Let Me Earn Your Business!
Canadian Blood Services BLOOD DONOR CLINIC
CHRIS BABKIRK
WEDNESDAY, WEDNESDAY,AUGUST MAR. 35
1-7 1-7 pm by PM appt only Leamington Lebanese Club Leamington 447 Hwy Hwy 77 447 77 BY APPOINTMENT ONLY Call 188-2-DONATE Visitorblood.ca to register visit blood.ca
390 Talbot St. N. Essex
519-776-6447
chrisbabkirk@kenknappford.com
Wednesday, February 24, 2021
Southpoint Sun - 23
Sports flashbacks go back to February, 1993
This week’s sports flashbacks come from February, 1993. Raiders down two games in playoffs The Leamington Rhine Danube Bantam Raiders are down two games in their six-point quarter final OMHA series with Woolwich. Despite holding the advantage in shots on goal, the Raiders find themselves down 4-0 in the series and on the brink of elimination. In game one in Woolwich, the Raiders lost 6-3. Aaron Setterington, Jamie Maksoud and Kris Moauro scored the Raiders goals. In game two, they dropped a 5-2 decision on Leamington ice. Chuck Smith and Jeff Baclig scored Leamington’s goals. Major Novices stand at 3-1 The Leamington Novices won twice and lost another to bring their record to three wins and one loss in their regional OMHA round-robin playoffs. They beat Riverside twice on the weekend, but dropped a 6-1 decision to Mooretown Sunday afternoon. In game one against Riverside, the locals skated to a 4-2 win, with two goals each from Sal Peralta and Jason Penner. Saturday’s game was a blowout, with Leamington winning 11-0. Penner, Stephen O’Neil and Justin Ingratta each scored twice to lead the pack. Single goals were scored by Doug McKeen, Kris Gabriele, Chris Manley, Dirk Monsma and Peralta. Tyler Dittus recorded the shutout victory. In Mooretown on Sunday, the locals could only muster one goal, as Mooretown scored four unanswered goals in the third to ice their win. Penner had Leamington’s only goal. Balteiro unbeaten Kingsville’s Gil Balteiro remains unbeaten as the Kingsville boxer defeated John Aranvosi of Bramalea, on Valentine’s Day. Aranvosi came out strong, but Balteiro gradually turned the fight to his favour for the win. Other local fighters to compete were Brian Deman, who lost when the fight was stopped due to a cut, Cardinal Carter champion, Trevor Gartner, who won by knockout in the first round. The boxers are coached by Andre Courtemanche and Doug Patterson of Kingsville. Two Lions attain all-star status Two Leamington Lions basketball players were chosen by league officials to represent LDSS on the Essex County All-Star team. It was no surprise that one of the league’s premiere players, Max Mastronardi, was chosen. He was joined in the honour by teammate Chris Tuquero. Pitbulls tag Seacliffe with first shutout in two years The International Hotel Pitbulls whipped the Seacliffe Hotel 8-0 to deal Seacliffe their first shutout in two years. Pitbulls goalie Richard Young stood tall in the pipes and kept the Seacliffe offense off the scoreboard. Meanwhile, he got scoring support from Duff McDonald, who scored four times and assisted twice. Brian Roach scored twice, while Bill Baird and Jim Mills had single tallies. Vorkapich enjoying U.S. college football Leamingotn’s Mike Vorkapich just completed his second season with the Michigan State University Spartans and gives credit to his coach, George Perles. The 6’4”, 210 lb outside linebacker made the team as a walk-on in 1991. The Spartans finished the season with a 5-6 record, and a season-ending loss to Illinois kept them out of the holiday Bowl. Coach Perles is the former coach of the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Essex 73s pressure the Leamington Flyers at the Leamington Arena in 1986-87. Photo courtesy of the Scott Holland Collection
Essex took close series 4-3
Looking back at Flyers-73s semi-final in 1987 by C. Scott Holland It is considered one of the Great Lakes Hockey League’s classic playoff contests and the two opponents were the Leamington Flyers and Essex 73s. What is hard to believe, is that it took place over 30 years ago at the Essex arena where about 1,600 fans gathered and another 500 were turned away. Only one thought occupied Flyers’ head coach Reg Mulholland’s mind the night of that game seven semi-final: “If the Flyers could tie it, the kids would look at one goal instead of looking ahead at a whole period.” Instead, the Essex 73s edged the Flyers 6-4 to win that semi-final contest and went on to meet Dresden in the finals. The Flyers’s head coach summed up the series when he said, “We had no pop left.” Injuries and the grind of two series — round one
against Belle River and the semi-final vs Essex - had left their mark on Leamington. The playoff demand was so great that it was emphasized by Flyers’ player Jeff Cantlon who lost 13 pounds in 13 games. Three players who suffered injuries saw limited playing time including Mike Dunmore, Rob Hickson and Rick Wright, while Jerry Ribble was out with a sore knee. Mark Weil, who had
MARK WEIL
played only 12 games in regular season, was called upon to take to the ice for game seven. Mulholland credited the 73’s ability to respond at critical times as the key to their victory. The Flyers saw several leads disappear as Essex kept rallying, and two important goals late in the second cost Leamington. One of those was a shorthanded effort. “We couldn’t capitalize on our chances,” said Mulholland. At the end of the opening 20 minutes, it was tied 1-1 and late in the second it remained knotted at 3-3 before those two late Essex tallies put them ahead. But the Flyers inched closer with a goal six minutes into the third to make it a 5-4 game. However, Essex tabbed a goal minutes later to give them a two-goal cushion. “Our team worked well,” said Mulholland.
“All our kids filled their roles and did what they had to do.” That one elusive tally when it was 5-4 could have changed the outcome but it wasn’t to be. The estimated attendance for that seven-game series was 9,000. Many fans thought the old Windsor Arena should have been used for the series, since it would have allowed for increased attendance and revenue. The lineups: Essex - Garon (goal), Tolmie (spare goal), Finlay, Nagy, Cosgrove, Crowther, Miller, Merritt, Phillon, Rickeard, O’Neil, Shannon, D. Cantlon, Grenier, Roberts, Hossack, Tytgat, Jones, McDermott. Leamington - Tetzlaff (goal), Walling (spare goal), Stomp, Schmidtgall, Dan Munroe, Daniels, Ferguson, Rhoads, Wright, S. Symons, G. Symons, Derek Munroe, J. Cantlon, Romualdi, Raffoul, Weil, Hickson.
