LUCAN – In his final home game as a member of the Lucan Irish, all-star forward  Dustin McTaggart scored the winning goal, a shootout tally that secured a 7-6 win over the Port Stanley Sailors Feb. 10.
The Irish followed that game with a 4-0 loss to the Tavistock Braves Friday night, bringing their 2009-2010 season to a close.
Neither team scored in the first period of the Feb. 10 game, but Lucan jumped out to a 3-0 lead early in the second period thanks to goals from Nick Moniz and Dave Latta (2).
Port Stanley clawed back with two goals of their own before Tyler Medd added one for the Irish with 42 seconds left in the frame.
Port Stanley scored four goals to Lucan’s two in the third period, tying the game with 39 seconds left to send it to overtime.
Medd and Chris Van Kasteren scored Lucan’s goals in the third period, though neither team managed to score in overtime.
The game came down to a shootout, with Lucan’s Dan Sellars scoring first and McTaggart securing the victory after two failed attempts by Port Stanley players.
Lucan co-head coach John Medd said he though the Irish were lucky to win the game but it was good to come away with the victory.
Fellow head coach Paul McTaggart said the game is likely one the Irish would have lost earlier in the season.
“(Earlier in the season) we had leads and we gave them up, but we got to the overtime and we got to a shootout, and … I think we had three shootouts, and we lost the two and finally won one, so it was good.”
Friday’s game was less favourable for the Irish, who trailed 2-0 after the first period, endured a scoreless second period, and surrendered two more goals in the third, securing the loss.
“We were short some players, and their goalie played well,” Medd said. “So did ours – ours made some good saves, but we got in some bad penalties that cost us the game.”
McTaggart said the Irish played one good period – the second – and a few of its veteran players didn’t seem to be into the game.
“No doubt about it, their goalie is good,” he said. “I think we could have played a little better than 4-0 against them, but that’s the way it went.”
The Tavistock game brought a trying season to an end for the Irish, who finished last in the Southern Ontario Junior Hockey League (SOJHL)’s Yeck Conference and out of the playoff picture.
The Irish had 10 victories, 22 losses and four overtime losses in the campaign, though they showed a marked improvement in the last half of the season and won three of their last five games.
Youth and inexperience were major issues for Lucan, which saw few players return from last year’s squad and iced a lineup made up primarily of rookies.
“It was a big jump coming up from midget to junior (for the rookies),” Medd said. “It’s quite a bit faster than what they’re used to, but from Christmas time on we turned  ‘er on and played well.”
McTaggart noted the quality of opponents in the Yeck – three of the winningest teams in the league are aligned there – and said the Irish managed six of a possible 32 points against teams in their division.
“They’re all good, and we had trouble with them all, although we had good games with all those teams other than Mt. Brydges,” he said.
Medd and McTaggart said they’ve been approached about returning as coaches next year and have expressed interest in the job, but nothing is set in stone.
They hope to do some recruiting over the summer to entice players to join the team next season, but acknowledge it might be difficult to do so.
“Players want to go to a winner ... so it’s going to be harder for us, being that we didn’t make the playoffs,” McTaggart said.  “But we’re going to try and do some recruiting.”
The Irish will be losing three of their top scorers from this season – Van Kasteren, Dustin McTaggart and Nick Engel, all of whom are in their final year of eligibility.
“You’re probably talking about 100 points there, so that’s a lot of points to replace,” Paul McTaggart said.
Still, Medd tipped his hat to his players for not quitting late in the season.
“They still played hard, as best they could, and we had some wins,” he said. “I think the boys realize now what it takes to win, and we’ve got to play a solid 60 minutes and stick to the game plan. When they did that, they knew they were successful.”