January
17, 2007
Playoffs
Quaterfinals
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Meercats Surprise Youngbloods 5-4 in
Playoff Contest
By Deke Sherwood
It
is unknown what was said in closed door
meetings at Meercats Manor prior to last
night's game, but one hour later the
scoreboard at Belmont Iceland read
Meercats 5 Youngbloods 4. With this
victory the Meercats move ahead to the
semi-finals and the Youngbloods set their
sights on planning for next season.
The Youngbloods entered the contest with
one of the most feared offenses in the
league. Led by Captain Joe Balan's record
setting 37 goals along with 27 regular
season tallies by the combination of
Larry Waxman and Trevor Lawley, they
brought a powerful scoring machine to the
party. It was the Meercats however who
drew first blood early in the first
stanza on a Dave Verderosa goal.
Joe Balan quickly answered with a great
individual effort to tie the game at 1-1.
As the period progressed, Jared Ginsburg
and Andrew Till traded goals for the
Meercats and Youngbloods respectively.
Once again the score was even. The
Meercats kept pressing until Jared
combined with Lilliana Radoshevich giving
her the first of her two goals of the
night.
The second period found the Meercats
increasing their lead to 4-2 on another
goal by Jared Ginsburg, but then the
Youngbloods went on the march. With Will
Mitchell serving a tripping penalty they
got the power play working until it
yielded a goal off the stick of Andrew
Till. With the match two thirds of the
way complete the score was 4-3, advantage
Meercats.
Fighting for their lives, the Youngbloods
came off the bench firing on all
cylinders for the third period and
eventually evened the score on another
power play goal, this time by Trevor
Lawley. The table was now set for the
scenario that had been played out time
after time this season for the Meercats.
An early lead would be squandered in the
third period and their opposition would
pounce on them to win. In an effort to
break this curse, Lilliana redirected a
well placed shot from the point by John
Lewis to put the Meercats back in front.
But the game wasn't over yet. The
Youngbloods doubled their intensity and
hammered the Goalie Kane Ng in the
closing minutes. A combination of amazing
saves, missing opportunities and just
plain luck resulted in the Meercats
holding on long enough to post a victory.
Kudos go to the Youngbloods organization
who fielded a competitive and exciting
squad for their premier season in the
league. It remains to be seen if the
Board of Governors will form all new
teams for the next season, but the record
books will always show that the
Youngbloods were a powerful force both on
the ice and at the tavern.
Will the Meercats be able to repeat their
playoff run of last season and sweep the
competition to hoist the Belmont Cup for
the second straight time? Is their strong
sense of team play and hard work enough
to take them to the top of the heap? The
first part of that answer will be found
on the Iceland scoreboard next Wednesday
night.
|
| |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Final |
Meercats
|
3 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
Youngbloods
|
2 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
| |
Scoring
Summary |
| |
1st period |
| |
Meercats |
Dave Verderosa 1
(R.Gendler, J.Ginsburg) |
| |
Youngbloods |
Joe Balan 1 |
| |
Meercats |
Jared Ginsburg 1
(L.Radoshevich, F.Witko) |
| |
Youngbloods |
Andrew Till 1 (T.Lawley) |
| |
Meercats |
Lilliana
Radoshevich 1 (J.Ginsburg) |
| |
2nd period |
| |
Meercats |
Jared Ginsburg 2
(F.Witko) |
| |
Youngbloods |
Andrew Till 2 (pp)
(T.Lawley, L.Waxman) |
| |
3rd period |
| |
Youngbloods |
Trevor Lawley 1 (pp)
(A.Till, L.Waxman) |
| |
Meercats |
Lilliana
Radoshevich 2 (J.Lewis,D.Verderosa) |
| |
Goalies |
| |
Youngbloods |
Johnny Blaze (0-1) |
| |
Meercats |
Kan Ng (1-0) |
Belmont
Iceland
815 Old County Road, Belmont, CA 94002
Ph (650) 592-0533 Fax
(650) 592-0503
[email protected]
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