Matt Henderson turned away all eighteen shots he faced, while Sean Kelly was left holding a particularly prickly L, as Black continued their improbable and impressive run to the Fall League Final. Jordan Pynn (who else) scored the game’s first goal, and game-winner late in the second period, and Dan Jurgens tucked home some insurance after catching Kelly halfway to the bench for an extra attacker. The 2-0 win is the most drama-free Black have managed, but manage they have…all the way to the promised land. They will rest this week, and await the last team standing in the Losers’ Bracket on February 9th. Tie Dye will look to capitalize on tired legs when facing either Pink or Orange in the second game of a double header this Sunday.
The middle game on the slate was anything but drama-free, as Orange alone racked up twenty five minutes of penalties (in a thirty minute game), with both teams scraping and scrapping for their playoff lives. Unfortunately for Captain Brett Cohen, his own injury, and the absence of key players, Justin Stege and Jerry Gonzales, would prove too much to overcome, in spite of the preponderance of power play time. London Peters accounted for four PIMs, but also a goal and an assist for Orange in the 2-1 win, including the primary assist on Bill Casey’s OT winner (scored, ironically, on Orange’s only power play of the night). The goal of the night (possibly the season) though, belong to Stephanie Chen, who roofed a nifty Dorothy Kline pass to knot the score at 1-1 late in the first. That sparkler is little consolation for Maroon, whose playoff flame is now extinguished. Orange remain alive, but face a tough test in Pink this Sunday. Should they prevail, they would still need to slip past Tie Dye to make it back to face Black.
More drama in the late game, with plenty of penalties, and not so many pleasantries flying about. Red was on the ropes early, after Pink poked home two points on the board in the first period (Tim Vick and John Gamm). Gamm came calling again in the second to pump the lead to 3-0, and Captain Chad Goins added a goal to his earlier assist to put things out of reach for good on the power play early in the third. It was a strange season arc to say the least for Red. After breezing through the regular season, hitting just one small snag in their final game, they managed just a 2-1 win over Green before bowing out of the playoffs with back to back losses to Tie Dye and Pink. The 4-0 win for Pink featured (naturally) a shutout for (the white hot…and pretty good at hockey, too 😉 ) Tiffany Fox (18/18), and two assist output from both Glenn Pinto and Mostafa Azab. All of this from Pink without first round sniper, Kris Tosczak in the line-up…this is why we play the games.