08 November 1, 2008 - ObserverXtra

26 | SPORTS
»SOJHL JUNIOR HOCKEY
MARC MIQUEL HELSEN
After a busy weekend
for the Wellesley Applejacks,
it seems that the
squad has finally turned
the corner on its bad
luck. Having lost seven
straight games to start
the season, the Jacks
earned four consecutive
wins, three of which
came in three days last
weekend.
The wins (6-5 in Exeter
on Oct. 24, 6-4 against
Lambeth on Saturday,
and 5-3 in Burford Sunday)
put the Jacks in
second-last place (4-7-0)
in the league, four points
ahead of Burford.
The series of wins
comes following the
firing of coach Kevin
Lobsinger, let go after
earning the team’s first
triumph.
General manager Dave
Litt and assistant coach
John Tsai have stepped
in behind the bench to
fill the void until a replacement
is found.
“We’re talking to some
people but it worked
pretty well the way it
was: if it isn’t broke
don’t fix it,” said Litt, after
the game.
The weekend’s success
JONI MILTENBURG
When the EDSS senior
girls’ basketball team
tipped off against visiting
Huron Heights Oct.
28, it looked like the opposition
had sent out
their junior squad by
mistake. Not only did
EDSS tower over them
– the squad’s height has
been giving rivals trouble
all season – but they
outplayed them on the
court, winning 57-24.
To be fair, Huron
Heights is a new school
and has only had a senior
team for two years. But
EDSS has been rolling
over tougher opponents
too; the team is third in
the standings and has a
10-1 record heading into
the playoffs. That record
earned them a bye in the
first round, so their first
playoff game will be on
home court Nov. 6.
Coach Brian Carter
said he wasn’t expecting
such a strong season,
but he’s not really surprised.
The Observer | Saturday, November 01, 2008
Jacks extend winning streak to four
After slow start to the season, Wellesley appears back on track, taking three games in as many nights
WINNING WAYS Wellesley netminder Kent Stoltz redirects the puck after making a save in the Oct. 25
match against Lambeth. The Jacks won 6-4.
can be attributed to a
simplified game plan, he
explained.
On Oct. 25, the Jacks
treated their home fans
to a fast-paced energetic
show, defeating the Lambeth
Lancers 6-4. After
going down 2-1 in the
first period Wellesley
Senior girls parlay stellar season into playoff run
EDSS basketball team posts 10-1 record to earn bye in CWOSSAA tournament; coach optimistic
“We knew we were going
to have a competitive
team. We had all five of
our starters back from
last year, and the junior
team last year was very
strong, so we knew we
were going to have three
or four very good juniors
coming up as well.”
Captain Katie Martin
anchors the team, and
twins Kristen and Steph
Stypa – who have alternated
the MVP title the
past three years – are
both forces under the
net, with the fast hands
and height to make rebounds
and shots.
Carter also has help
from a quarter he wasn’t
counting on; Lydia Frey
agreed to forgo her second
year of junior play
to join the senior squad.
Frey is one of the team’s
scoring leaders, despite
the fact she’s only in
Grade 10.
But it’s not just the
starters who shine; Carter
also pointed to players
such as Amanda Poole,
crediting her work ethic
and hustle with helping
eventually came back
in the second, evening
things out at 3-3 before
the second intermission.
In the third period,
the Jacks pummeled
the Lancers, increasing
their lead to 6-4 as Dan
Berwick, Scott Litt and
Brett VanGerwen scored
the team to success.
Traditionally it’s the
junior squad that’s had
success, while the seniors
have struggled.
Carter said EDSS’ senior
girls tend to lag behind
girls from the bigger
schools, who also play
club basketball and are
on the court five or six
months of the year.
“We’re a smaller school,
so the basketball team is
also the volleyball team,
which is also the other
teams. The girls can’t
concentrate on basketball.”
Last year the team posted
a .500 record and won
their first-round playoff
game. But in the quarterfinals
they came up
against the top team in
the league and lost.
Carter said that playoff
victory was a confidencebuilder
for the team.
“In past years, Elmira’s
senior team’s always
struggled in the playoffs.
Winning a playoff game
last year was actually a
big first step in our rebuilding
process.”
three successive goals.
After an exasperatingly
unlucky start to
the season that saw the
Jacks bang more pucks
off the metalwork than
the mesh of the net,
Saturday’s high-scoring
affair came as a boon.
It looked as though the
The squad has a good
chance of advancing to
CWOSSAA this year.
EDSS is a triple-A school
– one of the smaller
schools – and the top two
triple-A schools move on
to CWOSSAA.
“If we make it to the
semi-finals, there’s a
good chance that we’ll
go on to CWOSSAA,”
Carter said.
At this point in the season,
the team is working
on fine-tuning their
game. Carter would like
to see them turn the
ball over less and clean
up their shots. Mostly
he’s focused on making
sure they don’t develop
bad habits when playing
against weaker teams.
Carter said there’s no
need to push his team
harder now that they’re
heading into the playoffs.
“They’ve been working
together for so long that
they know what they
have to do. If they just
go and play their game,
they’ll be very successful.”
PHOTO | MARC MIQUEL HELSEN
PHOTO | JONI MILTENBURG
Jacks had finally broken
their hex, scoring
six times on 40 shots.
The count could have
been even higher, Litt
noted.
“We hit four goalposts
Saturday night. If luck
had changed we could
have blown them away.
You can only make your
breaks.”
The Jacks rode that
high into Sunday’s
game against Burford,
where they downed the
home-side 5-3.
Apparently unaffected
by the rigorous schedule
of three games in
there nights, Wellesley
opened the scoring on
the power play. Berwick,
from Chris Armstrong
and VanGerwen
made it 1-0 at 5:09.
Matt Snyder put the
Jacks up 2-0 at 11:36 on
an unassisted goal.
The Bulldogs got on
the board just 10 seconds
from the first-period
buzzer when Kyle
Mahon buried the rubber
on a feed from Justin
Zylstra.
The Bulldogs continued
in good form in the
second period, tying
things up at 1:49 courtesy
of an Alex Maksynchuk
tally; Zylstra
picked up the assist.
At 15:06 of the second
frame, however, Ben
Jefferies, from Berwick
and Litt, made it a 3-2
game.
The Bulldogs evened
the score at 5:50 of the
third frame; Zylstra,
from Maksynchuk and
Dan Mitchell made it
3-3.
But the Jacks battled
hard to earn their win,
and at 8:56 Scott Hanley
sealed the deal, scoring
the game-winner (4-
3) off a pass from Rob
Bolger. With three seconds
to go on the clock,
Pat Doyle added insult
to injury by adding an
empty-netter.
“We had our highs and
lows, we made some
mistakes; we’re trying
to correct our mistakes
but work ethic was
there,” said Litt.
It appears the Jacks
are finally starting to
click.
“They responded to
a coaching change and
that’s first and foremost
the thing they have to
worry about,” said Litt,
adding that there is a
positive atmosphere
within the ranks.
“It’s good. Of course it
will be good: they won.”
OFF TO CWOSSAA Mel Blake dribbles up the court as the EDSS senior
girls’ basketball squad took on Huron Heights Oct. 28. EDSS won the
match 57-24, earning a bye in first round of the playoffs.