Opening Round Closed-out

MAJOR

Patriots (5-2-2) 4
Ice Bats (7-2-0) 3

The number one ranked team in the Majors looked to roll over the Pats on their way to the Keg, but the Patriots had a plan. Travis Lehr puts the Pats up first, Joel Blix ties it up. The Bats take the lead in the second, goals from David Tratham and Blix cancel out the early lead from Brad Allen's goal. The Pats regain the lead with Allen and Lehr again leaving a minute for the Bats to tie it-up. Did Danny's shot ring off both posts or the pad in the back of the net? The officials say no goal. The Patriots look forward to the match-up with former coach, Nate Hodges. Nate believes it is his destiny to play for the Keg every year. Perhaps, but he certainly hasn't won every year. . .

Brewzers (3-4-2) 4
DFW Titans (3-5-1) 3

Dead even in shots and goals after three periods, and an overtime, Josh Sutton proves to be the difference maker for the Brewzers. Not only did the controversial young player open the scoring for the game and then send it to overtime with a shorty, but he ends the fourteen player shoot-out. Titans lose despite goals from Tyler Klunder, Lincoln Foster, and Justin Mason. The Brewzers collect one goal from Matt Walker, in addition to the Sutton tallies.

Blue Devils (6-2-1) 6
Komets (5-3-1) 1

Oh the humanity! In what looked to be a tight match on paper the game falls apart almost immediately. The Blue Devils score two goals in the first: Charlie Heine, Danny Flinn. In the second, the Komets finally pierce the Devil front with Dustin Nation's goal making it two to one, no one believed it was close, despite the score. The Devils roar back with goals from Flinn, Billy Trull, Heine, and Scott Speelman. Was coach Al too concerned with the Cowboy's game? The Devils are dissecting the Patriot's game at this very moment.

Snipers (3-5-1) 2
Stickmen (4-4-1) 1

The Stickmen debut Jesse "Lunchbox" Henderson in net, the Snipers respond with a call to local celebrity Mike Moore. And, it's Moore who is exposed first when the Sticks take the early lead with Lynne Young's goal. But the Snipers regroup and limit the shots on net to ten, while firing back with a goal from Chris Davis. The Snipers get the win with a late third period goal from sometimes I-leaguer, Lee Miller.

minor

Puckers (6-3-0) 2
LSI (7-2-0) 0

The Puckers have made their climb from the I-league doldrums to the pinnacle of I-league (minor), with the second period goals of Rick Gregory and Jon Padilla, and the play of Turtle in the net, number one ranked LSI could find no path to the championship. Gabe Rivera and Katherine Levesque see their combined pointstreak, that lasted the entire session end in the first round. Is it for better or worse that the Puckers made their impact this session instead of last session, leaving me off the hook for cheerleading duty? Next up, the Whalers in the anti-Keg game.


Whalers (6-3-0) 2
Privateers (6-3-0) 1

The Whalers again triumph over the Privateers, due in large part to the play of Gregg Mata in net. The first period was the site for all of the Whaler's offense, a goal to Andy Thomas and then to Paul Thurston "Howell III" Mata turns away thirty Privateer shots, the lone goal against comes from Bob-O. You can't really call it a grand defensive effort, the play concentrated itself in the Whaler end, the Whalers only managed eight shots on net. What sort of drama and excitement awaits in the anti-Keg match-up of these two powerhouses?

Silverwings (2-6-1) 1
Grave Diggers (4-5-0) 5

In the first the Wings kept it close, Jason Neal's goal is sandwiched between the Digger's Billy Quinn and Randy Chappel. The Diggers make the most of the openings provided by the so-called Silverwing defense with three more goals: Bruce Davis, Bobby Sirkis, and Quinn again. Bobby's goal is met with a chorus of boos from the Wing bench, and taints the performance of the Diggers in the eyes of the media and the fans.

Team Euless (1-8-0) 1
Chiefs (4-5-0) 0

Euless finally gets a win. The score was actually seven or eight to one, all but one of those goals come on my watch. I gave-up a lot of chances to the Privateers and their personal vendetta against me, they made me pay. I still don't know the nature of the fights that caused the removal of four players from the rink. It was inspiring to watch the first pair of fighters leave the rink simultaneously (a mistake not repeated by the solitary ref), through the glass no one could hear what they were saying to each other, then you could feel the dread and helplessness of everyone on the rink watched them walk toward each other. . . they bumped knuckles and went to their respective lockers. The second fight did not offer any such redemptive conclusion.