December 11th Results
Orange 6 Red 1 (Red Elminated)
Green 8 White 3
Orange 8 White 5 (White Eliminated)
December 18th Schedule
Orange vs Green at 630
A 2nd game will be played if Orange wins the first game
Orange 6 Red 1 (only saw the 3rd period)
Team Red and Team Orange met for the 3rd team this season in an elimination game last night. While the final score was a little lopsided, it was a much better game than the final score indicated. Team Orange held a 3-0 lead going into the 3rd period but was able to slowly pull away in the 3rd period. Adam McKinley was a minute away from a shutout but Tyler Waltman finally got a shot past him with under a minute to go. Andy Calvert had several shots turned down throughout the game including one as time ran out. Watching that save at the end summed up the entire game. Steve Kalgren and Erika Dodd each scored a goal in the 3rd period to put the game out of reach (not sure who had the other goals). The loss eliminated team Red from the playoffs. Henry Sutter did what he could to keep his team within striking distance but his teammates ran into the wrong goalie at the wrong time. The win gave team Orange another game at 815 last night. Everyone from both teams were present for the game.
Green 8 White 3
While this game was not an official championship game or an elimination game, it almost felt like it as Green pulled away in the 3rd period to move to within a win of a fall league championship. Not only did team White lose this game, they were stuck playing team Orange afterwards in an elimination game. Neither Green or White scored for about the first 10 minutes last night. Brandon Reiter got the scoring started with a nice wrap around goal. The 1-0 lead got extended to 2-0 as time ran out in the first period when Brice Miller made a nice pass to Tony Conforto. Conforto’s initial shot was stopped by Clint Lingenfelter but Conforto got a rebound in front of the net to put his team up 2-0 going into the 2nd period. Neither team scored in the 2nd period until roughly the 7 minute mark when Bob Anderson set Denny Stinchcomb up for a goal to close the gap to 2-1. Team Green went up by 2 with around 3 minutes to go in the 2nd period when Anthony Schuckers tapped in a rebound with lots of traffic around the net to put team Green up 3-1 going into the 3rd period. Tony Conforto scored on the opening faceoff of the 3rd period to put Green up 4-1. The goal came on a nice set up from Anthony Schuckers. Team White was forced to take some more chances offensively and it worked initially when Bob Anderson set Brian Anderson up for a goal to close the gap to 4-2. It was one of the few shots that Derrian Matchock allowed to go in. While his name wont get mentioned a lot, he was a big difference maker in the 3rd period. White had some more good chances to score when the deficit was still manageable but Matchock would not let the game get any closer. Brice Miller and Brandon Reiter scored midway thru the 3rd period to extend a 4-2 lead to 6-2. Bob Anderson scored to close the gap to 6-3 but Green scored twice late in the 3rd period to pull away (Kline and Schuckers scored the 7th and 8th goal). Tony Conforto said he only wanted to play one game so he could go home and watch the Red Wings and Dolphins play last night. Maybe he wishes Team Green would have lost considering the results of those 2 games.
Orange 8 White 5
Team Orange and Team White met for the 2nd time in the playoffs with team Orange getting revenge this time around. Zach Smith got the scoring started early for Orange but White scored twice in a short time span to go up 2-1 with around 5 minutes to go in the first period. Bob Anderson scored their first goal and Denny Stinchcomb scored one of his impressive backhand goals to put White ahead until Zach Smith tied it up late in the first period. Team White would go a long stretch without scoring again after Stinchcomb’s first period goal. Noah Kline took the game over for Orange in the 2nd period and early 3rd period when he scored 3 times to help orange gain enough separation to move onto next week. A 2-2 tie at the end of the first period turned into an Orange 4-2 lead going into the 3rd period. Team White had a glimmer of hope when they turned a 7-3 deficit into a 7-5 deficit with over 3 minutes to go in the 3rd period. Denny Stinchcomb scored twice in the 3rd period including one right after a time out to draw his team to within 2 goals. The time out was taken when team White closed the gap to 7-4 on a pass from Bob Anderson to Brian Anderson. Zach Smith scored an important insurance goal for Orange to help them advance to the final night of the fall league playoffs. Following the loss to White 2 weeks ago, Orange has won 3 in a row (Black/Red/White). They will need to find a way to win 2 more games next week. Brandon Reiter said he should be there for team Green. The first game will be at 630 followed by a game at 8 if needed. Brandon Reiter was not present when the teams played earlier this season. Cody played the first game (Green won 9-7) and Kevin Smith played the 2nd game when orange won 5-2. That was one of those games when Adam McKinley took over.
Zach Smith (Orange)
1. 2 big wins for your team last night. What can you say about the overall team effort in both those wins? The effort was tremendous from the group in both games. Everyone was in a good position and skated hard to get back in good position when they got caught in a bad spot
2. What can you say about Adam’s play, especially in that first game against Red? He was our best player that first game, no questions asked. It was a disappointment that we couldn't get him a shutout at the end there, but it's hard to keep team red off the board for 45 minutes with the firepower that they have. He made some great side to side saves that a lot of goalies can't make
3. You guys got revenge against White in the 2nd game. What do you think you guys did better against them last night than you did 2 weeks ago? We capitalized on our chances better. Noah had his shot on point last night and burried some big goals for us when the game was still in the balance. I think Bob killed us with his shot last time, and he wasn't able to capitalize on his chances like he did last time, whether it was from adam making a big save or him missing.
4. What was your impression of the Green team after watching them beat White last night? They play a lot like we do. They are hard on the forcheck and skate really well. It will be interesting to see how those similar styles match up next week.
5. The season will end one way or another next week. What can you say about the overall progression of some of the other guys (and girl) on this team? I can see the younger players growing exponentially. Noah skating is already up there with the best players in the league, and he can deke through people if need be. Mark has a strong first step and is very strong on his stick. He is improving his awareness on the court, which is what separates the good players from the great players. Erika is doing an awesome job of being in position and using her body to win battles. She is winning one on one plays more and more, which is great to see for imporement. Add onto that her skating ability, and she will be a solid player as long as she keeps working.
Tony Conforto (Green)
1. 8-3 win over team white last night. What can you say about the overall team effort in the win? We all seemed to gel well in our zones last night. I think that once the puck dropped we all got into the mindset to play a fast paced, defense minded game and it paid off well.
2. You contributed 2 big goals in the win including one to end the first period. Do you think that first goal you scored (to end the first period) set the tone for the rest of the game? For me it did, once I got the goal it provided extra confidence and motivation to continue to build off the momentum. I ended up taking a few shifts on defense and did my best to not give up on any plays or make mental mistakes.
3. You also scored a 3rd period goal to put your team up 4-1. Did you feel good about your team’s chances to win once you gained that 3 goal separation? Really we did not look at it that way. All it takes in this league is letting the foot off the gas for one minute and a 3 goal lead can become a 1 goal deficit before you know it. We played to win until the final horn sounded!
4. With the win, you guys only need one more win (against Orange) next week. What kind of game are you expecting from them? We lost to orange during the regular season 5-2 I think, I am expecting an exciting fast paced game that will be championship worthy by both teams…. I hope we win but I am not making any predictions
5. You wanted to avoid back to back games last night so you could watch the Red Wings and the Miami Dolphins. Did their results ruin your good night of playing hockey last night? Actually not really, I was still riding the high of our game and the dolphins still have a few games left. The redwings are still early in the season and adjusting to suspensions, injuries, call ups etc… you can’t win every week which is why the games are so fun to watch!
Brian Anderson (White)
1. After winning your first two playoff games, your team was eliminated from contention last night in back-to-back losses to Team Green and Orange last night. What went wrong last night as compared to the previous two weeks? We had to play from behind quite a bit last night, especially against Green. I thought that we would have had a much better chance if we could have gotten out to an early lead, but I don’t think this team was built to overcome deficits. Our more aggressive offensive approaches when we were down by multiple goals gave the opposing teams more room on the other end. As good as Clint is, its hard for any goalie to stop those. I think we may have wore down in the 2nd game. The speed and skill on orange plus us playing a 2nd straight game made it tough.
2. How would you assess your Team White's play during the season? What were the strengths and weaknesses of the team? I don’t think we have anything to be ashamed of. Those 2 teams we lost to last night are in the championship game for a reason. I felt like we played great the last 2 weeks (against orange and red before losing last nights games). As mentioned above, we play much better with a lead or a manageable deficit but we just weren’t built to overcome multiple goal deficits. The teams we lost to last night had a little more speed, skill and youth than we had.
3. You drafted Team Green's roster and it looks like you put together a juggernaut. I believe they only lost 1 game all season. How were you able to put together such a strong roster? I should be the GM of the year if they win next week. Acting as if I am Cody or Brandon made it much easier to assemble a team. My goal was to get Jake with the first pick because he is such an underrated player. I wish he would have stayed home in our game last night. He blocks so many passes and is all over the place defensively. Derrian is a solid goalie and he plays with more confidence when he has a good team around him. I don’t know how Brice and Anthony were available later in the draft but they were both hard to pass up knowing that the core of the team was already well assembled. No one really knew Troy before and him and Tony had to be drafted together since they car pool from a considerable distance. People may have been hesitant to draft them not knowing Troy but those two have made steady contributions. Tony played perhaps his best game last night (I wish he wouldn’t have done it against us but I was happy for him).
4. You have a Christmas tournament, XHL, and ironman tournament in February all scheduled. Which are you most looking forward to and why? They are all exciting. The Christmas tournament is turning into one of my favorites. There isn’t much to do this time of year. I have never been a big fan of holidays but this tournament seems to bring in a lot of people and it’s nice to get out of the house after all the holiday chaos.
5. You've watched a lot of hockey in the Fall League. Pick one player, and only one player, that most surprised you with how well they played during this season. That’s tough. Its hard to pick just one. Maybe it shouldn’t be a surprise at this point, but Noah Kline really stood out. He is probably a top 10 player in this league now. It scary to think about how good he will be once he gets a couple more seasons in.
Henry Sutter (Red)
1. 6-1 loss to team Orange last night. What can you say about the overall team effort? I think we all would like to have that game back. We came out flat and never found our game. It was a culmination of our season breaking down after the midway point.
2. You guys played team orange 3 times this season. What do you think they did better last night than in the previous 2 games against you guys? . They swarmed us. We knew they were fast, but we prided ourselves on being the "fast" team this year. They hit a gear we didn't last night, and they never took their foot off the gas
3. What positives can you take out of the game and out of the season? The positives remain the same no matter the outcome. No one got hurt, we all got to play hockey, and we had some level of fun out there. I did, at least. The season didn't go how we hoped, but I'm glad there's not a ton of time between seasons in this sport.
4. Adam is still playing at a high level. It it tougher to defend your net when you see the opposing goalie not allowing anything to go in? . If anything, I think the other goalie playing well motivates me. Adam will always be my favorite player to watch in the league. I always try to take some pointers away from his game. When the other goalie is locking things down, I know I have to match it. I wasn't able to do so on Monday night.
5. Eagles will be back for another XHL season. What kind of expectations do you have? I expect nothing less than my first XHL championship. I've won all the other leagues and tournaments, but this has been my white whale. We had the top seed last year before we flamed out. We have the roster, talent, and experience to get it done. We have everything in front of us, and it's up to us to take it. If we all play how we're capable, we should be in contention with all the other top teams. I'm looking forward to the challenge.
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