MULTIMEDIA

The first period was a non-Waxer like affair, lacking flow as the Raiders took the play to the Waxers at times only to be denied by netminder Dan Leclair. However, it was Markham that capitalized and put the lone goal in of the period when Jesse Boucher tucked in a shorthanded goal at the eleven minute mark to put Markham in front 1-0.

The tempo of the game didn't really change in the early stages of the second period but hard work on the part of centreman Bobby Fitkin earned him a goal when he simply outworked the Raider defender and put Markham up 2-0 two minutes into the middle frame. Patrick Diotte and Boucher drew assists. 

At the eight minute mark and the Waxers holding a 2-0 lead, Leclair made a tremendous save, robbing a Raider shooter from about five-six feet out, making a wonderful shoulder stop to preserve the Waxer lead. Just past the midway point of the period Eric Kleine scored his first ever Jr. A goal to make it 3-0, Steve Kelly drawing the only assist.

Then the Waxers got a major wakeup call, seven seconds after Kleine's goal, the Raiders waltzed right through the Markham defenders and cut the lead to 3-1. Thirty seconds later they did it again and it was now 3-2.

That goal lit a spark in the Waxers and they never looked back. The speed and forechecking tenacity took over the game and the rest of the way it was all Markham. Most impressive of all was that the turnabout didn't require a team timeout or anything of the sort, they just dug in as a team and played the kind of hockey that has made the hockey world stand up and take notice.

At the fifteen minute mark Jason Duffy scored his first of the year from Fitkin to make it 4-2. Two minutes later Kevin Tompkins made the prettiest pass of the night, leading a two man rush down the left wing and with Mark Menonte on the right side, Tompkins patiently waited, waited and then finally at the last possible moment slid a picture perfect pass to Menonte, right on the tape at the edge of the Raider goal, Menonte dunked it home for the easy score as the netminder had no chance on the play and the Waxers were up 5-2 after two periods.

In the third the Waxers added three more but the outcome was academic, not that Wexford quit or stopped attacking but there was just simply no way that Markham was going to lose. Two minutes in Boucher scored his second of the night from Fitkin and Duffy to make it 6-2. Just over two minutes later Tompkins notched a powerplay marker from Brent Pollock and Menonte to make it 7-2. Kevin Cribari concluded the scoring, with just 58 seconds remaining, driving one home for his second of the season, from Kelly and Ryan Taylor and this one was history.

Whenever a club allows only a pair of goals to a strong club such as the Raiders the entire unit has to play well, two notable mentions are deserved however, both Mark Mitchell and Albert Ferrante played tremendous games.

After the so-so first thirty minutes the second thirty featured high-speed action and tough physical hockey. Tompkins laid the best hit of the year we've seen, somehow the Raider recipient was able to get up and continue. Netminding continues to be a major strength but most importantly of all the Waxers are playing unselfish, team hockey. They are mature enough to understand that individual numbers come naturally when the club is playing well and the results to date bear that out.

Monday night the Waxers host the Huntsville Wildcats in one of two regular season matches scheduled for the 2000-01 season, game time is 7:30pm at Markham Centennial.

G A M E   S T A T I S T I C S

No.

 G

A

PTS

PIM

PPG

SHG

GWG

TOTALS