February 9th Games
- banderson55
- 2 hours ago
- 8 min read
Colonials 6 Eagles 4
Match could not make it for the colonials last night, but Bob and company put their confidence in Brian instead of trying to get Derrian or Braxton to fill in for this game. Match will be welcome back for the rest of the season in net, but the Colonials got just enough from Brian in net last night along with some really good defensive play to put together a hard fought win against a good team last night. The biggest difference in this game could have been getting an early lead. Phil and Jay each had 1st period goals to put the Colonials up 2-0 which gave them more flexibility to focus on defense instead of having to push more offensively which could have led to more good scoring opportunities for the Eagles. Zac Gray scored late in the first period to close the gap to 2-1 but the Colonials went on to score the next 3 goals to go up 5-1 late in the 2nd period. Bob, Phil Mace and Jay Edmiston each had 2 goals to lead the colonials offensively. Clay was a little busier on the other end of the court for the Eagles but he was able to make some good saves to keep them within striking distance throughout the game. Larry scored late in the 2nd period to close the gap to 5-2 and Denny would go onto score 2, third period goals, one on a power play, to close the gap to 5-4 with a little under 3 minutes to play. One of Denny’s goals came on a good set up from Eric Llewellyn. Austin Boyd got a good shot on net on the ensuing face off but Brian was able to make perhaps the biggest save of the game at that point. Denny just missed a chance of scoring the tying goal soon after Boyd got a good shot on net. Bob went on to set Phil up for an important insurance goal late in the 3rd period to give the colonials a 2 goal lead which ended up holding up. The colonials have now won 2 games in a row following a loss to the Invaders 2 weeks ago. They will get a chance for revenge against the Invaders to open up our 4 game slate next week. The Eagles are currently on a 2 game slide but will have 2 chances to get back in the win column next week. Their first game will be at 8 against the Bear Claw followed by a make up game against the Yeti next Monday at 9. We will plan to start at 6 next Monday and try to move the games along a little quicker in an attempt to start the last game earlier than 9 p.m.
Invaders 9 Yeti 6
Following a loss to the Eagles 3 weeks ago, the Invaders appear to be connecting much better with one another. They have now won 3 in a row including a 10-4 revenge win last week over the Eagles. Brandon Reiter appeared to lead the way for them last night before having to leave early in the 3rd period for another obligation. The Invaders lead was 8-5 when he left midway through the 3rd period. Cory set Reiter up for the Invaders first goal but Ben Rossi scored a power play goal soon after to even the score at 1. Unfortunately for the Yeti, the Invaders would go on to score the next 6 goals to go up 7-1 midway through the 2nd period. The invaders scored 3 quick goals following Rossi’s tying goal in the first period forcing the yeti to call a time out. It was a well rounded scoring effort for the Invaders with Reiter appearing to lead the way. Andy and Zach Smith each had a couple goals while Cory and Jason Stamler added goals as well. What stood out the most was good passing and good scoring opportunities throughout the game. The Yeti still have Adam but even he couldn’t slow the invaders down early in the game. With the score 7-1 midway through the 2nd period, the Yeti would go onto score 4 goals in a short time frame to close a 6 goal deficit to 2. Adam found a groove in net allowing his team a chance to climb back in the game. Ben Rossi and Zach Foradori each had a couple goals to help the Yeti climb back in the game. Jeff and Dave Jewell each had a goal as well but they would get no closer than 2 goals the rest of the way. Despite the 15 combined goals, both Clint and Adam had their share of good saves for their respective teams. The Invaders will get a 2nd matchup with the Colonials to open up the games next week while the Yeti get to play against the Venom and Eagles next week.
Bear Claw 13 Venom 6
In a rematch from a couple weeks ago, the Bear Claw went from losing by 8 goals a couple weeks ago to winning by 7 goals last night. Dave Jewell, Matt Jewell, Joe Spencer, AJ Cebulskie and Adam all filled in for the Bear Claw in last week’s close loss to the Colonials. Dave and Matt filled in last night but we did not see them making a 15 goal turn around from their game a couple weeks ago. Coltyn and Matt each led the way in goals in the Bear Claw’s win last night. Kaden Coulter was not able to make last weeks game against the Colonials but looked much better in last night’s win over the Venom compared to the game he had against them a couple weeks ago. The Venom went up by a couple goals early in this game and led 4-3 at the end of the first period. Tyler Waltman and Andrew Britton each had a couple first period goals for the Venom. Braxton had the bear claw’s first goal. The game did a big 180 in the 2nd period with the Bear Claw turning a deficit into a multiple goal lead by the time the 2nd period ended. Braxton, Jaron and Dave Jewell each had a couple goals but Matt and Coltyn stood out the most. Dave Jewell made some good passes throughout the game but the nicest pass came from Matt when he set Coltyn up for a goal late in the 2nd period. Cody Haag had a 3rd period goal for the Venom to get them within striking distance but the Bear Claw pulled away late in the 3rd period. Garrett Britton had a goal for the Venom as well. The Venom will go up against the Yeti next week. They hung tough with them for a couple periods last week until it got away in the 3rd period. The Bear Claw should have AJ Cebulskie, Rob Reed, John Matchock and Josh Clontz available to play for them in next week’s game against the Eagles. AJ said he should be available every other week.
Brian (Colonials goalie last night)
1. You played your 2nd game in goal last night, this time against a top contender. Were you more nervous for this one and were you happy with how you performed? I have to admit I was nervous for this one mainly because of the quality of our opponent. I knew it would be a low scoring game with limited scoring chances for both teams. I was afraid that one bad goal could make the difference. I knew I wouldn’t be the person to win the game for us last night, but I sure didn’t want to be the one to lose it for us. I was happy to play a role in the win and not allow any bad goals. The goal Larry had was probably the worst goal I allowed but I honestly didn’t see it. Jake played a great game for us defensively. That was just one of those cases where I couldn’t see over him. It was a fun game. Clay played well for the Eagles too.
2. How do you think the team played in front of you last night? I was really impressed with how the team played overall. I won’t lie, they wanted to limit the Eagles scoring opportunities as much as possible. I totally understand considering Match wasn’t there for us last night. I felt like everyone played a notch better than usual and made my job much easier. It was a really good team win against a good team.
3. It seems like you’re embracing the goalie position. Might we see a position change coming for you in your mid 40’s? I will definitely fill in as much as I can. I have all new respect for goalies around the league and will never criticize one again. Its much tougher than it looks. I try to include them in the write ups because they can go unrecognized for what they do for their teams.
4. This XHL season has 4 top tier teams and 2 teams that have talent and can make games interesting. From the sounds of it, the Brockway league is going to have 2 super teams and a bunch of teams without much of a chance to compete. As a league President, how do you feel about teams loading up? I don’t like it. I was actually just thinking about that when I was getting a shower after our game last night. 2 quality teams got taken away by them loading up but I can understand them wanting to play together. We are all getting older and some people may want to play on the same team before they decide to hang it up. I just think its bad for league competition. There are a lot of gifted hockey players in the area. It would be more satisfying for me to win against the better players than win against the ones who aren’t as gifted. I made a blunder last night by allowing the Bear Claw to pick up Dave and Matt. I know there were a few concerns mentioned about Matt and Coltyn being on the same team. They both played great and it was nice seeing Dave improving both of them throughout the game, but there were safety issues mentioned considering their size, or lack of and their age. I will make sure that gets corrected going forward. The Bear Claw should have some more options with fill ins each week going forward. They lost 16-8 a couple weeks ago to the Venom. I didn’t see Dave and Matt making such a difference but they definitely did. It goes to show that one higher quality player can bring out the best in the other players. I would like to see one of the better players play on the venom. You mix in their potential with a high quality player and they would be a completely different team.
5. You are a big sports lover. What did you think of the Super Bowl overall and were you happy to see the Seahawks win? I actually thought the game was pretty boring. New England deserves a lot of credit for their turn around this season, but I don’t think they had any business being in the super bowl this year. Its ashame Nix got hurt for Denver. It would have been really nice to see Buffalo and Seattle play. I was just reading about the Seahawks run to the super bowl after trading away good players the last couple years. They nailed every single draft pick they got for Russell Wilson. Hopefully the steelers take note of how the seahawks rebuilt their team like they did. It makes me wonder if the Ravens should have fired Harbaugh and kept MacDonald.
Standings After February 9th Games
1. Invaders 8 (43/22)
2. Colonials 8 (41/21)
3. Yeti 4 (41/23)
4. Eagles 4 (25/3)
5. Venom 2 (34/66)
6. Bear Claw 2 (30/59)