Eagles 7 Mayhem 4
While this was not an elimination game, the game had a lot at stake. Not only did the Eagles clinch the 3rd spot and a best of 3 series against the Yeti, they also avoided having to play a single elimination play in game next week with the Knights waiting next in line. Eric Llewellyn mentioned last week that his teams have not had much luck against guys like Adam McKinley, Derik Day and Dave Jewell in the past, but maybe this year will be different. First thing is first, they had to get thru the Mayhem last night. They were not expecting this to be an easy game, but a good first period made their night much easier. Zach Foradori got the scoring started, with Austin Boyd contributing 2 first period goals as well. Jerred Amick scored in between Austin Boyd’s goals to put the Eagles ahead 4-0 at the end of the first period. The Mayhem got some really good goal tending again, this time from Derrian Matchock, to keep within striking distance throughout the game. Vinnie Deloia scored late in the 2nd period to close the deficit to 5 to 2. No one would score for several minutes in the 3rd period until Zach Foradori scored again to push the Eagles lead to 6-2 but Anthony Schuckers scored twice in a short time period to close the gap to 6-4 with 3 minutes to play. Unfortunately for the Mayhem, Austin Boyd scored a minute or so later to put the Eagles ahead 7-4 which would end up being the final score. The Mayhem were missing Trent Bembenic and Tyler Stitt while the Eagles were missing Cody Schuckers. The good news for the Mayhem is that they still have another shot to get into a best of 3 series, but they must beat the Colonials next week. The teams split during the regular season with the Mayhem winning 4-3 in overtime(We call that the Henry Sutter game) on opening night and the Colonials winning 7-6 a few weeks ago. Neither team had a full lineup in either regular season game. We could be in for a really entertaining play in game. There is good news and bad news for both teams. The good news is that the winner moves on, the bad news is that the knights will be waiting for whoever wins. Losing may not sound so bad, but hopefully we will at least get a good play in game.
Colonials 9 Hounds 7
At 4 p.m. yesterday, Chris Snyder informed Cody Haag that he would not be available to goalie for the Hounds last night. Clint Lingenfelter was supposed to be at home on his recliner scouting some of the Knights potential playoff competitors, but he found his way to the rink to fill in for the Hounds. The Colonials may have scored 9 goals, but they had to work hard for every one of them. Lingenfelters play along with the Hounds best effort last night made this game way more interesting than the Colonials expected. At one point during the 3rd period, one of the Colonial players said that the colonials wouldn’t want to have it any other way. They found themselves down 7-6 with 9 minutes to play after Cody Haag scored his 3rd goal of the game. Bob Anderson was ready to come to the bench for a little breather, but one of his players said that he better stay in the game. The Hounds may have been one goal away from a big upset considering they had Clint defending the net. Jaron Buffone had a couple 2nd period goals for the Hounds after the Colonials had found their way to a 2 goal lead at one point. Buffone had some other chances turned down by Colonials goalie John Matchock or else he may have had a 4 or 5 goal night. With the Colonials trailing 7-6, Kevin Smith gained some separation and set Brian Anderson up in front of the net to tie the game at 7. Bob Anderson scored just a minute or so later to give the Colonials an 8-7 lead and set Brian Anderson up for a much needed insurance goal later in the 3rd period to give the Colonials a hard earned 9-7 win. Mark Chesley added a couple goals for the Hounds in the loss. Bob Anderson set Brian Anderson up for 3 of the Colonials goals while Kevin Smith had a couple goals including one off a nice pass from Bob Anderson. Most of the Colonial goals had to come on good passing as Clint Lingenfelter made it tough for the Colonials to score. The Colonials led 3-2 at the end of the first period but found themselves tied at 6 at the end of the 2nd period. Every time the Colonials got a 2 goal lead, the Hounds fought back. The loss eliminated the Hounds but its too bad they cant keep playing after the way they played last night. It was night and day from how they played on opening night to how they played last night. While their season ended, they should hold their heads high after their effort last night. The Colonials got to move on with the win as they are trying to climb a hill to face the Knights at 815 next week.
Walkers 10 Jawas 6
While the Walkers season eventually ended last night, they should hold their heads high after earning a playoff win against the Jawas last night. Corey Bassett got the opening goal for the Walkers last night but the Jawas found themselves up 3-2 by the end of the first period. It was an entertaining first period. Adam McKinley got the Jawas first goal and Derik Pearce scored late in the first period to put the Jawas ahead 3-2. Jaron Buffone kept his goal scoring going in his fill role for the Jawas last night by contributing a first period goal. The Walkers had a big 2nd period and turned a 3-2 deficit into a 7-4 lead by the time the 2nd period ended. They were up 6-3 before Joe Roush scored for the Jawas to close the gap to 6-4, but Troy Gaydosh scored a breakaway goal to put the walkers up 7-4. Derrian Matchock and Corey Bassett appeared to lead the charge offensively in the 2nd period. Brice Miller scored a power play goal to start the 3rd period to push the lead to 8-4 and Troy Gaydosh would add another to give the walkers a comfortable lead as the minutes started winding down. The Jawas made a late charge by scoring a couple goals (Wehner/McKinley) late but they did not have enough time to try to save their season. They were assembled a day before the season started which eliminated that dreaded bye week for the other xhl teams. Their goalie Kaden Coulter showed a lot of improvement throughout the season. The Walkers had Mason Britton fill in for a missing Tony Dodd and Britton was able to provide them with some good goal tending to give them their first playoff win.
Colonials 19 Walkers 7
This was each teams 2nd game of the night and it showed. We saw 16 first period goals and its too hard to summarize who really stood out with all the goals that were scored. With the Colonials leading 2-0 early in the game, the Walkers tied it up at 2 following goals from Morgan Lyons and Brice Miller. The Colonials scored 4 unanswered goals forcing the walkers to call an early time out. Each time the Colonials got some separation, the walkers answered. The Walkers closed the gap to 2 on some different occasions in the first period. Derrian Matchock scored a couple goals on his dad including one in the 2nd period to close the gap to 10-7 but the Colonials slowly pulled away from there. A 10-7 lead early in the 2nd period turned into an 18-7 lead by the end of the 2nd period. Denny Stinchcomb only had one goal in the earlier game against the Hounds but he had too many goals to count in the game against the Walkers. Bob Anderson and Kevin Smith had their share of goals as well. Brice Miller and Derrian Matchock tried to keep the walkers in the game early but the 2nd game of a back to back caught up to them as this game went on. The win gives the Colonials at least another game next week. This probably would have been a much better game if it would have been each teams first game of the night instead of their 2nd game. John Matchock was able to settle in after a tough start to keep the colonials comfortably enough ahead in the 2nd period. This was the best walkers team we saw and hopefully they will come back next season to try to get even better.
Eric Llewellyn (Eagles)
1. 7-4 win over the Mayhem last night. What can you say about your teams overall effort and performance last night? We played well we just ran into a hot goalie. He was player of the game theres no doubt about that. I know we took over 40 shots.
2. You guys jumped ahead 4-0 by the end of the first period. What do you think you guys did well in that first period? We started exactly how we needed to. We controlled that whole period. Good passing and plenty of shots. I actually thought we were about to blow them out but then we took our foot off the gas and let them back in it. Thats a bad habit of ours. We need to put in a full 45 regardless of what the scoreboard says. Thats how we'll get the results were looking for over here
3. They quietly hung around in the 3rd period and got to within 2 goals at one point. Were you getting worried at all after Anthony’s backhand goal cut the lead to 6-4? That was unfortunate... I know Henry wants that one back. Anthony didnt exactly come down and make a good shot. It was more of a freak accident than anything. Jbomb and Napboy connected for a nice goal right after that and secured the pizza party. I think everybody was a little nervous leading up to that point.
4. This was a game you guys probably expected to win. What was your mindset going into the game and what kind of game were you expecting going into it? Everything went down exactly like i said it would! Derrian would get hot and they would score a few they shouldnt...off of our own mistakes...and keep the game tighter than it should be. Instead of winning by 8 we would win by 2 or 3. Well it was 7-4 so i was damn close
5. The win gives you guys the 3rd seed and a best of 3 series against the Yeti. Your team is playing its best hockey right now but the yeti have been a big road block for you guys in the past. How are you feeling about your team and its chances going into this series? Its gonna be a good series. They seem to have our number but weve been playing way better so im ready to see where were at. If all the goals we score actually count then i give us a way better chance of winning. When Fords out here sniping corns and the ref just waves it off..... that hurts us... clearly. I had multiple people from the mayhem camp tell me that was a goal. So hopefully there wont be any of that in the playoffs because these will be close games. May the best team win. Go Eagles!
Peach (Mayhem)
1. 7-4 loss to the Eagles last night. What can you say about the overall team effort and performance in the loss? We had a bad first period(mine especially), but we were able to recover and make a game out of it. Didn’t look good for the first 15 for sure
2. 4-0 deficit at the end of the first period. What do you think went wrong for you guys to start the game? We just weren’t ready to play until the 2nd period. Bad giveaways, passes were off, and gave up some odd man breaks. Good way to trail 4 goals after 1
3. You guys battled back to get to within 2 at one point. What do you think you guys did better as the game went on? We just found our flow and started playing hockey. A little late but at least we closed the gap some. Are passes were much more crisp and accurate and we were able to start getting behind their D-men
4. What can you say about Derrian’s play in net last night? . The game probably would have ended in the 2nd if it weren’t for him. He had a hell of a game and that kept us in it.
5. Colonials are waiting for you next week. Are you excited to get to play them in a playoff style atmosphere next week? Our first 2 meetings felt like playoff games, so this will be our best of 3 against them. Whoever loses gets the gold clubs so I’m sure we’ll both be giving it everything we have. It should be a dandy!
Cody Haag (Hounds)
1. 9-7 loss to the Colonials last night. What can you say about the overall team effort and performance in the loss? The team effort was there all game! Definitely the best game we have played as a team! We brought the effort for the playoffs!
2. What can you say about Clint’s play in net for you guys last night? His play was one of the main reasons we were still in the game! We knew we had to play offense if we wanted to get the win. In doing that we let up a few breakaways and a fee back door chances. Clint made some big saves all night to keep us in the game!
3. You guys were ahead in the 3rd period. What do you think went wrong at the end? What went wrong? I would say a little bit of ball chasing. All night we did a good job keeping them out of the middle or slot. In the last ten minutes though we let up too many breakaways and back door passes that no goalie could stop.
4. Despite the loss, you guys should have felt good about the way you played. Was it disappointing that it didn’t come together a little sooner in the season or was it encouraging to save your best for last? That was the most fun I had playing all season. I didn't expect to win just wanted to have a competitive game and we gave the colonials all they could handle. We passed the ball well, we had controlled offense, and we actually played great defense up the middle. It was not disappointing but great to see that we can be competitive against a good team!
5. What positives can you take from your teams season and what kind of potential do you see in some of the players on this team going forward? Positives if we play like that we may not win but at least can be competitive against the best teams!
*** We will post more interviews later if they respond (Kevin, Laken, Steve Hetrick).
Comments