Wednesday, July 1, 2020

NAHL Day 25 - Surging Privateers take down slumping Royals


Gros Morne Park, in western Newfoundland, near Portus Abonae, image credit to WestJet

Portus Abonae surges, the three top teams win, and Eboracum misses a chance to tie Londinium

Portus Abonae Privateers 4, Londinium Royals 3: All of a sudden, Portus Abonae look like their old selves again. They've won four of their last five and are just three points out of sixth place. And they showed that they're not just good against bottom feeders like Mancunium and Aquae Sulis; they can take on playoff-position teams and come out ahead. Portus' Mike Henry scored the first goal at 12:08 of the first period, and Cliff Holt added another at 18:28. Londinium was thoroughly outplayed in the first period, but Nico Nielsen and Eric Benson scored in the second to tie the score before Tad Baines gave the Privateers the lead again at 19:25. In the third, Archie Cole scored on a wicked slap shot to put the Privateers up 4-2, and Daniel Roberts' late goal wasn't enough to keep the Royals from losing. The Royals have lost three straight and have largely squandered opportunities to move up in the standings and make their playoff position more secure. This young team had better shape up against Sept-Iles, or they might be on the outside looking in before long.

Eboracum Sharpshooters 2, Pons Aelius Steelers 3: Pons Aelius gave up three goals for the first time this season when they played Sept-Iles in their last game. They almost did it again. Tied at 2-2 late in the third period, a shot by Eboracum's Glen Gray pinged the post of the net and ricocheted off. The Steelers came so close to giving up a third goal and potentially losing the game. Instead, the shot ricocheted off the pipes and came right to Brooks Worrell. He immediately went on the attack, catching Eboracum cheating forward, and his pass found Nate Fuller, who slotted it into the net, beating Wes Singleton high. It's fortuitous, but that's Pons Aelius-style counterattacking hockey. The fact that they scored three goals in the game is almost as impressive, as they rarely do that. Pons Aelius stopped the Sharpshooters' four-game winning streak and rebounded from their tough loss to Sept-Iles. They're five points clear of fourth-place Londinium and three behind DC. As for Eboracum, they squandered a chance to tie Londinium for the final playoff spot. They will be ruing their bad luck, but also their inability to get back on defense quickly enough. Can they make it right against a slumping Labrador team? 

Isca Town Captains 1, Newfield Rangers 0: Make it five in a row for Isca Town, as they muscled their way by the Rangers at home. This wasn't a finesse type of game, as some had expected. The Captains like to play a control style not terribly reliant on checking, while the Rangers aren't exactly known for their physicality. But for whatever reason, the two teams mixed it up a little, with more boardside scrums for the puck and checks than usual. The Captains came out on the other side with a goal from Louis Tremblay and a 1-0 win. Tremblay deflected a Robbie Reid shot past goalie Augustin Gauthier in the second period to put the Captains ahead. Isca Town will put their five-game winning streak on the line against DC, while Newfield will try to break out of the logjam in the middle of the standings by defeating Aquae Sulis.

DC Oilers 2, Vinovium Lumberjacks 1: DC Oilers captain and center Julian Stephens wasn't fazed when their regional rivals, the Vinovium Lumberjacks, took a 1-0 lead in the first period. "I know Ted [Carpenter] and I know our team. I know Ted doesn't like to put the team behind and I know we don't like to lose. So I knew we would come back." And come back they did, as Sammy Jensen and Owen Jones scored in the second period to put the Oilers on top 2-1, a lead that held for the rest of the game. Kevin Morgan scored for Vinovium to put them up, but the Oilers held him in check the rest of the game, and the Lumberjacks rarely threatened after the first period. DC remains three points out of first place, and the Lumberjacks stay in last. What else is new? The Oilers will have a chance to draw closer when they take on Isca Town next; the two teams have split their first two meetings 1-1.

Sept-Iles Whalers 0, Labrador Caribou 0 (1-0 OT): "Le Navire" was quiet for most of the game, as the Whalers and Caribou played out a lackluster affair. But the dam broke at 1:24 of overtime with Michel Picard's game-winning goal. All the pent-up energy and frustration suppressed during the game came flooding out and the noise was ear-splitting. Picard said after the game, through a translator, "The reaction of the crowd to our win was sublime. To know that you can make people that happy, that is when you are doing a good job as a professional athlete." The Whalers have now won three of their last four, and are just one point out of sixth place. If this run of good play continues, the Whalers could sneak into the playoff conversation by the All-Star break. As for the Caribou, they have lost five in a row and seven of their last eight games. Their three points in their last eight games has put a halt to dreams of playoff contention, and if they had lost in regulation, they'd be tied with Sept-Iles. They will get an Eboracum team that has won four of their last five next.

Mancunium Raiders 3, Aquae Sulis Bears 0: Aquae Sulis came into Mancunium hoping the Raiders would be the cure for their recent ills. Instead, they left with a 3-0 spanking and more questions than ever. The Bears were outshot and outpossessed, committing three penalties in the game as well. The Raiders only converted on one of those (Quinn Baird), but they got goals from Todd Hagan and Brandon Scanlon at full strength to bury Aquae Sulis. Raiders head coach Cary Hodges was happy after the game: "I think we really played a complete game. It's always good to get a win in front of the home fans and I'm proud of the guys. We just need to put together a complete game more often. Mancunium gets Pons Aelius next; they'll definitely need to play a complete game in order to beat the Steelers. Aquae Sulis draws an easier assignment at Newfield, but the Rangers are a scrappy club and it ought to be a close game. 

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