Colonials Clinch 5th championship

Colonials Save Their Best for Last

The Colonials knew they would have to play their best if they wanted any chance of winning a best of 3 series against the Invaders.   They did just that even though neither game started out too promising.   The Invaders jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in both games.  In each game, Brandon Reiter scored the first goal and Zach Smith scored the second goal.    After the colonials answered in each game, Andy would go on to score the Invaders 3^rd goal in both games.  One of Andy’s goals came on a nice pass from Cory while the other came on a nice pass from Brandon.    Jake and Noah decided to switch it up after finishing undefeated last season, but the Invaders were still able to win 11 of their first 12 games without them to advance to the championship.  They even survived the Eagles best shot in last week’s 8-7 come from behind win in the 3^rd period.  In both regular season games, the Colonials had their share of opportunities to score only for Clint to play at a high level.   After falling behind 2-0 in both games, the Colonials needed answers and they quickly found them in each game.  Bob got the scoring started in the first game and would go on to score 3 goals in the opening win.   Jake tied the game at 2 in the first game and would not score again, but his presence made such a big difference for the Colonials in each game.  With Fred unable to play last night, Jake knew he would have to step up even more on the defensive side and he did just that.  Its hard to give enough recognition in a write up for someone who does the things that Jake does.  Towards the end of the 2^nd game, Bob said that Jake’s defense is invaluable.  On the offensive side, Noah led the way for the Colonials with 4 goals in each game.  After dominating each of the fall draft leagues (Brockway and Reynoldsville), an injury slowed him down some in the regular season, even though many probably didn’t notice.    When he wasn’t scoring goals, he was making good passes and giving the colonials more and more opportunities to score goals.     Bob scored 3 goals in the first game to compliment Noah’s 4 goals but Jay Edmiston was the story in the 2^nd game by scoring 4 goals including two second period goals that helped the colonials gain a little more cushion going into the 3^rd period.  One of Jay’s goals came on a nice pass from Phil Mace late in the 2^nd period of the 2^nd game that gave the Colonials a 3 goal lead going into the 3^rd period.   Phil Mace would close out the scoring for the night late in the 3^rd period to give the Colonials a 9-5 victory in the 2^nd game to clinch their 5^th championship in the XHL’S 25 year history.  In the first game, the Invaders went up 2-0 only for the Colonials to tie the game at 2 soon after.  After Andy’s goal put the Invaders up 3-2, the Colonials would go onto score the next 6 goals to earn the 8-3 win in game 1.    Another person who won’t get enough recognition is John Matchock, but he played a big role in each of their wins last night.  Maybe he just prefers to get the goals out of the way at the beginning.   After giving up 2 quick goals to start last night, he only allowed 1 goal the rest of the way and that’s a goal that no goalies would have prevented.    In the 2^nd game, the Colonials answered with 4 goals after the Invaders went ahead 2-0 early before Andy cut the colonial lead to 4-3.  Jay Edmiston scored 3 goals after that to compliment Noah and to keep the colonials ahead throughout the majority of the 2^nd game.  They also capitalized on most of their power play opportunities last night.  Thinking about it, they may have capitalized on all of them.   Brandon Reiter had led the invaders with 2 goals in the 2^nd game but the Colonials did a good job of containing him in each game.  

We would like to congratulate the Invaders on a good season.  The Colonials found a way to put up 17 goals on Clint last night after only scoring 10 against him in the regular season, but a lot of those goals last night came off really good passes to one another.    While losing 2 great players in Jake and Noah, the Invaders seemed to be just fine without them.   It was going to take someone’s best to beat them 2 times.   It turned out that the colonials saved their best for last night.  It sure helped having Jake and Noah as the teammates instead of oppositions. 

With all that said, another XHL season is complete.  We would like to wish everyone playing SRHL and in the Randy Carlson tournament the best of luck.  Thank you to everyone for a really good season.  It was the most relaxing, yet competitive season that I can remember.  Not sure what the future of the league holds, but this year will go down as one of the most enjoyable ones.   Lets hope for a rain free summer so we can enjoy some outdoor hockey.   

Jay Edmiston

1. Your first championship in the XHL. What was it like to be a part of this group? Can’t say enough about this team. Loaded with talent, but still wiling to do the little things it takes to win a championship. We played very unselfish hockey, and any given night a different player could rise up and be the difference maker. It’s an amazing feeling to go thru the season and end at the top. Just an awesome experience all season. Also, it was a lot more fun playing WITH Noah than AGAINST him!

2. Invaders only lost once all season. What was your impression of them after going up against them twice last night (can’t remember if you were there for the 2 regular season losses against them)? I remember some of those earlier games well, unfortunately. They cycle and move the puck very well. If you allow them time to set up, they can wear you down and it leads to goals. I think the big thing for us last night was we applied pressure on the backcheck and didn’t give them a lot of space. Our D blocked a ton of shots as well, and whatever managed to get by Match cleaned up for us.

3. What can you say about the play of Match in net? “Match-Andre Fleury” was huge last night, especially in the third periods. They were coming with everything they had, but he made some huge saves and never let them back in the game. Faced some quality chances from some great players but never gave them anything.

4. 4 goals in game 2. What do you think you did better in that game compared to the first game? I think winning game one helped, as it took a little pressure off us. I also think I was a little better at waiting for my opportunities and taking advantage of what I got rather than trying to press too much. In the end, I’m just happy I was able to help the team secure the win.

5. If the league continues next season ---- do you plan to rejoin the colonials again? I’m a Colonial for life, or until they tell me they don’t want me anymore.. whichever comes first. But yes, I’d love to play for the Colonials again.