Thursday April 13(Semi finals)

Brew Crew make statement in game one win over Van Doos Hc

(2)Van Doos Hc vs Brew Crew(5) Game 1

In an exhilarating opening game of this series, the Brew Crew had the formula to take down the recent champs. The first period saw the two sides committed to limiting their mistakes as the goaltenders were well insulted in a scoreless drought. After finally getting warmed up, D.Verta got their first to break the barrier and put the Brew Crew in front just shy of the mid way point of the game. It didn’t take long after that for B.Sansotta to double the lead which put some serious pressure on the Van Doos Hc to try and bounce back. Not to be outdone however, P.Doulis responded almost immediately to keep this thing within a very close margin. Still, the Brew Crew kept the mid set of pressuring rather than sitting back ,and in doing so, M.Nardi restored a two goal cushion that would close out the second period. Even with A.Papazian scoring very early in the third period for the Van Doos Hc, the Brew weren’t going to let this opportunity fade away despite dropping enough leads during the regular season. This time, they made their lead count no matter how close it was. By simply sticking with it, an eventual power play opportunity saw B.Sansotta widen the gap by two, and the Brew Crew knew that they would be able to ride out the clock. There is enough mental toughness in their group that makes them extremely resilient when the games matter more. It showed clearly in this game which now puts the Van Doos Hc in a big test having to deal with the adversity of trying to win two in a row. That being said, you can’t ever count out a team that knows how to win as well. This series has the potential to take a turn unless the Brew Crew decide otherwise.

Fatal Demons unable to hold on to leads in shootout loss to Armadillos

(7)Armadillos vs Fatal Demons(6) S.O Game 1

The Fatal Demons couldn’t keep the ball out of their net long enough, and after blowing a pair of leads, the Armadillos had the final word when P.Musto scored the lone shootout tally. It should be expected when two good teams face off against one another that they’ll have their ups and downs since they are evenly matched. The difference in this case was that the Fatal Demons had more control of the entire situation. First off, they stormed out of the gate mounting a nice 4-2 lead after one period. Yes, they did have a let down for some time since the Armadillos wont refuse to be pushed around as it was expected -from the division leaders. Once the Fatal Demons regained their footing, A.Argiroudis used a big third period goal to snap a 5-5 tie with just over a few minutes left to play. Five minutes is still plenty of time when your one shot away-from tying the game. However, the Armadillos started to feel the walls close in as the seconds were ticking loudly throughout the entire bench. To think that all that was left over was to make one more defensive play, and the Fatal Demons would have cemented a wild and important game one win over the Armadillos. Instead, G.Bouchard was able to beat the clock in time on a huge equaliser leaving all but fifteen seconds on the clock. Now that this contest was all tied up, the two sides could only focus on what’s ahead with the little time they have left over. With a five minute overtime period going scoreless, the final test was left to see who would prevail, a dreaded shootout. This is a department where the individual has to come through at a time of need, especially the two goaltenders. And while F.Moshonas delivered stopping all three breakaways he faced, R.Ranieri was nearly perfect expect for one attempt. P.Musto was the only player to score which proved to be just enough to help provide the Armadillos a big win.

The SalumiVino player of the night goes to Guillaume Bouchard of the Armadillos. The swift, slick and highly talented defenseman was no doubt at his finest on Thursday night. After scoring his clubs first two goals, G.Bouchard was able to provide a huge third period assist, and an even bigger goal completing his hat trick to force overtime with only fifteen seconds remaining in regulation time.