Lumberjacks players celebrate their first win of the season, image credit to Grand Forks Herald
Yes, the story of the day is Vinovium's first win, but we also have a shootout, a six-goal effort, two teams snap losing streaks, and one team loses a significant winning streak.
Pons Aelius Steelers 1, Vinovium Lumberjacks 2: What a way to win your first game! On the road at Pons Aelius is never an easy task, and yet the Lumberjacks, winless in their first eight games, took down the mighty Steelers in regulation. Kevin Morgan rifled one home after just 4:45, which seemed to put the Steelers on the back foot. They played more tentatively than they usually do, looking more confused on defense as the Lumberjacks grew in confidence. Jake Roundtree finished off a rebound from backup goalie Christophe Collier at 18:32 of the first period to put Vinovium up 2-0. Although they weren't as skillful in either the second or third, they made the lead stand up. Head coach Robert Petrie was doused with Gatorade after the victory, but his job still isn't safe. The Lumberjacks, after all, are still 1-7-1. For Pons Aelius, this was a blow to their efforts to keep pace with league leaders DC and Isca Town. Furthermore, their three losses have now come to traditional non-contenders. Newfield is currently sixth, but they typically are far below that and neither Mancunium nor Vinovium have finished in a playoff spot in recent history. If they can't take care of business against the weaker teams, they won't return to the playoffs.
Sept-Iles Whalers 3, Newfield Rangers 3 (1-3 SO): Two scrappy underdogs enter "Le Navire", one leaves. And the scrappy underdog that won this game, and has been more successful thus far, is the Newfield Rangers. This is their second shootout win, and the third period play we said had been lacking showed up. The Whalers got goals from Gaston Fortin, Rene Kelly, and James McDaniel to take a 3-2 lead into the third period. But at 14:44, Toby Swan, scorer of the game-winner against Pons Aelius, winded his way through the defense and flipped a nifty wrister past Whalers goaltender Clement Charbonneau to tie the score. Bradley Gibbs, the Rangers backup goalkeeper, made three saves in the shootout to hold down the Whalers and preserve the victory.
Mancunium Raiders 3, DC Oilers 6: What a four-game stretch it has been for the DC Oilers. In the last four games (3-0-1), the boys from Durovernum Cantiacorum have scored 17 goals, which is more than all but two other teams in the NAHL have scored all season. This was a back-and-forth affair between the Raiders and Oilers. In the first, Julian Stephens, Owen Jones, and Sammy Jensen all scored to give the Oilers a 3-0 lead. Then, the defense collapsed, allowing two power play goals and a full-strength goal (Todd Hagan, Quinn Baird, Brandon Scanlon) to tie the game at 3 after the end of two periods. But in the third, it was the Raiders' turn to lose all momentum. Reed Harrison, Wally McMillan, and Stephens on an empty net found the back of the net to provide the final score. The Raiders lost their second straight and now sit in ninth place.
Eboracum Sharpshooters 2, Portus Abonae Privateers 1: Two teams that most observers have pegged as underachieving so far met in the HeartBank Centre in Eboracum. The Sharpshooters and the Privateers were tied entering the night, with both teams feeling like their offense was a little lacking. Well, there weren't any great offensive fireworks, but Eboracum got goals from Glen Gray and Christian Ball, enough to put them over the top. Archie Cole scored the only goal for Portus Abonae. The Sharpshooters snapped a two-game losing streak and took sole possession of eighth place. The Privateers failed to build any momentum from their 2-0 win over Sept-Iles the other day; they now have seven losses, more than any team except Vinovium, and are tied for 10th in the league.
Labrador Caribou 0, Londinium Royals 1: There was a little soul-searching in the Royals locker room prior to this game, as they'd lost three in a row. "Sometimes, with a young team, coming back from adversity is a little harder," said Royals head coach Paul Bowman, "But we really worked hard with the boys and they showed us the resilience and fortitude we're going to need to compete for a title." The offense they'd like to have wasn't there tonight, but they did manage to put one goal past Dave Francis, and Eric Benson's fourth of the years at 8:33 of the third, after grinding for two periods, proved to be enough. For the Caribou, it was their first regulation loss, but their third loss overall in their last four games.
Aquae Sulis Bears 0, Isca Town Captains 1: Two teams with impressive winning streaks went head to head, but only one came out with their streak intact. Isca Town's now eight-game winning streak is secure, while the Bears saw their three-game streak snapped. After scoring seven goals in their two most recent matches, Aquae Sulis could not breach the iron-clad defense of the Louis Tremblay-Jason Gross blue line, nor the sturdy Justin Smith in net. Smith made 26 saves and Captains defenders blocked a further five shots. Robbie Reid had the winning goal at 12:09 of the second period. Isca Town stays tied with DC for the league lead, while the Bears have fallen back into a tie with the Rangers for sixth place.
No comments:
Post a Comment