Week 2 - 9.27.06 Gators vs The Anchor Inn
For their second game of the season, the Gators encountered something of a grudge match. The Anchor Inn, the victors over the Gators during last season's finals, brought on a tough game last night, but a strong lead and quick defense allowed our Gators to grab another win. The two teams were neck-and-neck with shooting, but none from either team were well placed enough to score until the second period.

Just three minutes into the second period, Frank Warner (5) stole the puck from his player, scooted it up the middle to Dave Salafia (15), who found John Davie (76) waiting in the perfect spot to score their first goal of the game. The Anchor Inn tried to come back, but to no avail. Again, with just under five minutes left in the period, Brian Drake (18) scored on an assist from Bryan Curtis (21). Moments later, while defending in front of the Gators' net, birthday boy Chris Ryan (27) got the puck, passed up the ice to Drake, who passed across to Salafia for the third goal of the game, leaving The Anchor Inn down 3-0. Even less than one minute later, at 2:17 left in the second period, the same line scored another goal with Drake assisting Salafia once again. The Gators slowed up a little just before the end of the period at 1:43, when The Anchor Inn snuck their first goal past goalie Jerry Suplicki (35), now bringing the score to 4-1 heading into the last period.

A little more run down toward the end of the night, the Gators let in another shot just minutes into the third. Facing a seemingly disgruntled team, the Gators kept up on defense, but another goal went in on Suplicki (35), minutes after older brother Jim "The Badass of Hockey" Suplicki (19) was tackled by a self-made-millionaire from The Anchor Inn. Now only up by one at 4-3, the Gators stepped up their game a bit, and Steve Randall (10), immediately off the face-off, scored the fifth goal of the night. With penalties on both sides, and confusion on the ice, however, The Anchor Inn got their last goal in with just 25 seconds left on the clock, leaving the game close, but still a win for the Gators: 5-4.

Great job on defense by Doug Gardner (4) [who also took a penalty late in the third period], Warner, and Suplicki (19) [also put in the box.] A noticeably good pair together on the ice were the brothers Curtis: Bryan and Jeff (8), working well together passing up the ice when on the same line. Outshooting the Gators nearly twice as much in the third period, The Anchor Inn had thirty eight shots on net altogether, while the Gators had thirty. This win, although difficult, was a very welcomed victory over the league champions, proving that the Gators certainly are a skillful group of players.

Gators 5, The Anchor Inn 4

Three Stars of the Week
Brian Drake	Dave Salafia	Doug Gardner