Squirt Hockey
Friday, April 4th, 2008District Playoffs
Squirt C-Orange:District 1 Champs!
Sat. and Sunday, Feb. 16-17, ‘08
(reported by Tobi Duffy)
Having finished the regular season with 15 wins, 5 losses and 2 ties, the Squirt C Orange team entered district playoffs knowing they’d have to play their best to have fun and bring home a trophy.
The first game matched them up against friends and former teammates, Storm Squirt C Purple. They took turns leading the game, but Orange emerged victorious with a 4-on-4 overtime goal.
Next up was Highland Blue. Having lost and tied them during the season, our skaters hit the ice determined to leave it all on the ice, winning 3-2 in regulation.
And finally, Highland Red, another formidable opponent, saw firsthand our perseverance, grit, and character as Squirt C Orange shut them out for a 2-0 Championship win!
Storm Squirt-C Orange–District 1 Champs!!!
(courtesy Tobi Duffy)
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Saturday, 2/16/08 @ St. Paul
Squirt-C Purple vs. Irondale
District Playoffs
After a tough playoff loss to the Storm’s Orange team in overtime, the Purple Storm beat a tough Irondale club, 1-0.
In the closing minutes of the first period, Patrick Duffy scored a pretty goal, beating the Irondale goalie top shelf to his stick side.
With a 1-0 lead, the Storm’s defense and goal-tending took over and led the team to a do-or-die victory.
Storm goalie, Jonah Anderson, had a fantastic game, stopping 16 of 16 shots, 9 in the third period with the pressure on.
The Purple Storm will continue in the double-elimination district playoffs on Sunday morning.
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Thursday, 2/14/08 @ St. Paul
Squirt C Purple vs. Squirt C Orange
I’m not sure why the two Storm Squirt C teams had to face each other in the first game of the district playoffs, or why this classic battle was waged in St. Paul, but it was, and it was a humdinger!
The last time both Storm Squirt C teams faced each other, on November 17th (my 40th birthday!), the game ended in a 4-4 tie. For three periods tonight there still was not a whit of difference between the two clubs.
The score was tied at the end of the first period at 1-1, at the end of the second at 2-2, and 4-4 at the end of regulation.
In regulation, the Purple had goals from Reilly Patrick, Patrick Bordewick, and two by Adam Belzer. The Orange answered with goals by Riley Simonetti, Mike Eiden, and two by Alec Gaitán-Gaitán.
In overtime, Gaitán-Gaitán ended the game, 5-4, with his third goal of the game!
For the Purple, goalie Max Miller had an incredible game, and, according to one witness, “it might have been 18-4 if Max hadn’t had the game of his life!” Miller made more than a dozen improbable saves, and the Orange goalie, William Graves, also stood on his head!
If these two teams played 100 times, each would win 50, and I’d run out of clichés.
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Saturday, 2/9/08 @ St. Paul
Squirt-C Purple vs. St. Paul Langford
The Purple Storm made a valiant comeback, but fell short, losing to Langford, 7-5.
The Storm trailed 1-0 after one period, but rallied to take the lead in the second. Adam Belzer scored, Aaron Goodman scored, and Belzer scored again to give the Storm a 3-2 lead as the second period ended, and Langford scored four unanswered goals to start the third.
Trailing 6-3, Patrick Bordewick scored twice to pull the Storm within a goal, 6-5, and Bordewick almost tied the game in the final minutes when his shot just missed.
The Storm pulled their goalie with a minute left in the game, and Langford tacked on an open-net goal for a 7-5 final.
Storm goalie, Jonah Anderson, did a fine job, especially considering the barrage of shots he faced.
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Monday, 2/11/08 @ Parade Ice Arena
Squirt Purple Storm vs. Highland Park
The Storm ran into a great Highland team, and fell, 8-4.
1:20 into the game, Highland struck first, scoring past the Storm’s hot goaltender, Jonah Anderson. Another Highland shot hit the left pipe with minutes remaining, and with under a minute left in the period Anderson had a great stick save, and Kevin Ahn did a great job breaking up a Highland break.
In the second period, both teams played great defense through the first seven minutes before Highland connected for a 2-0 lead.
Patrick Bordewick ripped a shot of the Highland goalie’s helmet on a breakaway, but two minute later, Anil hit Trebor Eberle with a nice leading pass, and Eberle buried the shot to put the Storm on the board (click for video).
Highland quickly struck back, scoring with 1:31 left in the period, and the Capitals led at the second intermission, 3-1.
In the opening minutes of the third, Highland scored two quick goals for a 5-1 lead.
With 3:44 left in the game, Adam Belzer scored to cut the lead to three, 5-2, but Highland scored twice in the next minute and a half to push the lead back to five, 7-2.
With 1:36 left, Belzer hit Eberle with a pass to cut the lead to 7-3, and Bordewick ripped one off the roof of the goal seconds later to cut the lead to 7-4.
In the final seconds, Highland added their last goal, and when the final buzzer sounded, Highland had won, 8-4.
The rumor in the stands was that Highland had yet to be beaten in district play, which isn’t surprising, as their passes were crisp, and they had several incredible skaters.
Storm goalie, Anderson, must have felt like he was in a shooting gallery, as most of Highland’s shots came with no Storm defenders in sight. To beat a team like Highland, the Purple Storm would have to play error-free, and on this night they fell a bit short.
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Sunday, 2/10/08 @ St. Paul
Squirt Purple Storm vs. Edgcumb White
The Purple Storm stayed hot, beating Edgcumb, 3-1, Sunday afternoon.
Patrick Duffy, Aaron Goodman, and Anil Ramtahal each scored, and goalie Max Miller had a terrific game letting only one biscuit in the basket.
Ramtahal is one of the Storm’s hottest players right now, having scored goals in three games in the last week and a half.
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Saturday, 2/9/08 @ SLP Rec Ctr.
Storm Squirt B vs. Armstrong-Cooper
The Squirt Bs continued their incredible season, and thumped Cooper-Armstrong, 6-1, Saturday.
The Storm’s offense was clicking early, and a minute after Teddy Hoppman’s slapshot was stopped by a nice save, Phoebe Warner connected for a 1-0 lead.
Midway through the period, TJ Rempfer scored, assisted by Hoppman, and with 3:35 left in the period Jake Barton scored, assisted by Hoppman.
In the second, Nate Monga scored (click here to watch video) to give the Storm a 4-0 lead, and Hoppman made it 5-0 with a snipe into the upper right corner of the goal off a breakaway. Henry Feldman just missed on a break in the period’s closing seconds, and the Storm had to settle for a 5-0 lead at the second intermission.
Seconds into the third, the Storm took a penalty, and Armstrong-Cooper broke the shutout with a powerplay goal, but later in the period the Storm did a great job of killing another penalty, with Sean Cork and Rempfer doing a great job of keeping the puck out of the Storm’s zone.
Midway through the period, the Storm scored their last goal, a short-handed beauty by Hoppman, who nailed one into the upper left corner of the net on the break.
Lexi Robello just missed scoring another short-handed goal seconds later, but the Armstrong-Cooper goalie made a nice save.
With under a minute to play, Warner just missed wide on a wrist-shot, and the game ended 6-1.
Storm goalie, Benny Burke, had a heck of a game, stopping 10 of 11 shots.
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Saturday, 2/2/08 @ Edgecumb
Squirt-C Purple vs. Edgecumb Black
The Purple Storm continued their excellent play, and beat another squad from Edgecumb, the second win against an Edgecumb club in three days.
The Purple won, 4-1, in a well-played game, with the Storm’s goals coming from Reilly Patrick, Trebor Eberle, Joey Sorenson, and Patrick Bordewick.
Storm goalie, Max Miller, had one of his best games of the season, stopping all but one shot during the game.
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Thursday, 1/31/08 @ SLP Rec. Ctr.
Squirt-C Purple Storm vs. Edgecumb
The Purple Storm stayed red hot, and whalloped Edgecumb, 7-2, Thursday night.
Reed Goldstein got the Purple in the scoring column early in the first period when he beat the Edgecumb goalie for a 1-0 lead, then Patrick Bordewick ripped a shot on goal that the Edgecumb goalie got a piece of, but when the puck wasn’t cleared, Trebor Eberle stuffed it in for a 2-0 Storm lead.
Edgecumb scored to cut the lead to two, 3-1, but Jeff Rounds answered with a beautiful goal late in the first, and the score was 3-0 at the first intermission.
In the second period, Bordewick ripped another shot on goal, and again the goalie couldn’t clear it or cover it up, and Kevin Ahn tipped it in for a 4-1 Storm lead.
Adam Belzer ripped a wrist shot through the five hole to put the Storm up, 5-1, and Goldstein scored his second goal of the game to give the Storm a 6-1 lead at the second intermission.
Edgecumb scored their last goal in the third period, but, again the Storm answered, this time on a great goal by Rounds, his second of the game, and the contest ended, 7-2.
Storm goalie Jonah Anderson was his usual steady self in goal, stopping all but two shots, and the Storm defense was superb.
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Thursday, 1/31/08 @ SLP Rec. Ctr.
Squirt-C Orange Storm vs. St. Paul-Johnson
As when former Minnesota Twins pitcher Terry Felton used to take the mound, this was a “pad the stats” game.
The Orange Storm scored early, late and often, rolling to a 11-0 win.
Fifty seconds into the game, Will Czachor scored, assisted by Eric Hendricks, followed by goals by Alec Gaitan-Gaitan (assisted by Michael Eiden), Eiden (unassisted), Hendricks (assisted by Luke Peterson), and Josh Steinbach (assisted by Colin Monicatti), for a 5-0 lead at the first intermission.
The Storm didn’t slow down in the second period, scoring four times: Peterson scored unassisted, Hendricks scored again, assisted by Monicatti, Peterson scored, assisted by Max Stark, and Eiden scored, assisted by Ryan Lawler.
In the third period, Jack Breyak joined the fun, scoring a goal, assisted by Steinbach for a 10-0 Storm lead.
Storm goalie, William Graves, was flawless the entire game, and was hungry for a shutout when Johnson had a breakaway with five minutes remaining. Graves was equal to the task, though, and stopped a nice slap-shot from point-blank range.
With a few minutes remaining, Jacob Duffy scored, assisted by Czachor, to end the scoring and put the finishing touches on an 11-0 win.
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Saturday, 1/26/08 @ SLP Rec. Ctr.
Squirt-C Purple vs. Irondale
The Squirt Purple Storm (have those three words ever appeared together in print?) thrashed Irondale, 10-4, Saturday, with one of their best offensive showings of the year.
Patrick Bordewick and Jeff Rounds each had hat tricks, Jonah Anderson scored two goals, Adam Belzer one, and Anil Ramtahal scored a goal in his second straight game.
Meanwhile, Storm goalie, Max Miller, played a fine game in goal, making several tough saves, and the defense stymied the Irondale attack.
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Crow River Shiver Tourney
Saturday, 1/19/08 @ Delano
Squirt C Purple vs. M-A-M
First Round Game
The Storm opened the Crow River Tournament Saturday morning by throttling the hyphenated juggernaut of Monticello-Albertville-Maple Lake, 7-1.
The game had many stars, with Jeff Rounds leading the offensive charge with three goals—that’s what we call a Hat Trick, folks. Adam Belzer scored twice, and Kevin Ahn and Reed Goldstein each tickled the twine once.
Storm goalie, Jonah Anderson, was his usual solid self, stopping 17 of 18 shots for a .944 save percentage. The Storm took 45 shots and each player will be icing down all night.
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Crow River Shiver Tourney
Saturday, 1/19/08 @ Delano
Squirt C Purple vs. N. Branch-S. Francis
Second Round Game
The Storm Squirt Purple squad stayed hot, and blasted a tough North Branch-St. Francis team, 6-1, and will play Sunday for first place!
1:49 into the game, Jeff Rounds scored on a nice wrist shot, and he repeated the play four seconds later, and the Storm led 2-0!
A little over a minute later, Aaron Goodman scored the Storm’s third goal, Jevan Rasmusson scored with under three minutes left in the period, and Adam Belzer scored 31 seconds before the first intermission.
1:50 into the second period, North Branch-St. Francis scored their only goal, and Rasmusson got the goal back with a beauty with 5:02 remaining in the period.
Neither team scored in the third period, and the Storm’s defense, and goal-tending of Max Miller was outstanding.
The Storm will play in the championship game Sunday morning.
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Crow River Shiver Tourney
Saturday, 1/19/08 @ Delano
Squirt C Purple vs. St. Cloud
Championship Game
The Storm ran into a buzz saw, and lost to St. Cloud, 7-1, in the championship game.
Storm goalie, Jonah Anderson, played a great game, making more than 20 great saves, but the Storm had trouble scoring against the tough granite city defense.
St. Cloud scored one goal in the first, three in the second, and three in the third.
The highlight of the game for the Purple occurred in the second period when Patrick Bordewick ripped a vicious shot on goal, and Anil Ramtahal stuffed in the rebound for his first goal of the season!
Congratulations to the Squirt Purple club on their great second place showing!
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Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2008 @ SLP Rec Ctr.
Storm Squirt A vs. Washburn
The Storm never trailed, but had to hang on to win a nail-biter, 4-3.
The Storm went in front early in the first period when Jack Stellon scored, assisted by Connor Fulco, the only goal of the period.
In the second, Washburn scored midway through the period to tie the game at 1-1, but Cade Gleekel put the Storm back in front when he faked right, broke left, and backhanded the puck into the corner of the net; assist to Casey Plender.
Zach Newton scored on a great move to put the Storm up 3-1 (CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF THE GOAL).
With 2:12 left in the period, Washburn scored to cut the lead to 3-2. Washburn nearly tied the game on a breakaway with a minute left, but Storm goalie, Duncan McIntyre, made a great save.
Gleekel, who skates like he has rockets in his skates, just missed on his own breakaway, and the period ended 3-2.
Only nine seconds into the third period, Washburn tied the score, 3-3, but 48 seconds later the Storm went back in front when Connor Fulco scored, assisted by Stellon.
The last eight minutes of the game were full of drama, as each team had several shots on goal, but both goalies were excellent.
McIntyre was tested on a breakaway, when the Washburn wing tried forcing one through the five-hole, but there would be no Bill Buckner moment on this night!
A bouncing puck had the fans on the edge of their seats, but McIntyre took care of that one too!
With time running out, Zack Newton just missed scoring on an open goal when the Washburn goalie was pulled. Washburn had one last chance when they carried the puck into the Storm zone, but Fulco deflected a point-blank shot, losing his stick in the process, and the game ended 4-3 Storm.
The defense was outstanding throughout, with Robert Pajor, Adam Petit, Graham Larson, and Jacko Gonsalez leading the way.
The Storm out-shot Washburn 25-17, with Storm goalie, Duncan McIntyre, stopping 14 of 17 for an outstanding .824 save percentage!
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Thurs., Jan. 10, 2008 @ SLP Rec. Ctr.
Squirt B vs. Maple Grove
The Storm beat up on Maple Grove Thursday, holding the visitors scoreless until late in the third period.
The first period belonged to the Storm as they built up a 3-0 lead. Rhett Piper got the Storm on the board early on a wrist shot into past the Maple Grove goalie, then Claudio Garcia and Phoebe Warner followed with nice breakaway goals.
In the second period, speedster Lexi Robello scored his third goal of the year, followed by a goal by Teddy Hoppman, assisted by Christian Doss.
The Storm added its last goal late in the second period when Doss lifted the puck over the Maple Grove goalie, sending him to the showers.
Maple Grove switched goalies during the second intermission, and the new guy did a nice job.
The Storm’s defense was excellent throughout the game, with Simon Bergford, Carsten Ingvoldstad, TJ Rempfer, and Jake Barton leading the way.
The Storm’s goalie, Benny Burke, was a rock, stopping 15 of 16 shots, and he didn’t allow a goal until there was 3:41 left in the game.
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Thursday, Jan. 3, 2008 @ SLP Rec.
Squirt C-Orange Storm vs. Edgcumb
Park’s Squirt Orange team just keeps rolling up wins!
In a great game Thursday night, Park beat St. Paul-Edgcumbe, 4-1.
Park took an early lead in the first period when William Graves scored a beauty, but Edgcumb answered back with a nice goal of their own, and the period ended in a 2-2 tie.
Park dominated the second period, with two goals and tough defense. Max Stark scored, assisted by Alec Gaitan-Gaitan, and Jimmy Arms scored unassisted to give Park a 3-1 lead.
The defense of Luke Peterson, Arms, Mike Eiden, Ryan Lawler, Eric Hendricks, Ryan Casey, Ryan Lawler, Will Czachor, Jack Breyak, Josh Steinbach, Riley Simonetti, and the Palmer boys, Isaac and Dominic, was awesome in the period, and the visitors got off only two shots all period.
Graves scored again in the third, assisted by Dominic Palmer, for a 4-1 Park lead, and the game ended in an Orange win!
Park’s goalie, Danny Brodersen, was excellent, stopping 7 of 8.
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Saturday, December 22, 2007 @ Parade Ice Arena
MPLS-St. Louis Park Squirt C-Purple Storm vs. Washburn
The Storm never trailed, but still had to sweat out a tough win Saturday afternoon, 4-3.
After a scoreless first period, the Storm went ahead when Joey Sorenson scored, and Patrick Bordewick scored a few minutes later to give his team a 2-0 lead going into the third period.
Patrick Duffy scored to make it 3-0, then Washburn pulled within two with a goal midway through the period.
The Storm responded when Sorenson scored again for a 4-1 lead. It almost wasn’t enough!
Washburn snuck two goals past Storm goalie Max Miller to make it 4-3 with five mintues remaining. Miller and the defense came up big down the stretch, though, and held on to win.
Besides the great offensive outburst by the Storm, the key to the game was the excellent goal-tending by Miller, who completely stymied Washburn for 2-1/2 periods.
The Storm has the luxury of two goalies, Miller and Jonah Anderson, who are as good as exists in the league.
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Saturday, December 15, 2007 @ St. Louis Park Rec Center
Squirt C-Purple Storm vs. St. Paul Langford
The Purple Storm (I wonder what that would look like on Paul Douglas’s dopler!) built up a big lead, then held on to win, 4-3, against a strong Langford club.
Langford took an early lead, scoring on a rebound 4:15 into the first. The Langford defense stifled the Storm through most of the period, allowing only one shot through the first 11:02 of the period (12 minute periods).
With 58 seconds left, Giani Rincon broke free and ripped a shot on goal. The Langford goalie made a nice save, but when he couldn’t clear the puck, Pat Bordewick stuffed it in to tie the game. In the period, Langford out-shot the Storm 4-2.
Langford put the heat on early in the second, but the Storm defense played their best period of the season, allowing only one shot. Rincon broke up a two-on-one Langford break, and Trebor Eberle knocked the puck out of the zone while laying on his back.
Joe Sorenson, Kevin Ahn and Adam Belzer were also excellent on the defensive end.
Five minutes into the period, Bordewick tallied again, beating the Langford goalie with a wrist-shot into the top shelf to give the Storm a 2-1 lead. Down the stretch, Storm goalie Jonah Anderson stopped a point-blank slap-shot on an incredible save to his left.
With 45 seconds in the period, the Storm defense let up for an instant, and Langford had a breakaway, but shot wide of the goal as the clock ran out.
In the third period, Jeff Rounds missed on a wrist-shot in front of the net, but tapped in the rebound to put the Storm up 3-1, and with 4:30 left in the game, the Storm seemed to put the game away when Reed Goldstein scored on a rebound to make the score 4-1.
Then…Langford caught fire!
During a two-minute stretch, Langford had four quality shots, scoring twice, and with 30 seconds left the Storm clung to a one-goal lead!
Anderson made a great save with 20 seconds left, and when the Storm had the puck near center ice with a few seconds left the game looked to be over. Then…Langford stole the puck and, with two seconds left, made a beautiful pass in front of the Storm’s goal, but the pass just missed the mark and the buzzer sounded! Whew!
The Storm out-shot Langford 14-10, with goalie Jonah Anderson coming up big in the clutch.
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Saturday, November 23, 2007 @ St. Louis Park Rec. Center
Storm Squirt C-Orange vs. St. Michael-Albertville
The Storm ran into a buzz-saw Saturday, losing to a fine St. Michael-Albertville team, 6-0.
Storm goalie, William Graves, did a heck of a job stopping the puck all game, but a few bad bounces, and a little trouble either clearing or covering the puck, did the Storm in.
Storm winger Michael Eiden almost got the home team on the scoreboard first when he skated coast-to-coast like a knife through butter, but the St. Mike’s goalie made a terrific save.
With 7:00 left in the first period, the Storm was given a penalty when a sloppy shift change left them with too many players on the ice for about a half-second. But, the Storm did a great job killing the penalty, with Ryan Casey, Will Czachor, Eiden and Max Stark leading the defense.
With 2:19 left in the period, a St. Mike’s wing ripped a slap-slot from close range, and the Storm’s Graves made a great stop, the puck deflected 10 feet into the air, and somehow bounced into the goal for a 1-0 St. Mike’s lead.
Less than a minute later, St. Mike’s scored on a beautiful one-timer, and the period ended with the score 2-0.
The second period started sluggishly, with both teams missing passes, and having trouble moving the puck. The Storm’s Alec Gaitan-Gaitan broke free a few minutes in which was stopped on a great save, then Luke Peterson got a shot off from his back, just missing the net.
With 3:15 in the period, Graves made another great save, but the Storm couldn’t clear the puck, and three players and the puck fell into the net as the goal came loose, but the referees ruled it a goal, and the Storm trailed 3-0.
With 39 seconds left in the period, Graves made a terrific stop on a St. Mike’s wrist shot, then, with 13 second left, he stopped another but, again, the Storm couldn’t clear the puck and it was poked in for a 4-0 St. Mike’s advantage after two periods.
The Storm had two penalties midway through the third period, playing two men down for almost 20 seconds. The Storm killed one penalty, but a few seconds before killing the other, St. Mike’s struck for another goal, making the score 5-0 with 5:50 left.
St. Mike’s scored about a minute later at full strength on a deflection and the final score was 6-0.
Despite the final score, the Storm had many bright spots. Jimmy Arms played great defense, and dove all over the ice attempting to stop St. Mike’s shots, and the entire team used the boards very effectively.
Riley Simonetti, the Storm’s big strapping defenseman, played a fine game throughout, and Storm goalie, Graves, stopped 11 of 17, and all 17 were quality shots!
The Storm could only muster eight shots on goal, and only a handful were quality ones.
“The boys need to keep moving their feet,” explained Storm coach Jay Broderson. “We were standing still way too much.”
“We need to skate faster with the puck,” added Storm winger Jimmy Arms.
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Saturday, November 23, 2007 @ St. Louis Park Rec. Center
MPLS-St. Louis Park Storm Squirt C-Purple vs. Edina Hornets
The Storm will be seeing flying pucks and green jerseys in their sleep after a 9-2 loss to Edina.
The first period was very competitive, ending in a 1-0 Edina lead, with the Storm’s best scoring opportunity coming from Adam Belzer, who was denied on a great stop by the Edina goaltender.
It seemed as if the Storm was out of gas as the second period commenced from chasing the great Edina skaters around, and the Hornets stung the Storm with four goals in the period.
Park’s lone goal broke the monotony of Edina’s scoring when Patrick Duffy (not the guy on “Dallas”) lifted a wrist shot into the upper right corner of the Edina net.
Leading 5-1 going into the third period, Edina didn’t let up, and scored four straight goals to go up 9-1.
The Storm’s Duffy scored his second goal of the game with 4:00 left on another blistering wrist-shot, and the game ended 9-2 in favor of Edina.
Storm goalie, Jonah Anderson, did a great job considering the constant pressure he was under; he stopped 19 of 28 shots (68%), most of which were from point-blank range, and 10 of which were on breakaways.
The Storm could muster only nine shots themselves, and the Edina goaltender stopped seven (78%).
The Storm offense was constantly pressured by the speedy Edina skaters, but Duffy was fantastic, and Aaron Goodman made a beautiful pass from his knees to set up a Storm shot, which was barely knocked away by the Edina goalie.
The Storm really missed one of the top players, Pat Bordewick, who has been out of town for the holidays. Bordewick is not only a constant offensive threat, but is one of the bigger and faster defenders on the team.
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Saturday, November 17, 2007 @ Parade Ice Arena
Storm Squirt C-Purple vs. Squirt C-Orange
You’ve heard the saying, “these are two teams that don’t like each other!” Well, Saturday’s game was between two teams that did like each other, because they were both Storm teams, and most players were friends from school.
That being said, it’s probably appropriate that the teams ended up playing a great game, which ended in a 4-4 tie.
The Orange got on the board first on a goal by Alec Gaiten-Gaiten, and the Purple tied the game on a goal by Reilly Patrick as the first period came to a close.
The Orange’s Isaac Palmer ripped a wrist-shot past Purple goalie, Max Miller, to go ahead, 2-1, early in the second period, and then both teams’ defense and goal-tending turned up a notch.
The Purple’s Jeff Rounds poke-checked the puck away on a breakaway, and with 8:30 left in the 2nd period, Purple’s goalie, Miller, made two incredible saves in 30 seconds, each time doing the splits to knock shots away.
With under seven minutes in the period, Gaiten-Gaiten put a slapshot on goal that Miller again knocked away.
The Orange squad switched goalies mid-way through the second period, switching from Danny Broderson, who had done a wonderful job, to William Graves, who would also play great.
Adam Belzer, Purple winger, welcomed the new goalie into the game by blasting a point-blank slapshot at him, and the cool-headed goalie swatted it away like King Kong to an airplane.
With under 5:00 in the period, Orange’s Broderson, now a wing, took the puck in his own end and skated through three Purple players and was about to get a shot off when Purple defenseperson, Bridgid Duffy, came from behind and knocked the puck away!
A moment later, Purple committed a tripping penalty, but Pat Bordewick, Purple wing, skated out of a pack, then knocked one into the top left shelf for a short-handed goal, making the score 2-all.
“I shot the puck toward the goal,” explained Bordewick. “I was hoping it would go in. It was my first goal of the year.”
Orange answered with another goal by Gaiten-Gaiten and the score was 3-2 going into the second intermission.
Midway into the third period, the Purple’s Belzer scored the equalizer, blasting a slapshot from just inside the blue line, and both teams would have several opportunities stymied by the goalies over the next five minutes.
With three minutes remaining, Belzer was given two minutes in the bin for tripping, but the Orange couldn’t capitalize, and when Belzer returned to the ice he blasted in another goal from just inside the blue line, giving the Purple a 4-3 lead.
With :30 left, the Purple’s Bordewick was tripped by his pal, Jimmy Arms, sending him to the box for the rest of the game, but, with 14 seconds left in the game, the Orange’s Ryan Casey scored off his own rebound to tie the game at 4, and that’s how it would end.
The teams couldn’t have been more evenly matched, with each team’s goalie stopping 17 of 21 shots, each team passed well, and every kid showed hustle.
“It was a fun game,” said Purple coach Peter Ahn. “We need to work on positions and break outs, but I was very happy with how everyone played.”
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