SPORTS Hockey Panthers battle for playoff spot Panthers prepare for first home games BY TODD PETRIE THIS WEEKEND FEATURES THE RETURN of the UPEI Hockey Panthers as they play their first home games of 1994. The Panthers play the Cape Breton Capers Saturday night at 7:00 and the St. FX X-Men on Sunday. Game time is at 1:00. With only eleven games left in the short AUAA season, all games are important as the Panthers are in a close race with the Mt. DOMINO'S: IZZA a ® Allison Mounties for the last playoff spot in the - MacAdam Division. Only the division's top. four teams will make the playoffs and the - Panthers are currently in fourth place. The last-place Mounties trail the Panthers by four points, with one game in hand. Me. Allison plays tonight against the Moncton Blue Eagles. On January 8th and 9th, UPEI returned to the ice after the lengthy Christmas break. Wayne Gretzky's Favourite Pizza At DOMINOS Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday sé Starving Student Special ‘i499 ‘For each additional pisze (large pepperoni) a $5.00" FREE DELIVERY Additional Topping - $1.00 per pizza Not valid with any — special Drivers carry less than $20.00. Sporting a 9 9-2 record, the Panthers took a tour through Nova Scotia facing the St. Mary's Huskies and the Acadia Axemen. On Saturday, January 8th in Halifax, the Panthers grabbed an early lead against the Huskies, only to see the St. Mary's squad battle back for a 6-6 tie, with St. Mary top scorer Jerret DeFazio notching the equalizer late in the third period. The last time the two teams met also ended in a tie, 7- 7 at the Civic Centre. Sunday afternoon, the Panthers travelled southward to Wolfville, N.S., home of the 1992-93 CIAU champion, and this year’s current league leaders, the Acadia Axemen. On Sunday, UPEI, who were whipped | 1-5 by the strong Acadia team back on October 24, found themselves down 3-0 early in the first period, but roared back to tie the game 4-4 in the second; however, four third-period goals helped give the Axemen a 9-5 win, sending the Panthers to their tenth defeat of the year. Last weekend, UPEI was in Fredericton to play two games with the St. Thomas Tommies. St. Thomas swept their two games in their visit to the Civic Centre in November. This weekend, the Panthers will be out to gain some much needed points as well as a Basketball teams play at home Panthers to take on St.Mary’s andAcadia BY TODD PETRIE BOTH OF OUR BASKETBALL TEAMS ARE at home this weekend at the Sports Centre, where the invited guests will be the St.Mary's Huskies and the Acadia Axemen/Axettes. The first game will be on Saturday at 1:00 and will feature the UPEI Lady Panthers against the St.Mary's Huskies. The Panthers, who are 2- 4 in regular season play, are fresh from a great performance in a holiday tournament hosted by St.Mary's, and two games this past weekend against Memorial University of Newfoundland. The next game is immediately after the women’s game at 3:00 when the men’s Panthers, with their 3-1 record heading into last weekend's games at MUN, will also take on the St. Mary's Huskies. The St. Mary's Huskies are in sixth place with a I-2 record. On Sunday, Acadia provides the opposition for both Panther teams. The women will play at 4:00 and the men will hit the court at 6:00. [_x.press january eighteenth 1994 page 16 | -was the head coach. certain measure of revenge against St. FX and Cape Breton. UPEI’s visit to Antigonish and Sydney in October resulted in two lopsided losses. St. FX started the year very strongly, winning their first five games, including a 7-2 win over UPEI; however, the Antigonish team, which coach Doug Synishin says can play with anybody in the league, has been tailing off in recent games and brings a 6-4-2 record (as of January 15) with them to their one and only visit to the Civic Centre this year. The Capers, meanwhile, also on their only visit to the Island this year, barring playoffs, have a 5-8-| record. PANTHER NOTES: * Coach Billy MacMillan is recently returning froma stint as assistant coach in the Under-17 hockey championships. Acadia’s Tom Coolen * UNB’s head coach Mike Johnston was an assistant coach with Canada’s National junior team, which recently won the gold medal in Czech Republic. . * Panther forward K,J.White is the only Panther player in the top ten in scoring. White has 13 goals, and |3 assists. * This weekend’s games, and all Panther home games, are free to all UPEI students. Acadia’s men’s team leads the eight-team league with a 4-1 record, good for |2 points in the AUAA’s unbalanced schedule (games between mainland Nova Scotia and non-mainland teams "are worth four points). With their 3-1! record, the Panthers are two points behind the Axemen, who will play the remainder of the season without star player Kevin Lee, who had to drop out of school due to financial 9difficulties. Below are the standings for the men’s basketball as of January 14. wie Pts. Acadia Axemen 4 | 12 Cape Breton 4 | 10 UPEI Panthers 3 | 10 UNB Raiders 3 2 8 Dal Tigers Ri ea ek St. Mary's I 2 2 St.FX X-Men 0 4 0 MUN Seahawks 0 4 0