Vinovium ex-head coach Robert Petrie looks on as the Lumberjacks lose 5-1 to the Labrador Caribou at home, image credit to CBC
Vinovium fires their head coach, Isca Town and DC keep pace at the top, and Eboracum and Londinium build a little momentum.
Vinovium Lumberjacks 1, Labrador Caribou 5: There was hope in the Lumberjacks locker room after the Pons Aelius win; hope that they might turn things around, might save head coach Robert Petrie's job. That hope was dashed at home in spectacular fashion as the Labrador Caribou nearly doubled their goal-scoring output for the season, routing Vinovium 5-1. General manager Winston Pierce announced Petrie's firing in the post-game press conference and confirmed that assistant coach Dean Collins would take over as interim while the Lumberjacks started the search for a new head man. The Lumberjacks managed a single goal from Kevin Morgan, his fourth of the season, but it came at 14:24 of the second, when the Lumberjacks were already trailing 4-0. Labrador's goal scorers were Victor Hall, Johnny Ramsey (2), Wade Hamilton, and Philippe Laurent; they now have sole possession of third place in the league.
Isca Town Captains 0, Pons Aelius Steelers 0 (2-1 SO): Defense, defense, defense. That's what this one was all about. The Captains' control style of play against the Steelers' deny, deny, deny, then counterstrike strategy. It wasn't dull, though, as both teams racked up more than 30 shots and each goalie made several nice saves. But in the shootout, Jason Gross and Robbie Reid beat Brett McQueen, while Justin Smith bested him with four saves. After allowing an opening goal to Hank Gross, Smith denied Aaron Black, Brooks Worrell, Nate Fuller, and Dirk Ziegler in succession to finish off the win for the Captains. Isca Town won their ninth straight and will travel to Labrador next, while Pons Aelius are losers of their last two and three of their last five. They will try to snap their losing streak against the Oilers.
DC Oilers 4, Aquae Sulis Bears 3: DC wins again, getting a goal and an assist from both Julian Stephens and Sammy Jensen to lead the team to victory. They built a 3-0 first period lead and held on, as the Bears rumbled back to close the deficit to 3-2 on a goal from Martin Wong, and again made it a one-goal game in the third when Darin Drake snapped one by Ted Carpenter. But Carpenter stopped Nick May late and DC got the win. The Oilers have now won three straight and four out of five; in this most recent five-game stretch, they've scored 21 goals, which is more than any other team has scored all season. They will travel to Pons Aelius in what should be a titanic clash with the Steelers. As for the Bears, they have now lost two straight; their next game against the Privateers will determine whether they finish the first round-robin with a winning record or a losing one.
Newfield Rangers 0, Londinium Royals 0 (0-2 SO): The Royals didn't play spectacularly, but they did play well enough to win. Their d-men blocked six shots and goalie Eli Boyd made 25 saves to get the Royals the win. In the shootout, Rangers goalie Augustin Gauthier stopped Eric Benson, Sheldon Cook, and Daniel Roberts in the first three shots before Thomas Bailey and Ben Malone scored to clinch the shootout. This is the second consecutive shutout for Londinium, and clamping down on defense has helped them climb back into contention. With the win, the Royals are now one point back on Pons Aelius for the final playoff spot. They will try to end their first round-robin on a good note when they host the woeful Lumberjacks next. Newfield continues to be tough to beat, but this is their sixth loss in ten games. Nobody really expected them to be competitive, but with eleven points from ten games, they are in the mix. They just need to start turning some of those overtime and shootout losses into wins. They will travel to Eboracum next.
Sept-Iles Whalers 1, Eboracum Sharpshooters 2: Oof. This is the third loss in a row for the Whalers, and it wasn't an easy one. A late turnover by Denis Babin gave the puck back to Eboracum, and Sharpshooters forward Alec Loveless scooped up the puck and fired it past Clement Charbonneau for the winning goal with fewer than two minutes to go in the game. Rene Kelly and Gaston Fortin could be seen consoling a sobbing Babin after the game. Marc Levesque, the leader of Sept-Iles' blue line, said after the game, "Denis' turnover was unfortunate, but it is our job as defensemen to be prepared for things like that. So it is truly my fault we lost, and not Denis'." The Sharpshooters now have a two-game winning streak and will look to extend it against Newfield at home. As for the Whalers, they will travel to Mancunium. Both teams will try to break their three-game losing streak and start to climb out of the cellar.
Portus Abonae Privateers 5, Mancunium Raiders 3: Both teams broke out their goal-scoring sticks, with eight combined goals in this one. The Privateers took a 2-0 first period lead on goals from Tony Boykin and Jamie Atwood. They extended it to 3-0 on Jordon Upshaw's sixth of the year in the second, but Quinn Baird and Matt Harmon pulled Mancunium to within 3-2 by the end of the period. Cliff Holt scored for Portus Abonae and Brandon Scanlon answered for the Raiders in the third. The game wasn't truly put away until Jesse Brock scored an empty-netter at 19:22 to make it 5-3. For the Privateers, their last four games have gone loss-win-loss-win. They will try to end the first round-robin on a good note as they travel to Aquae Sulis. For the Raiders, this is the second consecutive game in which they have scored three goals, and it's their second consecutive multi-goal loss. Head coach Cary Hodges confirmed that Heath Lindsay will take a seat to backup netminder Markus Lehmann for a game. "We want to get him a break, clear his head a bit after these two games," said the Raiders man in charge. This is the third consecutive loss for the Raiders; they are now just one point ahead of Sept-Iles and in danger of slipping into second-to-last place.
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