Blue Sweeps Gold
Dan Fatula had not one, but two game winning goals last night to lead the team he drafted to a winter league championship.
In the first game, team Blue jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead despite Dave Jewell arriving a little bit late to the rink last night. John Matchock scored a couple early goals, including a goal on a nice slap shot following a faceoff win just a couple minutes into the first game. The lead was short lived. Jeff Wehner scored on a rebound shot to close Gold to within a goal and Bob Anderson scored on a slap shot shortly after. Blue Goalie Tim Herman got in front of the shot but the ball trickled by him. John Matchock put Blue ahead 3-2 after the first period. While the game was tight throughout, Gold never led in this game. Zach Smith had a couple goals that helped Gold tie the game at 4, but Blue went ahead 5-4 early in the 3rd period. With around 5 minutes to go in the first game, Brian Anderson was able to bat in a loose ball in front of the net to tie the game at 5. Following a gold time out and a broken light timeout, the game remained tied at 5. Both teams had chances to go ahead but Adam McKinley and Tim Herman bailed their teams out when needed. With under a minute to go in regulation, Bob Anderson, Zach Smith and Jeff Wehner led a 3 on 1 breakaway for team Gold but was unable to get as good of a shot attempt as they were hoping for. In overtime, Gold went with an offensive minded lineup but it led to Dave Jewell finding an open Dan Fatula in front of the net and Fatula was able to finish the pass to give Blue a 6-5 overtime win.
The 2nd game started the opposite of the first game. This time, team Gold went up 2-0 early in the contest following goals from Bob Anderson and Zach Smith. Blue had no answers in the first period and Gold actually had a chance to gain a bigger lead early in the 2nd period but had a power play opportunity denied. Late in the 2nd period, Phil Pompeii scored on a series of loose ball shots in front of the net to tie the game at 2 going into the 3rd period. Blue went ahead 3-2 (not sure who it was that scored for them) in the 3rd period. Just as the case in the first game, Gold tied the game with around 5 minutes to go in the 3rd period when Zach Smith had a shot denied by Blue goalie Tim Herman but the ball found Brian Anderson’s stick in front of the net to tie the game at 3. John Matchock was called for a penalty with around 4 minutes to go in regulation. Shortly into the penalty, team Blue cleared the ball on the other end finding the way to Gold goalie Adam McKinley. In an attempt to keep the play going, McKinley elected to try to pass the ball to one of his teammates but didn’t see Dan Fatula sneaking up on the play until the ball had already left his stick. Fatula was able to intercept the pass and put the shot in to give Blue a 4-3 lead with 3 minutes to go. Gold had a series of opportunities to tie the game at the end but was unable to do so. Zach Smith made a nice pass attempt to Brian Anderson with seconds left to go but Anderson rushed on the shot attempt as time was expiring.
Team Blue finished the season at 11-1. They were missing Ben Rossi last night but had everyone else, including Josh Clontz in their lineup. Members of the championship team included captain Dan Fatula, Dave Jewell, Phil Pompeii, John Matchock, Vinnie Deloia, Josh Clontz, Ben Rossi and Tim Herman.
We would like to thank everyone for participating in the winter league and a special thanks to Jake Kline, Tyler Waltman and Tony Dodd for coming down to the rink to ref last night.
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