Thursday July 29

The Family Wall holds up in nail biter vs Dragons

It’s never a good idea to play with no spares regardless of the opponent, let alone the veteran Dragons, but that’s exactly what happened to The Family on this night. Unfortunately, they lost the first game to a default and had to start the 2nd game with no change-ups. They had no choice but to play a very sound and structured defensive game and rely heavily on their goaltender Vince Teoli, enroute to shutting out some pretty high-powered shooters on the Dragons. To say that he stood on his head would be the understatement of the year. He held the fort between the pipes and his team’s defensive wall withstood the offensive onslaught and barrage of shots directed at their net. The family capitalized on their few chances as M.Dahha opened the scoring on a nice passing play and M. Braun scored the insurance marker with less than four minutes remaining in the game. Believe it or not, sometimes it’s easier to game plan and play a cohesive defensive system that is capable of stifling your opponent when you have no spares, but I suspect The Family will have more bodies for their next game.

(3) Dragons vs The Family (0)

(2) The Family vs Dragons (0)

Tightly contested battle between familiar foes for crucial points

Whenever these 2 teams meet, its best not to put any wagers down, since the outcome is a surprise regardless of where each other is in the standings and the games are usually highly entertaining. Having had numerous battles over the years, these 2 teams know each other very well and its only fitting that on this night, they each won a respective game by identical scores. Game 1 was knotted at a goal apiece after the 1st period, that is until the Pylons opened up the offense in the 2nd, rifling off 3 unanswered goals, with Aziz Toure credited with the game winning goal. In Game 2, the script was reversed and again the teams were knotted at a goal apiece after 1 period. This time it was the RCGT Knights who came out guns blazing in the 2nd period, scoring 3 unanswered goals with M.Dupuis getting the game winner on a nifty deflection from a point shot that O.Caillet had no chance of stopping. Entering the game, only 1 point separated these teams in the standings and it’ll be a tight race to the bitter end, to see who prevails.

(4) Pylons vs RCGT Knights (1)

(4) RCGT Knights vs Pylons (1)

Underdog Carnage show resiliency in upset win vs Brewers

Carnage knew they’d have their hands full vs the veteran laden Brewers as both teams came to compete with full squads. Carnage needed to start putting some wins together in order to get back into the playoff race. Game 1 saw Carnage with a 1 goal lead after the first period but that quickly evaporated as the Brewers found their legs and offense and scored 4 straight in the 2nd period lead by A. Lanni’s game winner and insurance marker. Carnage captain F.Pace and his troops knew the importance of securing some crucial points in the standings and needed a response. Game 2 didn’t start well for them, as the Brewers quickly jumped out to a lead less than a minute in the game, before P.Arcaro leveled the game less than 3 minutes later. Knowing that the game was up for grabs, Carnage came out roaring for the 2nd period as they opened the flood gates, scoring 5 goals and proceeded to rout the Brewers. Surely this win will inspire Carnage, knowing they can compete vs anybody in the division and the Brewers will have to regroup and figure out how they let this game get away from them.

(5) Brewers vs Carnage (3)

(6) Carnage vs Brewers (2)

The SalumiVino player of the night goes to Vince Teoli of the Family. The goaltender was just remarkable. He somehow denied 29 shots to earn an impressive shutout with a team in front of him that had no changes.