The Varsity Warriors (8) vs Ball That (5)
1st Period:
BAL (1-0) – Brett (1) (assisted by Miles)
2nd Period:
BAL (2-0) – Will Green (1) (assisted by Miles)
VAR (1-2) – Samara (1) (assisted by Derek)
BAL (3-1) – Miles (1) (assisted by Brett)
3rd Period:
BAL (4-1) – Miles (2) (EN) (unassisted)
GAME NOTES: The first D5 game in over a month featured last year’s champions, The Varsity Warriors, facing a Ball That team which had to deal with the late scratch of their captain and regular season scoring leader Jeff…regular goalie Scott Heese was also unavailable so Zisser of the Hippos played between the pipes in relief…with Jeff running the bench, Ball That got the scoring started early in the first when Brett buried a Miles feed from behind the net…Will Green, sporting a freshly bruised up eye, put his team up two on a rebound off a shot from Miles…the Warriors started putting the pressure on but Zisser made a number of key stops. They were eventually rewarded when their top line came through. Probie faked shot but passed it backdoor to Derek, who got it to Samara who buried it to put the Warriors within one…the excitement of the green team was short-lived, however, as on the very next shift Miles put in his first career playoff D5 goal. He would add a late empty netter to finish off a four point game and give his team the victory…with the loss, the defending champion Warriors are eliminated and go into the offseason facing some questions following last year’s victory and subsequent racy photoshoot (god knows where that trophy has been). Ball That, meanwhile, beat the odds (and the oddsmakers) to overcome the loss of the leading scorer in D5 to move on to face the Cheetahs later in the evening.
THREE STARS OF THE GAME
3rd – Brett (1G, 1A)
2nd – Zisser (1 GA in a relief appearance)
1st – Miles (2G, 2A)
My Cup Size Is Stanley (7) vs Purple Parrots (6)
1st Period:
PAR (1-0) – Creamy (1) (assisted by The Provider)
CUP (1-1) – Zach Fein (1) (assisted by Caitlin)
Overtime:
CUP (2-1) – Cherie (1) (assisted by Anton)
GAME NOTES: A rematch of one of the chippier games of the season ended up being a surprisingly clean, low scoring defensive battle…Creamy opened the scoring early in the first period when he put home the rebound off a half-court shot from The Provider…hockey giveth, and hockey taketh away. Just a few minutes later, a beautifully timed swipe from Zach Fein got the ball off Creamy and he made no mistake in burying a point blank opportunity past Campbell…the teams traded chances throughout the game but Campbell, Dave GDR and both defenses were up to the task, keeping the score tied at 1-1. It was, in fact, the lowest scoring playoff game in D5 history, and the first to go to OT, a sign of things to come on this night…OT for the play-in games was played at 3 on 3 and the action was fast-paced and furious. At one point Cup Size was on the verge of a 2 on 0 before Carlito just barely got a stick on it to break it up and send her own team on a rush the other way…3 on 3 normally yields a winner rather quickly, and this night was no different. Anton heard Cherie calling for it from the point and fed a pass back to her which she one timed just over Campbell’s pad to give Cup Size the victory…the Parrots wrap up their inaugural season with a solid 6th place finish and a heartbreaking playoff elimination in a game which their captain and spiritual leader, LJ, was forced to miss due to illness. Their ca-caws will be sorely missed. Cup Size would move on to face Team Sexy later in the evening.
THREE STARS OF THE GAME
3rd – Zach Fein (1G)
2nd – Dave GDR (1 GA)
1st – Cherie (GWG)
Ball That (5) vs The Charging Cheetahs (4)
1st Period:
CHA (1-0) – Gabe (1) (unassisted)
BAL (1-1) – Drew (1) (assisted by Brett)
CHA (2-1) – Gabe (2) (assisted by Sena)
BAL (2-2) – Brett (2) (unassisted)
CHA (3-2) – Gabe (3) (assisted by Sully)
BAL (3-3) – Will Green (2) (unassisted)
3rd Period:
CHA (4-3) – Jake (1) (assisted by Gabe)
BAL (4-4) – Brett (3) (assisted by Matt Riegler)
Overtime:
BAL (5-4) – Brett (4) (unassisted)
GAME NOTES: The 4v5 matchup brought the fireworks off the bat, with a goal off the opening faceoff and six goals in the first period, a new D5 playoff record for a single frame…Gabe kicked off the scoring with a sick end-to-end rush and picked up a hat trick in the first period while mostly playing defense. What can I say, guy was the #1 pick for a reason I guess…Ball That was up to the task though, with Drew, Brett and Will joining forces like those kids in Captain Planet to keep the score knotted at 3…the pace of the scoring slowed down in the 2nd with the teams playing shut down defense in front of Ziss & Charlie. The 3rd was similarly tight until Jake put the Cheetahs ahead set up by, of course, Gabe. Not to be outdone, however, Brett tied the game up off a feed from Riegler and once again we were heading to overtime…while OT in this round was 5 on 5 rather than 3 on 3, it’s no exaggeration to say that both teams could have ended the game multiple times. On the final sequence, Gabe passed it to Jo who had a great chance from in front which Zisser stopped on the goal line with his stick. The ball went the other way where Brett put it home to complete the hat trick and send his team to the semi-finals…Patty and Andrea played both games, plus overtime, without a single sub…even though they looked pretty good without him on this night, Ball That will hope to get Jeff back for the semis and finals. They will need him as they face the 1st place Cleveland Browns, although it should be noted that the Browns are expected to be without the services of scoring race runner up Luke Sellick.
THREE STARS OF THE GAME
3rd – Matt Riegler (2A)
2nd – Gabe (3G, 1A)
1st – Brett (3G, 1A)
My Cup Size Is Stanley (7) vs Team Sexy (3)
1st Period:
SEX (1-0) – AFrey (1) (unassisted)
2nd Period:
SEX (2-0) – Stephen Smith (1) (assisted by Tony)
3rd Period:
SEX (3-0) – AFrey (2) (unassisted)
SEX (4-0) – DeMarco (1) (assisted by Caitlin)
CUP (1-4) – Cherie (2) (assisted by JRo)
CUP (2-4) – Zach Fein (2) (unassisted)
CUP (3-4) – Joe (1) (assisted by Maurice)
CUP (4-4) – Gene (1) (assisted by Joe)
Overtime:
CUP (5-4) – Cherie (3) (assisted by Zach Fein)
GAME NOTES: One of the wildest finishes in D5 history wrapped up the first week of the playoffs…Alex got the scoring started when he came off the bench to break up a breakaway then went the other way to score…Stephen gave Sexy a two goal lead when he put home the rebound off a point shot by Tony…after Alex put in his 2nd of the game and DeMarco put Sexy ahead by four they seemed to have the game well in hand. Unfortunately, some of their players played as if the game was indeed already in hand and gave Cup Size the opening they needed…Cherie got the comeback started on a one timer from JRo with just over eight minutes left. Choo-Choo scored shortly after and suddenly the game was 4-2 against a team that had some trouble holding leads in the regular season…after the timeout, Joe somehow got wide open on the backdoor and put home a rebound off a Maurice point shot. Shortly after, Joe was forced into the corner and threw the ball in front where it went off Gene and past Tim Burke (playing in relief of Barch) to tie the game at 4…in OT, both teams had a number of chances before a clearing attempt fell short and Cherie was somehow wide open despite having scored earlier in the game and scoring the overtime winner in the previous game. When you leave the other teams best shooter wide open in OT, they’ll probably make you pay, and she buried it to give Cup Size an emotional comeback win and punch their ticket to the semis…with the victory, Dave GDR solidifies his hold as D5’s all time winningest playoff goalie, with an overall record of 4-1. The next best record is Tim Burke at 2-1, not counting this game since he was a sub. No other goalie has more than one playoff victory…Cup Size will move on to face Hicks and the Hippos on Tuesday night in the Hippound where the crowd is sure to be tailgating all day for their first home playoff game in franchise history.
THREE STARS OF THE GAME
3rd – AFrey (2G)
2nd – Zach Fein (GWG)
1st – Cherie (3rd OT GWG of the Season)