11/7/09 @ Jr. Reign

For their first road game of the regular season, the Ventura Mariners Bantam Killer Bees drew an early morning affair in Riverside against the Jr. Reign. Eventually everyone showed up and we were ready to go. I don't know if the ice out there has a different molecular structure than the ice at Simi but it had some adverse effects on our players. Sure, it looked the same, but it made our boys skate awfully slow and somehow removed their ability to handle the puck or make good decisions.

The Jr. Reign had the Mariners on their heels much of the first period. The boys were turning the puck over left and right and didn't get much quality attack time. Despite this comedy of errors, Conrado Gesauldi managed to score off of an AJ Zavitz pass. I should note that last week, the scorekeeper accidentally gave one of Brian Zacchia's goals to Conrado so this week I'm taking Conrado's goal and giving it to Brian Z. I have that kind of awesome power and hey, it's only fair.

In the second, the Mariners continued their lackluster effort and the Jr. Reign made them pay by tying the game up. About mid-period, Killian Anderson untied things when he popped in a Tyler Serianne feed. I couldn't see because of all of the traffic in front of the net, but he assures me it was both brilliant and ninja-like. The boys settled in a bit, but they were still living dangerously with weak play in the defensive zone.

With one period left to play, we challenged the boys to pick it up. The message was simple: play harder and smarter, or lose. Just like last week, they accepted the challenge and responded with a vengeance. Conrado got things going early with his second (first?) goal. On the same shift, Brian Z. fired a laser beam into the top of the net for his first (second?) of the game. A finer shot you'll never see. The Mariners were energized at both ends of the ice.

On defense, the boys clamped things down. Blake Burlew rubbed out the opposition and quickly turned the play up ice with precision outlet passing. Patrick Gibson, fought like a mad dog in the corners, and Brad Kriegel was a monster on the blue-line, getting off great shots from the point. Come to think of it, Patrick had a a great point shot too. Unfortunately it found it's way into AJ's crotch. The Shawn Wentzel/Josh Donovan/EJ Frank line created chaos in front of the Reign net. Goalie Brian Felt wasn't tested often, but when it came he was ready. A rocket got launched from the high slot that Brian F. calmly snatched out of the air. I don't know how he saw it. The Reign player could only shake his head as he skated back to the bench.

The team was now firing on all cylinders. Niko Utash padded the lead with low hard shot from the circle. That seems to be his spot and his shot. Killian got his second of the game when he chipped one over the goalie's shoulder. The game was all but won. With 22 seconds left on the clock, I put Tom Dobrokhot out. Since he wears #22 I told him it was a sign and that he would score a goal. I guess I'm not much of a prognosticator, but Tom did fulfill his destiny. A Reign players was digging around the goalie with his head down and Tom came in with the biggest clean-out hit I've ever seen. It was legal and brutal. The Mariners bench erupted like they just won a championship.

The time ticked off and the Mariners had themselves a 6-1 victory. From a coaching standpoint, it wasn't the kind of win we wanted. Realistically, the boys only played one great period. We want them going for all three. One very positive sign, however, was the scoring. Not that they scored, but how they did it. All six goals were set up by two assists each. Look at these numbers: