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WAXERS SPLIT EARNS FIFTH
PLACE With four games remaining in the regular season, the Waxers can attain that goal, which would enable them to occupy a spot in the league's upper echelon. But they must win all four games. The Waxers could have made things a little easier on themselves last weekend as they hosted two teams with inferior records in the Spirit of Stouffville on Friday and the North York Rangers on Sunday. The Spirit delayed the Waxers' plan of attack by skating off with a 4-2 win. The Waxers made amends against the Rangers but required overtime to eke out a 5-4 win and clinch fifth place in the Central Conference with a 26-15-4-2 mark. "I think the last time I checked there were only eight or nine teams that can get 30 wins in our league," Herrington cited. "If you do that you're in the top quarter of the league. (Winning 30 games) hasn't been done here in a while. We've got to buckle down." The weekend split was not what Herrington wanted. "We had a chance to get four points and we only got two," he noted. "I think on Friday the guys were still reeling from Thursday's loss (a 6-4 setback to the Couchiching Terriers). We ran into some hot goaltending on both nights. We didn't play as physical as we'd like. And we had some penalty problems, a lack of discipline."
David Colucci and Rob Bumbaco each scored for the Waxers in its loss to the Spirit, who broke a 2-2 second-period tie in the third by scoring two unanswered goals in the late going to procure the win. In explaining Sunday's reversal of fortune, Herrington hinted a little heart-to-heart pre-game talk with his charges might have ignited a spark. "We definitely lacked emotion on Friday. Yesterday, the guys on the bench got things going after the first five or six minutes. Guys like Kevin Tompkins, Brett Barrer and Mike Clarke stepped it up. They got the emotional level up on the bench." Lawne Snyder scored two goals, including the game winner with just 45 seconds left in the extra session to seal the win. Joel Kitchen tied the game with seven minutes left in regulation to force overtime. Barrer and Bryan Lachapelle, on a power play, accounted for the other Waxer goals. In wrapping up fifth place, the Waxers will face the Aurora Tigers in the first round of the best-of-five playoffs which start February 23rd at Aurora.
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