Terriers Get Rough In Narrow Loss

January 3, 2010.  The Dunnville Junior C Terriers lost a narrow 7-5 defeat in a high-scoring match to the Chippawa Riverhawks Sunday night.  After a game in which Dunnville was outshot 42-18 and spent 53 minutes of the match in the penalty box, Dunnville’s loss left Terriers coach Terry MacArthur lamenting what he said was an unnecessary defeat at the hands of the Riverhawks.

“We should have won that game,” said MacArthur, adding Dunnville had enough opportunities to post a victory and that the problem in this match was a lack of disciplined play.

Though Chippawa scored two early goals in the first period, Dunnville worked hard to tie it up, with Tanner McGowan scoring assisted by Dan Minor and Connor Harvie at 12:23 of the first and Jason Dear finding net with an assist by Dan Minor and Ryan Dear early in the second. A tightly played second period resulted in Dunnville being only one goal behind going into the third with the score at 4-3, courtesy of a powerplay goal by McGowan, assisted by Jared Murphy and Tyler Springer, at 11:16 of the second.

Dunnville took only one penalty in the first period -a two-minute to Austin Douglas for holding -but their minutes off the ice piled up after a fight ensued with about six minutes left in the second period when Dunnville’s Taylor Schwoob checked a Riverhawk from behind and the two engaged in a brawl. Other members of both teams got involved and by the time penalties were doled out, Schwoob took two minutes and two game misconduct for checking from behind and fighting, along with a five-minute fighting major. Schwoob was thrown out of the game and Dan Minor took a 10-minute misconduct for inciting an opponent. Jason Dear earned a game misconduct for leaving the bench.

Also in that period, Dustin Demoe took a two-minute tripping penalty and Jared Murphy and Tanner McGowan each took two minutes for roughing after the whistle. Before the period drew to a close, Jordan Cunningham spent two minutes in the box for hooking.

Chippawa came back with a vengeance in the third and was able to pull away with a lead by hammering in three goals in the first half of the period, bringing the score to 7-3. Dunnville was able to close the gap with goals from Ryan Dear assisted by Corey Turner about 13 minutes in and one from Mitch Barnes, assisted by McGowan and Ryan Dear at 16:59.

Dunnville racked up 26 minutes in penalties in the third, with Demoe taking another for tripping and Tanner McGowan for slashing, while Dan Minor was given 10 minutes for an abuse of officials misconduct and a game misconduct. Murphy rounded out the game by taking another two minutes for tripping and 10 minutes for inciting an opponent.

Dunnville has gotten so used to losing that changing mindsets and attitudes will continue to be an uphill battle. One of MacArthur’s favourite phrases to use in the dressing room is, “There’s no ‘I’ in ‘team’, but there is an ‘I’ in ‘win.’ Winning’s not everything, but how hard you try to win is.”

Everyone must come ready to play every game, he said. “We’re 30 per cent across the board -30 per cent less goals against and we’ve come up in the standings.”  Coaches are trying to introduce a new system to encourage the team to drive to the net and shoot more. 

 ”Right now, the system is discipline,” he said. “Today, we fell apart. We had a handle on discipline on the bench, but the guys just lost it.”  He did say he’s seen positive changes happen throughout this season -the team recently scored “two huge wins,” one against and the other.  Individually, said MacArthur, Mitch Barnes has brought his play to a new level and  is playing better. Defenseman Dustin Demoe is back in the lineup and should make a difference.

Goalie Tyler Gilbertson found himself tested heavily throughout the first and second periods and ended the game with 35 saves on his 42 shots, where Chippawa’s Jamie MacMillan took only 18 shots and made 13 saves.

By ALLISON SMITH , CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER

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