Wild dominate Shield for shutout
By Bill Rea

Matt Brereton was helping to keep the Shield away from the front of the net late in Saturday's match, helping Craig Byford notch his first Wild shutout.

Head Coach Paul Hampton was hard pressed to think of negatives Saturday night after one of the most dominating performances of the King Wild this season.

The local junior A club were in charge from the start as they handed their South Muskoka Shield visitors a 6- 0 loss. The Wild also posted an overwhelming 65-29 margin in shots on goal.

Goalie Craig Byford notched his first shutout in a Wild uniform, and he admitted that making the accomplishment was on his mind, especially as the match drew to a close. "I was looking at the clock for the last five minutes or so," he said after the game.

"We played really hard," Hampton commented. "All four lines were working. I'm hoping we're peaking."

If there is a weak spot, the coach said it's with the power play, which still needs some work.

"It's not clicking for us," he remarked. "We're not being patient enough to settle down and set it up properly."

The Wild got one goal in the first period, courtesy of Ryan Williamson, assisted by Dan Douglas and Kyle Baulne, and the other five came in the second. The third frame was scoreless.

Marc Zanette collected two of the other goals, while singles were notched by Baulne , Mike Bodley and Sean Pollard. Jordan Gidaro assisted on two of the second-period markers, while Piero Petti, John Adams, Kurt Zdrillich, Pollard and Matt Marchese helped out on one apiece.

Despite the win, the Wild were unable to gain ground in their chase of the secondplace Richmond Hill Rams. The Rams were busy Saturday night handing a 6- 2 loss to the West Nipissing Alouettes, so they maintained their two-point advantage in the standings with 43 to 41 for the Wild, although the Wild have two games in hand. The Bradford Rattlers are still far out in front with 58.

This is going to be a busy week for the Wild, with a home-and-home series with the Alouettes Friday and Sunday. In between, they will be paying a call on the Toronto Canada Moose Saturday. Friday's match in Sturgeon Falls will get started at 8 p.m. and Saturday's contest in Thornhill against the Moose will begin at 7:35 p.m. Sunday's game with the Nipissing crew will begin at 5:45 p.m.