Week of September 12 (Game 1) – Seven months later, missing three of their top forwards as well as their top defenseman, Shockwave picked right up where they had left off back in March with their team motto of “next man up,” as everyone stepped up on this team to hold on for a 4 – 3 OT win over Drama Queens. With the win, Shockwave maintained their first place position at the top of the standings, exactly where they were when play was halted back in March. For Drama Queens, they earned a valuable point in the standings, moving into a tie for fourth place.
We knew going into this first game of the restart after a seven month layoff that everyone would be out of shape. What we didn’t expect was in the first period knowing that the player scoring the restart’s first goal would be Gary Goodwin as a fill in player, as he was set up by Jim Clarke only two and a half minutes into the game.
In the second period, at exactly the same two and a half minutes into the period, Shockwave extended their lead to two goals as rookie Rich Pelletier took a pass from Dominic Defrancisco and scored his first Over-30 league goal. Two minutes later, needing a momentum swing, Shawn Miville gave it to his Drama Queens team as he was set up by Joe Carlton. The momentum swing would be short-lived, as four minutes later, defenseman Jim Clarke jumped up on the offense by himself and made a great individual play scoring an unassisted goal top corner short side inside the right faceoff circle, putting his team back up by two goals. Yet, a minute later, Ray Dow scored out front on a sweet pass from Shawn, making this a one goal game.
The third period saw Drama Queens carry the play and start taking control of this game. The relentless attack paid off as with only a minute left, Jamie Kehoe took a pass from Tim Hickey and Ray Dow on the point, and his slap shot from the point beat the goalie. To say that Drama Queens had a lot of scoring opportunities in the period is an understatement.
With both teams gassed, Shockwave carried the play in overtime and with only six seconds left in the game, Dominic was sent in by John Carey on a contested breakaway and still managed to score the game winner. Dagger in the heart!
Week of September 12 (Game 2) – Similar to what we saw in the first game, the seven month layoff appeared to have no effect on the Olive Pits team as they continued to play their successful style of balanced two line scoring, smothering defense, and timely saves from their goalie, as they easily won 5 – 1 against Jake-O-Lanterns.
After a scoreless first period that was evenly played by both teams, Olive Pits opened the scoring seven and a half minutes into the second period as Dave Parquette was set up by the passing of Rick Cassano and Mauro Colucciello down low. Riding that initial strike, Rick was set up by Pat Pirone on the ensuing power play forty-two seconds later, extending their lead. The killer goal by Olive Pits that sucked the wind out of Jake-O-Lanterns occurred with only six seconds left in the period, as Pat was left alone at the side of the net and buried his chance off the shots of Dave and Mauro.
In the third period, Olive Pits poured it on, adding their fourth consecutive goal as Mauro was set up by Rick on the wing for a commanding lead, three and a half minutes into the period. Less than a minute later, Matty Iannello was set up in the high slot by Angelo Deluca for a top corner goal, breaking the shutout bid. All that was left was for Mauro to cap off the scoring with half a minute to play as he was set up by Ron Aquino on the right wing for the game’s final score.
With the win, Olive Pits moved into sole possession of second place overall in the standings and already looks focused for the playoff run. Meanwhile, Jake-O-Lanterns had plenty of opportunities to score goals but couldn’t finish, especially some in close scoring chances. Now tied for that final playoff spot, time will tell if this Jake-O-Lanterns team has the mental toughness and has shed that “give up mentality” when the going gets tough.
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