My Cup Size Is Stanley (5) vs Goonies (1)
1st Period:
GOO (1-0) – Zach Fein (1) (assisted by Brett) (11:00)
2nd Period:
GOO (2-0) – Derek (1) (unassisted) (3:23)
GOO (3-0) – Derek (2) (unassisted) (4:41)
GOO (4-0) – Cherie (1) (assisted by Derek) (12:15)
3rd Period:
CUP (1-4) – Big Mike (1) (assisted by Andrea) (3:15)
CUP (2-4) – Gabe (5) (assisted by DRo) (4:01)
CUP (3-4) – Hogg (3) (PP) (assisted by Gabe) (10:55)
GAME NOTES: The Goonies, playing their first game in several weeks against a team that was one of the only two to beat them in the regular season…from the start, this game was not particularly close, with the Goonies controlling the play for massive stretches of the first. Sadly the league stats department is not yet ready to offer accurate figures on Corsi or WAR but if I had to guess, I’d say possession was probably close to 80/20 in favor of white…Casca held Cup Size in the game for as long as he could but the Goonies finally broke through with two minutes left in the first as Zach “ChooChoo” Fein took a shot which was stopped and subsequently thrown across the crease by Brett, which Zach converted for the 1-0 lead…early in the 2nd, Derek broke the game wide open on one of the best shifts you’ll see from an amateur ball hockey player. Just seconds after Andrea threaded a pass through the defender’s legs that DRo almost converted, Derek intercepted a pass in his own zone and ran in for a breakaway where he went forehand five hole. Just over a minute later, he executed an impressive backcheck-steal-sweep right into the net as no one was expecting such a quick shot after the steal. Cherie was able to bury a rebound in front with 45 seconds left in the period and going into the intermission, the Goonies had a dominating 4-0 lead…you just knew that Cup Size would come out with a push in the 3rd period, especially with the looming possibility of playoff Gabe coming out. Big Mike got the scoring started for black early in the third and just 46 seconds later, Gabe buried one of his patented turnaround shots and suddenly the lead was only two…after a penalty call for roughing that he certainly did not appreciate, Hogg got Cup Size within one with a shot that seemed to fool Eitan and went top-shelf. All of a sudden, it was a one goal game with two minutes to go…the Goonies regrouped and actually held more possession that Cup Size in the final two minutes as Cherie and Zach ran a ton of clock near the end. Black didn’t get much in the way of chances in the final minute, not even being able to pull their goalie, and the Goonies held on to clinch a spot in the Championship Game…Gabe finished the playoffs with an impressive five goals and one assist in three games played. Besides Gabe, the best player for the black team in this game was Andrea who was buzzing throughout and finished with an assist on the first goal…the Goonies would move on to face the winner of the Hippos/Parrots showdown.
THREE STARS OF THE GAME:
3rd – Cherie (GWG)
2nd – Gabe (1G, 1A)
1st – Derek (2G)
Hungry Hippos (6) vs Purple Parrots (2)
1st Period:
PAR (1-0) – Mike Tarnow (1) (assisted by Stu) (0:46)
PAR (2-0) – Mike Goose (1) (assisted by Julie) (5:55)
PAR (3-0) – Mike Tarnow (2) (unassisted) (8:42)
HIP (1-3) – Tadpole Jack (1) (assisted by Mike McCauley) (12:44)
3rd Period:
HIP (2-3) – Mike McCauley (1) (assisted by Sena) (3:18)
HIP (3-3) – Tadpole Jack (5) (unassisted) (10:01)
HIP (4-3) – Hicks (3) (unassisted) (10:43)
HIP (5-3) – Hicks (4) (assisted by Tadpole Jack) (11:22)
GAME NOTES: The second semifinal game of the day featured the Hippos facing the 2nd seeded Parrots with a spot in the finals on the line…from the jump it was a Parrots onslaught as dudes named Mike proved to be Dave’s kryptonite. Tarnow got the scoring started just 46 seconds in on a sweet feed from his linemate Stu. Goose extended the lead to two midway through the period on a feed from Julie, a nice callback to their connection in week one of the season…Tarnow potted his 2nd of the game just a few minutes later when, off the faceoff, a clearing attempt by Spencer ricocheted off the ref and back to Mike who buried it five-hole. Unfortunate but hey, those are the breaks. At this point in the game one would be forgiven for believing that with Ariel out of town, the Hippos were cooked…Jack scored an absolutely massive goal when, with 16 seconds left in the period, he buried an absolutely perfect shot off the top corner of the net. Just like that, despite being outplayed all period, the Hippos were only down a goal…in the 2nd the Hippos put the pressure on and started getting the better of play but were unable to break through Henry, LJ and the Parrots defense. Tim Burke, playing in relief of team captain Campbell, made a number of key stops to maintain the two goal lead for purple heading into the 3rd…Mike tipped a shot by Sena to cut the lead to one 3:18 into the period…with less than three minutes left, the game took an insane turn. First, Jack got a fortunate bounce when he threw the ball in front only to see it deflect off Henry and into the purple net for the tying goal. Off the ensuing faceoff, the Hippos got the ball deep and Courtney took a shot on net which was tipped by Hicks and bounced up in the air. Tim appeared to swat it out of the air but the referees ruled that his glove was in the net at the time that he swatted it out and awarded yellow the goal, causing Hicks to celebrate like the animal that he is as the Hippos fans in the crowd went wild. Purple used their challenge to dispute the call, but review clearly showed the ball bouncing off the glove, the glove moving forward and hitting the crossbar, indicating that it had been in the net in the previous frame…Hicks would seal the game with an empty netter to send the Hippos to their 2nd consecutive D5 Championship Game.
THREE STARS OF THE GAME:
3rd – Mike Tarnow (2G)
2nd – Tadpole Jack (2G, 1A)
1st – Hicks (2G)
Hungry Hippos (6) vs Goonies (1)
1st Period:
HIP (1-0) – Hicks (5) (assisted by Tadpole Jack) (3:55)
GOO (1-1) – Derek (3) (assisted by Shirtless Rob Meehan) (6:57)
2nd Period:
GOO (2-1) – Cherie (2) (assisted by Ebenezer) (3:26)
GOO (3-1) – Derek (4) (assisted by Ebenezer) (8:15)
GOO (4-1) – Cherie (3) (assisted by Brett) (10:17)
3rd Period:
HIP (2-4) – Hicks (6) (SH) (assisted by Courtney) (11:26)
GAME NOTES: In between games, lines were released with the Goonies at -160 favorites. After four people in the crowd immediately bet the max, the line was shifted to Goonies -175. Looking back, it probably wasn’t enough…Eitan had to head out after the first game for a Comic Strip audition so in his place was Casca of the recently vanquished team Cup Size….Hicks continued his tremendous postseason play by putting his team ahead early in the 1st on a beautiful feed from Jack. The Hippos were up a goal, but the Goonies continue to play their game and press the attack and were rewarded when Derek tied the game midway through the period on a feed from “Shirtless” Rob Meehan, at the time still wearing his shirt…the loss of 1st round pick Ariel was definitely felt in this one as the Hippos fought as hard as they could but simply could not overcome the Goonies’ forecheck and opportunistic scoring. In the 2nd period it was a Goonies onslaught as Cherie scored two goals on partial breakaways sandwiched around a fast break goal from Derek. With a 4-1 lead going into the 3rd and a heavily depleted Hippos bench, the in-game line was Goonies -3 favored to hold on…the Hippos gave it everything they had in the final period of the season, with Sena going full beast-mode and Hicks/Tadpole/Spencer/Sarah/Courtney/Mike/Rezzie and the Q Train throwing everything they could on net. The Goonies defense held strong, however and aside from a late goal by Hicks that vaulted him into the top spot in the playoff scoring race, they were not going to let this one slip away. The Hippos were left to wonder if this game may have gone differently with first round pick and defensive captain Ariel in attendance as they simply ran out of gas against a fast, disciplined Goonies squad…the Goonies became the 2nd consecutive white team to win a championship and delivered to Cherie her first NY Ball Hockey Championship. They went wire-to-wire as the #1 seed in the league, just as the Cleveland Browns did the previous season…there are now four players in the league who have won multiple titles: Derek, Emily “Em-V-P” Barbour, Julie Katz and Rich Glanzer…congratulation to the Goonies, the Hippos and everyone else in the league on a great season. Thanks to a truly unprecedented amount of rain, I am writing this after the summer season has already started so I guess saying see you next season would be weird. See you on Tuesday.
THREE STARS OF THE GAME:
3rd – Hicks (2G)
2nd – Derek (2G)
1st – Cherie (2G)
