Griffins for win By Andrew McCredie Sports Editor andrew@nsnews.com THROUGH 51 minutes the North Shore Griffins were the better team. But like an unfinished painting, an incomplete hockey game does not provide the whole picture. And as the final brush strokes were added to the Griffins” Monday night game at Wese Vancouver Arena against the Seattle Northwest Americans, the prospect: of their first-ever win turned to heartbreak as the visitors scored three unanswered goals in the final nine minutes to steal a 4-3 victory. “We took two costly penal- ties — one a very selfish one — and kind of lost the momen- tum,” head coach Norm McNamara said during a post- game analysis. “And once they got within a goal our guys oghtened up a bit.” But McNamara did see some itives in a game in which Phe Griffins outplayed and outhustled their opposi- tion for the better part of the night. “Our forecheck was a litte better tonight,” he noted, adding, that new editions Jason Taylor and Morgan Jones layed well. He also liked how his defence played. “Our defence had time to handle the puck which is what we want to do.” In the early going, Griffins’ soalie Jordan Sigalet kept the uzzing Seattle offence off the scoreboard with some solid, and at times spectaculas, puck stopping. Clayton Whitman gave North Shore the lead with a goal after just oo minutes of play. A minute into the second period, Ryan Amold made it 2-0 for the Griffins as he knocked in a rebound in front of the Americans’ crease. And then just three minutes later. Dennis Sudo pounced on a big rebound to give the home side a 3-0 lead. And then the tide began to turn. At 11:40 of the second, North Shore forward Devon Carson was handed a five- minute major and three game misconducts for a burt end. The Americans scored nwo minutes into their powerplay to make it 3-1, but the Griffins’ defence held for the | remainder of the major and took a two-goal lead into the locker room. But it was not to be as the Americans scored three times in the firaal period for the win. “The first one’s going to be 2 tough one; we just keep shooting ourselves in the foot,” McNamara said. The Griffins’ next game is against Grandview Monday at West Van Arena, 7:45 p.m. Reaching for the top THESE five local climbers are set to ascend a mighty peak as they prepare for the World Youth Climbing Championships in (mst, Austria. Pictured working out at the Edge Climbing Centre in North Vancouver are (top to bottom) Nick Goodall, Ashley Graystone, Theresa Carroll, Nina Rosmini and Justin Megahy. All five wiil be part of the Canadian junior team at the Nov. 14-16 competition. > IT is a telling statement on the state of Canada’s World Cup soccer team that you can walk up to a scalper 15 min- utes before a game with mighty Mexico and buy two tickets for $10. Such was the case on a blustery and cold afternoon at Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium on Thanksgiving Saturday and none of them want to go,” the bundled-up sealper lamented. Five minutes later my brother in- law and T serded inte our sun- drenched seats and watched toque- Wearing players from both sides high step the wind-swept pitch. Much to the relief of the Mexican team, the + snow that was rumored had filed to tly, and despite a sub-freezing mer- “T bought 24 tickets tor my family fn Sey ‘a / cury level, the weather would not be a factor. A second harbinger of our coun- try’s collective soccer malaise came in the form of a chant emanating from the grandstand. It was- werso much whar the Mexican fans were singing, it was the fact they were the only sup- Porters vocally support: ing their tear. Guesstimates at crowd size and sentiment are always suspeet, but take it from me, the Mexican SUppe ters OUTNUM bered the Canadian sup- porters (wo-to-one, In Edmonton, in October. The tact the Canadian team played by far its best World Cup qualifying match made this apathy even more menacing. In tying the Mexican side -Andrew Wednesday. October 22. 1997 -- Nortn Shore News -- 35 PORTS | | | | | | | | Women Blues undefeated By Andrew NicCredie Sports Editor andrew@usnews.com CAPILANO College soccer teams are showing all the signs of being the the regular season enters its final phase. i | national soccer champions they are as t t Doug Abercrombie has the Capilano College women’s soccer team performing at the top of their game. The defending national champs outscored oppo- nents 8-0 over the course of two games last weekend in regular league play. On Saturday, the Blues sunk the Okanagan Lakers 5-0, and a day lazer blanked the Langara Falcons 3-0 in the rescheduled President’s Cup game held at UBC. In that game, Kelly Donaldson scored tice, Diana Artuso once and Christina D’Andrea recorded the shutout. A day earlier, Cap keeper Angela Pelicirn posted her own shutout in the 5-0 win over the Lakers. Artuso and Dona Giraud each had two Diana Artuso scored three goals in two weekend games. goals in that game, while Deniece Kazuta added a single. The Blues are atop B.C. College standings with a perfect 6-0 record, and a stellar 35 goals for in those six games. They host Douglas College Saturday at their North Vancouver campus field. Kickotf is noon. In men’s action, the Blues split weekend NEWS photo Cindy Goodman games, including their first loss of the season. They fell 2-1 to the Langara Falcons in Sunday's President’s Cup game. Jon Vendargon scored the sole Capilano marker. On Saturday, the Blues beat the winless Lakers 2-0. The Blues are in second place in men’s provin- cial college standings with a 6-1 record; Langara’s perfect 6-0 record have the Falcons in first place. Capilano plays host to Douglas College this Saturday. Kick.#f is 2 p.m. 2-2, Bobby Lenarduzzi’s boys showed thar they could play smart, disciplined soccer, Hey, they could even score goals. But with an announced attendance of past over E1000, the fine eftorr — and the equally appalling eCredie Pelereeihye -— Was acrowd smaller than those in most NHE arenas when San Jose comes to tawn fora Tuesday night game. Canada has two games lett in the qualifving round for next year’s World Cup (one against the ULSAN, in Vancouver}, and about as much chance of making the next round as David Duchov-thingy buy ing a winter home in Lynn Valley. No doubt success shows in the view from the cheap sents plaved outin front of ecer in sick state stands, but even if Canada was win- ning these games, it’s unlikely fans would tlood the turnstiles. The Vancouver S6crs had a successful sea- son on the Swangard Stadium pitch, bur owner Milan Hitch has seen his ticker sales steadily decline and is unloading the team. This despite the facts that soccer is the number one participation sport in Canada and a ticket to a pro or World Cup saccer game is equal to one’s popeern budget for a Vancouver Canucks or Grizzlies game. And of course ir doesn’t help when the daily sport pages in cities throughout Canada bury soccer sto- fies beneath World Series coverage and pre-season NHL. game sum- Maries. ‘Yo borrow a phrase from the aweet science, Canadian elite soccer is on the ropes. And even Mexican sov- cer fans can’t save it. = OK