Young leads Tomahawks to victory
Burlington 6 at Mississauga 8
By Blue
June 13, 2001
MISSISSAUGA -- An early scoring boom and stellar goaltending paced the 'Hawks to a much desired victory over their neighboring Burlington rivals.
Goaltender Ryan Young (a.k.a. Billy Elliott) achieved redemption after a narrow season-opening loss to the Chiefs who had traded him just days before. He stopped 41 shots, controlled rebounds expertly and limited one of the league's more potent offenses to a mere 6 goals, the Chiefs' lowest output of the season thus far.
Only 30 seconds into the game he allowed a Jamie Taylor outside ripper to slip by his side but then he slammed the door shut for the next 26 and a half minutes.
The opening frame saw Mississauga picking apart the Chiefs' docile zone defense as they poured in a cool half dozen goals, prompting numerous odd victory-dances from an inspired Young.
Matt Moulson took feeds from Corey Leigh and Marc Burton, stepped in from the face-off area and broke the ice with a high hard blast. Twenty-three seconds later Dan Rudiseula converted Derek McPhee's cross-crease pass with a jumping quick-stick slicer.
On the Tommie power-play Scott Gillingham directed a Chris Stewart feed at the net. Goaltender Kevin Eansor was drawn way out of position on a rebound scrambler and couldn't beat Joe Falconi's shot back to the empty net. 3-1 Mississauga.
The clock hit the 10-minute mark as the Chiefs, on offence, dropped a simple pass. 'Hawk Adam Mitchell helped himself to the ball, cruised down the floor unmolested and deposited the bouncer. A minute after, McPhee barreled through two defenders, then greeted Eansor with couple fakes and zipped it in the top corner. Eansor was in no way at fault for the 8-minute 5-goal binge but he was spared further assault as Ryan Avery was thrown to the wolves.
Avery was tested promptly and looked impressive. He held off the Tommies for the next six minutes until Leigh's outside overhand caught him off guard. Only two more would get by him in the remaining two periods.
The Chiefs' entered the second frame down 6-to-1 and engaged in a man-on-man defense with much success. But they faced an equally committed Mississauga defense and they traded a pair of goals each.
Mississauga's Marc Burton, from an angle, picked the top corner perfectly.
Burlington's Jeff Brownlee forced a turnover and fed Trevor Wagar upfloor for a breakaway. Young got a good piece of Wagar's shot but not enough.
In the frame's 12th minute, Leigh nailed an outside blast. That ended Tomahawk scoring for the night but they already had more than enough.
Chuck Doxtater connected with an outside whistler in the frame's final minute.
The Chiefs meant business in the third but the lead proved insurmountable.
Greg Tregunno collected a dish from Mike Daley and flung it wide of the net. But he had plenty of room to step inside for the rebound which he zinged just inside the post. Moments later a miscue behind the Tommie net allowed Colm Rea to sneak one in. 8-5.
Rea struck again eight minutes later when fed by Trevor Dubien, he dipsy-doodled down the perimeter, squeezed inside, dived through the crease and popped it in the far side.
Avery left the net in the closing moments but the 6-on-5 attack was uneventful.
SHOTS
Burlington: 16/17/14 - 47
Mississauga: 16/15/11 - 42
Chief Notes:
Loose-ball leaders: Doxtater, Brownlee and Derrick Ledingham. I very much enjoyed the performances of Graham Sutherland, Adam Lustic and Bill Willson. They looked motivated and very effective defensively and in transition play.
Half-way through the season this team is not where they want to be in the standings but they do have at this moment, two quality netminders, two loose-ball wizards, ample fire-power and tons of raw talent. If they could find one defensive strategy that worked for everybody - there's no limit to what they could accomplish.
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