The Panther Prints March 5, 1996

Missin

by Jason Martell

Unless you've been living ina closet for the past week, you obvi- > ously know about the incident that took place between the UPEI men's hockey team and the Moncton Blue Eagles last Saturday at the Charlottetown Sportsplex.

Tyler Ertel fired a slapshot into the top corner past Moncton goaltender Pierre Gagnon with less than a minute to play to give the Panthers a 3-2 overtime win. The goal was disputed, but after a 90 second delay, referee Brian Carragher confirmed what most of the 1200 fans in attendance wanted to hear.

The decision touched off a series of events which included the attempted lynching of the officiating staff, a broken pane of glass to the left of the goal judge, and a near brawl at center ice.

This ugly post-game incident seems to be the only thing that UPEI students and Island hockey fans alike are talking about. The Panthers played some absolutely inspired hockey against Moncton and in the process, claimed their first MacAdam division title since 1990 setting the scene for a best-of-three series with Acadia. By the time you read this, the UPEI/Axemen series will be over and the Panthers could very well be headed to the CIAU Nationals in Toronto. Not bad for a team that was 5-7-1 at the Christmas break.

Regardless of what happens on the weekend, credit has to be given to Doug Currie and his players who finished with a 15-10-1 overall record and were ranked 8th in the nation at week's end.

Six of the top twenty scorers in the AUAA playoffs were from the Panthers and latebloomer Craig Johnson has posted an impressive goals against average of 3.49 prior to the finals.

a 3 I The UPEI men's basketball

team split a pair of games last week- end in Nova Scoaia. After an 85-82

win over the Saint Mary's Huskies, the Panthers dropped an important four-point game by a final of 87-76 in Acadia.

Peter Lawlor had his best weekend of the year scoring a total of 43 points in the two games while Curtis Robison all but assured him- self his second-straight scoring title.

Unless Dalhousie or Acadia lose both of their final games and the Panthers take a pair of games from Memorial, UPEI will have to settle

for third place and miss out on a first"

round bye at the AUAA finals. The six-team tourney takes place on March 6, 7, and the 8 at the Metro

Centre in Halifax. RAK

The Sherwood Sportsplex

The UPEI women's basketball team split their games on the week- end as they beat Acadia 57-55 after losing to Saint Mary's, 84-74. The win was small consolation for the Panthers as they failed to earn an AUAA playoff spot after going to the finals last season.

The Panthers finished with a record of 6-14 for a total of 18 points and were lead this season by Eireann Rigby who was fifth in the conference in scoring with 17.5 points per game. Jennifer Johnston finished 10th overall in league scor- ing with an 11.9 ppg average.

¢ the Point

Other Panthers who finished among the league's statistical leaders were Angela MacIntyre and Kara Saunders who finished second and fifth respectively in the AUAA

rebounding leaders. 28 KKK

UPEI RECREATION PRESENTS. . . drumroll please. . . MARCH MAYHEM! To go along with the Intramural hockey and

basketball playoffs, the Sports Cen- ~

tre presents the following events for your enjoyment.

*Co-ed volleyball tournament: Friday, March 15 at 2:00 pm. Regis- ter before March 14 at noon. The grand prize is a gift certificate at The Winds.

Photo by Lorne Caborn

*Co-ed indoor soccer tourney: Friday, March 22 at 1:00 pm. Regis- ter before March 21 at noon. Each team can have seven players plus a keeper and there is a limit of two varsity men and women per team.

*Curling funspiel: Saturday, March 23 from.3:00-7:00 pm at the Charlottetown Curling Club. The entry deadline is March 22 at noon.

*Indoor tennis: March 25, 26, 27. Call the Sports Centre for a reservation or details about all of these great winter events.

Panther | Playoff Diary

by Yvonne MacKean

The UPEI Panthers hockey team has been on long journey towards the AUAA Conference finals. Here is the long road, along with my own personal anecdotes.

UPEI vs UNB

This series began on Valentines Day, over three weeks ago. Game one was at the Civic Centre, as the Reds had gained home ice advantage because of their better record against us. The Panthers started out with a bang, out scoring the Reds 5-1 in the first. The Panthers continued to pressure through-

out the game, getting goals from Wilson,

White (2), Ertel, MacPherson, MacLean, Harding, and Kowan. The final was a stunning 8-2 victory and

more importantly, a 1-0 series lead. The series then went to

Fredericton. Like the avid Panther fan I am, I loaded up the car and we headed out. .. eventually. My car died, I had to get the starter replaced and a couple of hours later than planned we headed out. We just got on the 6:30 boat, third last car. It was rather amusing to watch the Trius tour bus fly by us waiting anx- iously in the compound. Game one saw UNB come out fighting. The Reds took a 5-1 lead into the first before the - Panthers began to fight back. However, frequent penalty calls saw the fight end as UNB went on to win 9-5. The Panthers goals were scored by Nelson, . Ertel, Harding, Lemay and Pomeroy. The series came down to Sunday's deciding game.

The game was filled with edge-of- your-seat tension. The teams both had chances in the first two periods, but - neither goalie could be beat. My friend was rather nauseous because of the stress. Then there was a five minute high sticking and game misconduct called on UNB. The high stick drew blood, and cost Mike Harding a tooth. When the third began, Nelson scored on

the power play. This would be the _

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