Regular Season Standings after January 16th Games: Points for and Points Against in parenthesis.
1. Knights 4 (17/7)
2. Eagles 4 (14/8)
3. Colonials 2 (5/3)
4. Slap Happy 2 (8/10)
5. Mayhem 2 (14/17)
6. Walkers 0 (13/19)
7. Slashers 0 (9/16)
Monday, January 16th Results
Mayhem 10 Walkers 8
Colonials 5 Slashers 3
Knights 7 Slap Happy 3
Eagles 5 Slashers 3
The Mayhem and Walkers played a wild last half of hockey to open up our evening quadruple header. The Mayhem found themselves up 2-0 after the first period. We had a little bit of a dilemma with goalies for the evening and did not want to see Derrian play 3 games in one night (one for Mayhem and 2 for Slashers), so we had Joe Spencer play goalie for the Mayhem at 6. For the first half of the game, Joe Spencer and the Mayhem held the Walkers scoreless, but Brice Miller opened up the scoring on both sides when he scored the first goal for the Walkers to pull them to within 2 goals at 3-1. The Mayhem would go up 5-1 at one point but then the Walkers put on a good rally to close to within a goal on a couple different occasions in the 3rd period. Brice Miller and Jason Stamler carried the load offensively for the Walkers. With the score 8-7, the Mayhem scored a couple goals at the end, with one of them trickling past Walkers goalie Tony Dodd to make it 9-7. The Mayhem were carried offsensively by Tyler Waltman and Brenden Chesley. Mayhem leader Peach was a little disappointed that Trent Bembenic could not make it for a 2nd consecutive week. Tyler Waltman’s friend Jeremy Sawey has expressed interest in joining the Mayhem to give them another option. The game started out a little slow but picked up considerably in the last 25 minutes or so. Both teams will meet again in next week’s 3rd and final game. The Walkers were plagued by another slow start last night but like last week, they finished strong.
The Colonials played their first game of the season last night. Putting Phil Mace on the roster was the easy part. The hard part would be getting him to show up. Surprisingly, he was there 45 minutes before the opening faceoff. The Colonials and Slashers each only had one sub. John Matchock said he would not be available for the first 2 games. Anthony Schuckers was a late game scratch due to an illness. Jeff Wehner and Corey Bassett were only able to make the last game of the Slashers double header last night but Matt Cole filled in for Corey Bassett in the first game. Derrian Matchock once again goalied for the Slashers and played well. It took the Colonials nearly 15 minutes to put a goal on the board. Kevin Smith scored one of his 4 goals late in the first period to make it 1-0 going into the 2nd period. Vinnie Deloia scored about 5 minutes into the 2nd period to even the score at 1. It was the first goal that Colonial goalie Tim Herman gave up since the semifinal series in the Brockway SRHL. It was his first action since the Brockway SRHL championship game back in late September. Kevin Smith scored again for the Colonials midway thru the 2nd period to make it 2-1 but the Slashers answered with less than a minute to go in the 2nd period to tie the game at 2 going into the 3rd period (Zach Smith or one of the Britton’s batted in a loose ball to tie the game). The Colonials went back up early in the 3rd period when Derrian Matchock’s save on a Kevin Smith shot trickled over to Brian Anderson in front of the net to put the Colonials up 3-2. Once again, the Slashers answered when Zach Smith got one by Tim Herman with around 6 minutes to go to tie the game at 3. Smith and company had a couple chances to take the lead afterwards but Tim Herman was able to hold the Slashers scoreless for the rest of the game. Kevin Smith would score the go ahead goal with around 4 minutes to go to put the Colonials up by a goal and would score an insurance goal soon afterwards on a fancy sequence of Bob Anderson and Kevin Smith passing back and forth to one another. The Colonials will get an even bigger test next week when they take on the Knights. The Slashers followed up their 5-3 loss to the Colonials with another game against the Eagles at 9 p.m. last night. As noted above, Derrian Matchock put on another good showing in net for the Slashers to help keep them in the game throughout.
The 3rd game last night was perhaps the most anticipated game of the night (I didn’t get to watch a whole lot of it) with the Knights taking on the Slap Happy. Some of the league’s best players and a couple of the leagues youngest players were spread out on both sides along with the best goalies. To a lot of people’s surprise, the Knights found themselves up 5-0 at the end of the first period. They scored just a couple minutes into the game and kept rolling from there. Slap Happy goalie Adam McKinley tried to stop the bleeding with a first period time out when the Knights went up 4-0, but the Knights would score shortly after on a power play goal from Brandon Reiter to go up 5-0 after 1. A couple penalties against the Slap Happy left them scrambling even more to try to catch up. Slap Happy pulled to within 4 on a couple different occasions and Adam McKinley settled in after a rough first period, but the Knights were able to prevent the Slap Happy from any considerable rally. The Knights will look to keep its momentum going against the Colonials next week. The Slap Happy will look to get back on track against the Eagles in the opening game next week.
The Eagles picked up a 5-3 win in the finale last night to improve to 2 and 0 on the season. Cody Schuckers made his XHL return after an absence last season. He made a nice pass to Austin Boyd in front of the net in the closing seconds of the 2nd period to put his team up 4-0 going into the 3rd period. The Slashers were playing their 2nd game of the night but restored some energy when Jeff Wehner and Corey Bassett were both able to make it for the 9 p.m. game. The Eagles went up 2-0 following a late first period goal from Austin Boyd. The game would remain 2-0 until there was just over a minute and a half to go in the 2nd period when Jerred Amick made a nice back hand goal to make it 3-0 before Austin Boyd’s 2nd goal of the night made it 4-0. Eagles goalie Henry Sutter had a shutout going until the 10 minute mark of the 3rd period when Zach Smith finally scored on him (Power play goal) after getting denied on some good opportunities earlier in the game. Smith would score a couple more goals in the closing minute of the game but it was too late at that point. The Eagles will open up against the Slap Happy next week while the Slashers get a much needed night off after playing 3 tough games to start the season (Slap Happy/Colonials/Eagles). Zach Smith will not be available again until the first Monday in March but is hopeful that the team can stay competitive after staying in games against 3 of the league’s best teams to open the season.
Brice Miller (Walkers)
1. 10-8 loss last night. What can you say about the overall team effort? I think our team effort was decent in the second half of the game. We came out really slow
2. They held you guys scoreless for over 20 minutes before you scored. What do you think you guys did better in the 2nd half of the game? We moved the ball much better in the second half. We started to push the issue out the gate in the second. I think we were much faster and took the ball to the net much more.
3. What was your impression of the Mayhem? They are scrappy to say the least. I think they can make games pretty competitive with their speed.
4. How would you compare this walkers team to the team of last season? . I like the team this year. We communicate much better and everybody wants to contribute and are willing to play different positions.
5. What positives can you take out of these first 2 games? The positives I’ve seen is that we have more skill than before and can score around the net. I think we need to make more confident passes, but not necessarily take out time too much in the offensive zone.
Henry Sutter (Eagles)
1. 5 to 3 win tonight. What can you say about the overall team effort tonight? I thought we played a much better game this week in both zones. We managed the pace and controlled play for a majority of the game.
2. You had a shutout going for over 2 periods. Was it disappointing to give up a couple goals at the end or is it just nice to get the win? It’s always nice to get the win. That’s the top priority. It would’ve been nice to close out the game, but those goals give me something to build on for the next game.
3. The slashers are a team of left over available players put onto a team. How do you think they played against you guys tonight? They’re tough. They’re going to be hard to beat for anyone. They have speed, skill, and some top talent. If they figure out some chemistry, they’ll be even tougher.
4. Your role will be bigger than on past xhl teams when you weren’t expected to compete for a championship. Are you happy to be on a championship caliber team in this league? Right now, I’m just focusing on bringing my play up to the level of the players around me. They make me look good, so the least I can do is play my best for them. I’m happy to be along for the ride with a great group.
5. Slap happy next week. What kind of game do you expect? No matter their name, they’re a great team. I’ve played enough against them to expect lots of great talent, especially in net. Always fun to match up with the master to see how much I still need to improve.
Derrian Matchock (Goalie for Slashers last night)
1. 2 games tonight. What can you say about the overall team effort in both games tonight? I thought we played really well even being down
2. The first game was tied in the 3rd period. What do you think went wrong on the 2 goals they scored at the end? I honestly don’t remember them too well but every goal that goes in is my fault in my head. Just gotta be better next time.
3. Any goals you wish you could take back tonight? every single one. I thought I played fine but In the end you’ll get beat once in a while
4. You kept your team in all these games so far. How are you feeling about the way you have played? I think I’m playing good. Not great. We’ve played some tough teams so far and all close games so I like to think it’s more of team effort then just me. I just do my part.
5. What was your impression of the teams you went up against tonight? colonials looked good. Weren’t very fast but very methodical and they all play well together. The second team we played about the same thing. They have some skilled players and they all play really well together and that’s hard to beat
Adam McKinley (Slap Happy)
1. 7 to 3 loss tonight. What can you say about the overall team effort tonight? I think we started out pretty sloppy in the first. We had a much better 2nd and 3rd.
2. Rough start to the game tonight. What do you think went wrong? Like I said, we were sloppy in the first. They came out firing on all cylinders and capitalized on a goals that should have been stopped.
3. Your team scored 3 of the last 4 goals after a bad start. Is that a positive to take into next week? Oh for sure. Take the first period off the score sheet, we stuck right with them. I believe we'll play better next time around.
4. Eagles next week. What kind of game do you expect? It's going to be a tough challenge as well. They also have a lot of fire power. Henry looked great tonight. He's always tough to score on.
5. What was your impression of the knights? They are a dangerous team. There really are no weaknesses on that team.
Brenden Chesley (Mayhem)
1. 10-7 win last night over the walkers. What can you say about the overall team effort in the win? Overall I think it was a good effort we’ve still got some things to work out but we’ve got plenty of time.
2. You guys held them scoreless for over 20 minutes but then they scored 7 goals the 2nd half of the game. What do you think went wrong defensively? I think we got ahead of ourselves when we got a couple up on them which lead to multiple break away goals and 2v1s or 3v1s
3. You played on the Walkers team a couple seasons ago. What was your impression of them last night? They are completely different then when I played with them it’s a well rounded team
4. The Mayhem will look to you to score a lot of goals this season (which you are so far). Do you like some of the people you are surrounded with? I don’t mind the team one bit I haven’t ever played with any of them other than peach it nice to play with different people
5. You get to play them again next week. Are you expecting a similar kind of game? I think it will probably be more competitive next week we both started to figure out how we play. Jake Kline (Knights)
1. 7-3 win over the slap happy on Monday night. Were you happy with the way the team played overall? I'm happy with the way we played. I mean always room for improvements but we played a good game.
2. How were you guys able to get off to such a quick start? I think we started off fast and we got a few goals that prob shouldn't of made it past adam
3. Did you notice improvement chemistry wise from last week against the Mayhem to this week against the Slap Happy? I think we have improved since week 1 everyone had to knock the rust off but still room for improvements moving on.
4. Colonials are up next. What kind of game do you expect from them? I think it's going to be a fast close game
5. Do you like XHL Season better in the winter than in the summer (like it used to be)? It really don't matter to me when it is as long as we have it.