2010 at 11:59:59 p.m. ET. Visit www.hondaontario.com/newspaper for full prizedescriptions and contest rules. /¥/Offers valid from November 15th, 2010 through November 30th, 2010 at participating Honda retailers. Offers valid only for Ontario residents at Ontario Honda Dealers locations. Offers subject to change or cancellation without notice. Visit wwwHondaOntario.com or see your Honda retailer for full details. www.georgetownhonda.ca Serving Georgetown for over 30 years! 316 Guelph Street, Georgetown 905-873-1818 905-874-3021 HONDA