The San Diego Jr. Gulls are the top team in the league. The haven't lost a game in the pre-season or regular season.
In fact, they are such a special team that nearly every player wears a captain "C" on his jersey. When the Ventura Mariners
Bantam Killer Bees headed to Escondido on Sunday, they knew they faced a mighty oppenent and would have to be in top form
just to compete.
Compete they did. The Mariners hit the ice with a purpose. They were skating,
hitting, and taking care of their defensive responsibilities. They matched the Gulls in intensity and spent just as much time
attacking as they did defending. Luke Tickle set the tone for the team with a brilliant penalty kill. His hustle was infectious
and spread throughout the ranks. This game was as exciting as they come with both teams getting some great scoring chances.
Goalie Gianluca Allen was in the zone, protecting the net with a cool confidence. His positioning was perfect. He challenged
the shots and his +5 glove hand wouldn't give up the net. In the later stages of the first period, the Mariners finally broke
through. Conor Gleason split the "D" with a nice feed from Jason Hart and deked his way passed the goalie. Unfortunately,
about ten seconds later, the Jr. Gulls came right back and tied it up.
In the second period, things
tightened up a little. While the Gulls got frustrated and took unnecessary penalties, the Mariners got confident and established
their physical play. Blake Burlew was banging bodies in the corners. Cameron Torres stepped into a kid trying to skate out
of the zone and not only annihilated him, but kept the puck alive. After taking a series of cheap shots, Killian Anderson
finally had enough and dismantled a player against the far boards. The hit of the game, however, goes to Patrick Dalton who
delivered a devastating hip check against the scorer's box. The Middle frame saw a lot less action because the Mariners defense
was smothering. JB Lovelace fought like a rabid dog to keep the puck out of the danger zone. Tom Dobrokhot wouldn't give the
Gulls a good look at the net. Josh Kuchinskit would only give his opposition a good look at the ceiling. With two in the books,
the game was still tied 1-1.
In the last stanza, the empowered Mariners offense came to life. The
Killian/Patrick/TJ Samuel line would have scored if it weren't for a pesky bouncing puck. The Brian Zacchia/Luke/Niko Utash
line nearly snuck a wrap-around into the net. The boys were relentless and spent most of the time on the attack. It finally
paid off when Shane Heller went to the front of the net, took a chip pass from Conor and banged it home. The Mariners had
the lead again, and unlike before, didn't immediately give it up. The boys continued to play great, clamping down defensively
and continuing to buzz in enemy territory. As the clock was ticking away it looked like David was going to slay Goliath. Unfortunately,
the Jr. Gulls caught a lucky break and scored with a little under two minutes left. The game would end in a 2-2 tie. This
was no sister-kisser for the Mariners. they played an awesome game and gave San Diego the first blemish on their season. Knocking
the top-dog down a few notches is nothing to sneeze at (right Carlos?).
I was so proud of our boys
when they came off the ice. They played with such passion and discipline. Sergey, Jere, and Steve have done a wonderful job
with these kids. When the team lost to The Jr. Gulls in the preseason, I wrote that they had all season to catch those guys.
Well, here we are 8 games in and they boys already caught 'em. They still have half a season to surpass them. If the past
few weeks are any indication, the Killer Bees are definitely headed in that direction.
2 Cool 4U
Mark Becica was the back-up in this game but that can't
keep his name out of the report. We were in a public restroom and they had one of those automated towel dispensers. Three
of us dads couldn't figure out how to make it work. Mark banged it with the bottom of his fist and we had paper towels. It
was like something the Fonz would have done. I understand he has a date with Pinky Tuscadero later.
Buongiorno
I know we have fans all over
the United States and even in Canada, but I just found out the Killer Bee Empire has extended into Europe. It turns out Gianluca's
family in Italy are reading these reports. Next, we conquer Russia!
