Sports
October 16, 2008 10:12 PM
By: John Cudmore
So what’s the difference between a coach whose team has won six straight games and one whose team is struggling mightily?
Not as much as one might think, actually.
True enough, a six-game winning streak has carried the Tigers to first place in the Phillips Division, tied with the Orangeville Crushers, with one game in hand.
In fact, the Tigers’ last loss was a 3-2 verdict at the hands of the Crushers Sept. 27. The other was opening night to the Huntsville Otters, who happen to sit one point in arrears entering play this weekend.
Having come up winless against their closest rivals, you just know the Aurora side is licking its chops at the thought of atoning for those defeats.
The Tigers have an opportunity to turn the tables on the Crushers when the teams meet Friday (7:30 p.m.) at the Aurora Community Centre.
Despite an 11-2 record, though, the Tigers have hardly shown a dominance on scoreboards, outscoring opponents on average by exactly one goal per game. True, it’s enough to win, barely, yet not convincingly. The point is, the Tigers haven’t indicated they’ve hit top stride just yet.
“We’re winning ugly, but winning is the key thing,” said Tigers big boss with the whip and chair, Jerome Dupont, who has shown more patience than he is often credited for when his teams don’t meet his performance expectations.
“We’re concerned with it, believe me. You can’t go into third periods trailing 4-1 and expect to win very often. That’s the first time we’ve had a breakout period this season.”
The head coach was referring to six unanswered goals in the third period Saturday night as the Tigers roared back from a three-goal deficit to tame the Seguin Bruins, 7-4.
“It’s our lack of consistency,” he said. “We haven’t been able to string together three good periods in any one game.
“Our goals for and against ratio has to widen for us to be considered among the top teams in the country.”
“We’re not scoring the more than five goals per game like we did in our Royal Bank Cup season (2006-07), but four goals should be enough to win your games. I think, eventually, it will come.”
To date, the Tigers have played nine of their initial 13 games on enemy ice, the losses coming at Huntsville and Orangeville.
“That kind of record is good for anyone,” said Dupont.
“But we’ve got nothing to brag about yet.”
Dupont has been able to resist the temptation to alter his roster as he assesses the assembled cast. Rest assured, though, he is on the prowl.
“We’re looking and know what we want,” Dupont said. “But we’re not going to upset the chemistry in our dressing room just for the sake of it. Believe me, we have good chemistry.”
Never mind the Tigers have won six straight games and 11 of 12 since an opening night loss at the paws of the Otters.
It just goes to show even in the throes of a winning streak and sitting atop the standings, a head coach can always find something to worry about.
Bump it up for NSC It’s been a good year for the Newmarket Soccer Club.
Basking in the warm glow of a bronze medal secured Monday by its under-14 girls at the BMO Canadian club championships in Charlottetown, the Newmarket program enjoyed a bump up in the TERRA Power Rankings for the 2008 youth soccer season.
Considered an unofficial measuring stick for youth soccer in Ontario, NSC checked in at 13th among the 135 clubs listed in the rankings. Only Woodbridge Soccer Club, at 12th, is rated higher than the 23 Newmarket United rep teams among York Region programs.
Soccer clubs in Erin Mills and Oakville topped the list.
It is a considerable jump for NSC which finished 24th in the 2007 rankings.
The Newmarket under-14 squad is also listed second in the power rankings among all female teams in the province, behind only the Oshawa Kicks under-18 squad.
The Aurora Soccer Club dropped from 25th to 30th in the club rankings this season.
The overall rankings are based on combined score from on-field performance to community profile, including the number of teams fielded and age groups serviced by organizations.
Mowing ‘em downNewmarket lefthander Jake Eliopoulos continues to improve his stock for the 2009 major league baseball draft in June.
Eliopoulos pitched five shutout innings for Canada’s junior national team against a squad of Atlanta Braves’ low minor leaguers in fall instructional elague action last week in Orlando, Fla.
The Grade 12 student at Sacred Heart Catholic High School is the highest rated Canadian for the 2009 major league draft.
In Orlando, he struck out five and surrendered just two hits as the Canucks fell 9-5 and 3-0.
Next up is the 80-team World Wood Bat tournament starting Oct. 23 in Jupiter, Florida.