05.04.06 Finals - Game 2 (best of 3) - Game Report vs The Anchor Inn

The Gators faced-off against The Anchor Inn in game two of the Lakeshore Men's League Finals last night. The eleven Gators available for play we pitted against fifteen of Anchor Inn's men, in a close game that turned uglier and more violent as the night progressed. At the start of the first period, skating was hard, and the shots were harder. Anchor Inn remained on goalie Jerry Suplicki the entire night, and the first period seemed to be the worst. Even with great defending by a tardy Chris Ryan (27), Anchor Inn scored their first goal just under five minutes into the night. Ryan, and fellow defenders Frank Warner (5), Seth Sealfon (4), and Scott Magin (3) managed to get back in time for the rest of the shots on net, and kept Anchor Inn's players from scoring the rest of the period. Defense did a tremendous job last night, and it showed, when offense was finally able to make a huge play with 1:42 left in the first period when Warner took the puck from his player, passed to Dave Salafia (15) up the middle, who assisted Brian Drake (18), on one nice shot, tying the game as the teams headed into the second period.

The second period saw another early goal on Suplicki (35) at 13:43, but Anchor Inn's lead didn't last for long. At 10:54, the pouting Drake, the tan Salafia, and the hole-digging Brian Pasono (17) skated hard up the ice to score again, tying the game once more on Pasono's goal. A tied game often leads to tension between teams, and tonight was no different: a clean, well-played game in the first period, ended abruptly when Pasono was hit in the head by an disgruntled player, and hit back: sending the two into the penalty box, leaving both sides down. Unfortunately, when the referees decide to pick and chose what calls to make, chatter in the stands grew louder as more men entered the penalty box: Warner had two visits, Pasono another one, and a handful of Anchor Inn players were sent out to the box as well. The shooting in the second period was about equal, twelve from the Gators, and eleven from Anchor Inn; but that one extra happened to be Salafia's goal toward the end of the period: assisted by Drake, and finally giving the Gators the lead they fought (fairly) for. Shortly after his goal, Salafia was man-handled a little more on the ice, as was goalie Suplicki, Warner-who lost his helmet, and Pasono, once again, pushed around in front of the net.

Headed into the third, the cheers in the stands turned into yells at the refs, and booing at players on both sides, and obnoxious banter designed to distract. With a few more penalties called, and some more rough play, both Pasono and Warner were put in the box, along with the two aggressors from Anchor Inn's team, leaving both sides playing four on four. Suplicki (35) made some great saves, but took some hard hits as frustrated Anchor Inn players repeatedly missed their shots on goal. Then, one man down, at 1:38 in the third period, Anchor Inn took advantage of the lack of defense on net, using a secret weapon whom no one believed was a good player at all: Hashbrown! They scored quickly on Suplicki (35), tying the game once again. Unable to score once more, the game headed into over-time, and the tension remained.

Rob Strelick (10), both defending and making some great shots all night, had a great opportunity and missed his goal by just a bit at 13:24. Play began again, and Anchor Inn muscled the puck away, taking it to net, and scoring the game-ending goal. With any luck, the referees will either make a decision to call either all or nothing for the third and final game of the championships (taking place next Wednesday: 5/10/06), and the Gators won't be forced to play beneath their level; taking and giving hits just to make a play. Unfortunately, the team will be missing Drake, but surely will play just as hard, relying heavily on defense, and looking for bigger leads so the tie-scores don't cause as much animosity among the players and anxious statisticians in the stands.

Anchor Inn - 4, Gators - 3 (Overtime)

Scoring
Dave Salafia - 1 goal, 2 assists
Brian Pasono - 1 goal, 1 assist, a 4'x5x5' hole in the backyard for Christine's Dad a few hours before the game
Brian Drake - 1 goals, 2 assist , 2 frowns
Frank Warner- 1 assist

Penalties
Brian Pasono - 2
Frank Warner - 1
Seth Sealfon - 1


Jerry Suplicki - 30 saves