Last week the Ventura Mariners Bantam Killer Bees played a friendly exhibition against the Mariners A team. It wasn't
a real game and there really wasn't all that much to report so I decided not to do a game report. Then, I got this deeply
disturbing e-mail from Melissa Gibson demanding a report. Again, this week there's not all that much to report and I'm pretty
busy. I was thinking about blowing this game off too. However, in order to avoid some kind of obsessed fan "Misery" type of
situation I will do my best to deliver the goods.
Sunday marked the final meeting of the regular
season between The Mariners and OCHC. With our boys sitting three points up in the standings games don't get much bigger than
this. As expected, things started off pretty tight with neither team wanting to make the first mistake. The Mariners might
have had a slight edge in puck possession, but not by much. I've been getting on the kids about their lack of physical play
and gave them an ultimatum for this game: hit or sit. Tom Dobrokhot heeded my warning and set the tone with several crushing
blows. Brad Kreigel and Luke Tickle also had no problem mixing it up.
Things went back and forth
with both teams getting good, but not great, scoring chances. I didn't look like anyone was willing to budge. Then, Niko Utash
caught OCHC standing flat-footed. He broke in and roofed one on the goalie. It was a nice goal and it gave the Mariners the
early lead. That lead, however, was short-lived. A few minutes later, OCHC caught the Mariners napping and tied it up at one
apiece.
The confidence was building for the Mariners in the second. Brian Zacchia, who was having
an outstanding game both in terms of hits and chances, got things going. He smashed a kid off the puck, made a nice move and
found his winger wide open in front of the net. Conrado Gesauldi took the feed and put it in top-shelf, popping the water
bottle. The boys had the lead and they wanted more. Tyler Serianne and Killian Anderson, two guys that never shy away from
contact, had some nice chemistry going. Killian picked an OC player clean. Tyler went to the net. Killian faked the shot then
zipped the puck over. Tyler chipped it up to a seemingly open goal, but somehow the goalie got over and got a glove on it.
The third line too was getting chances. Josh Donovan was strong with the puck and got a few through to the net, but no further.
The
hitting and aggressive play was paying off in turnovers and open ice. The boys were getting odd-man rushes and great scoring
chances. Then the penalties started coming and some of them were downright confusing. Shawn Wentzel was skating away from
an OCHC player. The kid was holding onto Shawn's stick, so Shawn let go of it and the kid fell down. As he did, he reached
out with his stick and took Shawn down. Somehow we ended up with a hooking penalty. Moments later, Brad got tagged with another
hook and the team was now down two men for a minute thirty. OCHC got the shot in and swarmed the net. Goalie Brian Felt got
the first shot and the rebound, but after he got kneed in the head he couldn't keep the puck out. I'm no referee but that
would have been a good time for an interference call. Also, from where I was sitting, it looked like OC kicked the puck in.
After
two it was tied at two. The defense knew that had to clamp it down. Blake Burlew brought that nastiness back into his game.
Not only wouldn't he let anyone get near the net, he gave 'em a face full of shoulder with a free trip to the ice. Patrick
Gibson, while not playing as physical as I would like, has done a great job of cutting down on the mental mistakes and had
a solid game. I know that sound kind of boring the way I just described it, but I am extremely proud of the focus and dedication
Patrick has been putting into playing his position. Zach Marshall was also solid on "D" and he even chipped in offensively.
We had the puck in the OCHC zone. Zach read the play perfectly, snuck into the slot and got off a hell of shot that very nearly
went in.
The defense was great, but the goaltending had to be greater. No one could fault Brian F.
for either of the goals that went in, but the Mariners netminder knew he couldn't let another one in. Period. He was out challenging
the shots, hugging the post, and moving across the crease faster than the passes could go. He had 17 huge saves, but the 18th
was the best. With a dozen seconds left in the game, OCHC came screaming into the zone. Brian F. had the puck in his sights.
A pass went across and Brain F. shot out a pad and just got a toe on it. He preserved the tie.
Okay,
the boys probably should have won, but a 2-2 tie wasn't the worst thing in the world. They didn't give any ground to OCHC.
As big as this game was, it ended up being pretty meaningless. Especially because the other teams chasing the Mariners also
tied their games. Heck, it seems like every bantam B game ended up in a tie. There are weird forces in the cosmos at work.
I'm no philosopher or theologian, but sometimes things that appear to have no relevance to each other actually have a connection.
Saturday night I watched "Deliverance" on TV. Sunday the boys game ended in a tie which as they say is like kissing your sister.
Coincidence? I think not.
Stalker News
BTW I was just kidding about Melissa. She's
great and as far as I can tell the only one who actually reads these reports. That's not true. Tom Allen from the bantam A
team reads 'em and I'm pretty sure Kim Becica from the West Valley Wolves does too. So here's a triple shout out to my three
fans.
Gear Heads
Okay people. Listen up. It is extremely important that everyone
shows up to games with all of the appropriate gear and that it is in working order. Let's give three cheers to Timur Katsnelson
for essentially keeping this team on the ice by leading out his gear. It's the first time I can remember that a back-up goalie
had such a positive effect.
