Monday October 17

C-A Bessette late power play goal evens mini series for Country Club

The Country Club and the Snipers expected a hard fought battle on Monday night, and its exactly what they got. In order to defeat the Snipers, you need to make every inch count out there. The Country Club saw it first hand as they just fell short in the opener despite giving their opponent a good challenge. N.Atoui took charge setting up two goals while netting the Snipers third tally of the game. Ali Khanafer added an insurance marker by the nine minute mark to help secure a close 4-2 decision. Unhappy with the way things turned out, the Country Club took the opportunity to tweak their game in hopes of splitting the mini series. As expected, much of the second encounter remained close. The Snipers appeared to be headed for a second straight win finding themselves up 4-3 at one point in the final period. However, good teams find ways to create looks, and lanes when facing a desperate situation. The Country Club eventually tied the game thanks to J-S Lowe before taking advantage of a late power play chance where C-S Bessette came through to snap the late tie.

(4)Snipers vs Country Club(2)

(5)Country Club vs Snipers(4)

M.Stoico showing he can do it all

The ETNA players got a taste of the promise that their captain M.Stoico brought, and they liked it quite a bit. Stoico played his first two games of the season in a very different role by stopping the ball rather than distributing it. And to his credit, he seemed pretty capable of delivering a brilliant goaltending performance. The Mighty Pooches never once beat the net minder in four straight periods. After falling 3-0 in the first encounter, the Mighty Pooches were searching for a better chance by at least trying to get on board. That opportunity eventually came when ETNA found themselves in the penalty box a few times to many. A 2-0 deficit when awarded a power play suggests that you are still pretty much in the game. Already shorthanded goals are rare enough.  The problem was that the Mighty Pooches gave up three straight with a man up, and at one point with a two man advantage. ETNA would come back on a counter attack without any resistance-from the Mighty Pooches. When given that kind of space on a counter attack, expect to be beat. M.Calabrice, J.Alfieri and M.Alfieri each scored shorthanded to solidify a second straight shutout win for ETNA. In both their wins, M.Calabrice was a force once more collecting a total of six points.

(0)Mighty Pooches vs ETNA(3)

(5)ETNA vs Mighty Pooches(0)

Good for one game, but not for two, Classics keep rolling along in double wins over Assadi Consulting inc

The Assadi Consulting inc put up a very good fight in their first encounter with the league leading Classics, but in the end, it just wasn’t enough. It seems whenever a team gets a momentum swing versus the Classics, it gets cut almost immediately. B.Bentivegna and S.Athanasopoulos scored within seconds to narrow the gap by one only to see C.Kakivelis restore a two goal cushion shortly after. The Classics felt comfortable enough to manage the clock in their favour despite enough time left over. The win saw five different players score, and S.Morante needing to be a factor earning the win in net. Unlike the first game , the Assadi Consulting inc looked like they had no business being there. At no point did they show any signs of promise for how lopsided it got. The Classics used five goals in only five and a half minutes to put the game completely out of reach. C.Kakivelis got the ball rolling bagging the first two tallies while five different players cashed in ending the game earlier than expected. S.Morante wasn’t overly busy but went flawless to capture a shutout. If there is one interesting thing to point out in the twelve goals that the Classics scored, was that P.Karvouriaris converted only once. The sniper decided to take it easy giving his other teammates some recognition as well.

(5)Classics vs Assadi Consulting inc(3)

(0)Assadi Consulting inc vs Classics(7)

Degenerates able to hold off RCGT Knights in both games

The Degenerates had to be happy with the two results on Monday night. Balanced scoring pitched in, players who were supposed to score did and C.Stavriadis remained calm as usual making the necessary saves. By no means did it come easy however . The RCGT Knights had their moments of ball control that led to some high end chances. They did take some time to get on board in the first game to take away C.Stavriadis’s shutout courtesy of J.Seney. It was more so by the second encounter that they made it extremely close. J.Senay was able to put the RCGT Knights in front 3-2 late in the first period. The Degenerates did respond by the time the frame ended before adding two more quick markers early into the next frame. What appeared to be a comfortable situation didn’t quite turn out that way. The RCGT Knights kept pressing and got rewarded on a slap shot by R.Montinaro to pull his club within one. That tally came with just over three minutes left in the game.  Despite the close margin, the Degenerates never panicked as experience kicked in when dealing with a delicate situation. All they had to do was keep control of the ball as long as possible coupled with knowing who to get when playing without it. Adding to that, C.Stavriadis was their anyway to protect the net.

(1)RCGT Knights vs Degenerates(3)

(5)Degenerates vs RCGT Knights(4)

Kings bounce back after slow start to Dragons

Fresh off a disappointing set back, the Kings looked like a different team in their second encounter with the Dragons. They didn’t need to lean on any excuses as they grinded out a gritty and gutsy performance that went the distance. The Dragons did get that edge in the shootout however on goals by J.Mandracchia and A.Mirolla. The Kings ended up getting that point which gave some satisfaction to their night after a lackluster start in the opening game that saw the Dragons take it to them. Sometimes its how you finish that counts. The Kings competed very well getting some balanced scoring that saw D.Seguin produce three big points. It started to show that as the night progressed, the Kings maintained their high energy tempo while the Dragons didn’t quite have that same flair in their game compared to the first encounter. Regardless, they got the job done in the end on a pair of wins with the help of some high end players. A.Mirolla made an immediate impact riding five goals and an assist, J.Mandracchia collected three goals and a pair of helpers while B.Daniele makes it look easy at times capping off a seven point night.

(3)Kings vs Dragons(7)

(7)Dragons vs Kings(6) S.O

The SalumiVino player of the night goes to Costa Kakivelis of the Classics. After dominating the last period of the first game with two big goals, the forward set the tone right away in the second game striking twice to pave the way for another Classics victory.