North Valley 8 Franchise Hockey 6
On the plus side, an outmanned Franchise was stellar offensively with Brian Reich scoring his first two career goals and Myles Rowland contributing two goals and three assists. Unfortunately, Reich and Rowland's offensive output combined with big assist nights for defensemen Sheraj Ragoobeer and Matt King was not enough to overcome a third period during which the Franchise went scoreless and gave up five unanswered goals.
Kris Anderson opened the scoring with his eighth goal of the season on a beautiful pass from the elder Rowland. One day contract signee Josh Capelle netted his first career goal from the deep slot to give the Franchise a 2-0 lead. However, North Valley answered with two quick tallies. But Reich ended the first period with his first career goal on a bad-angle shot that found a way in.
The Franchise outscored North Valley 3-1 in the second period during an offensive outburst and seemed poised to pull away. Rowland finished a King rush with a quick wristshot for his eighth of the year. Moments later, Rowland scored his team-leading ninth goal of the season on a wraparound attempt. Reich scored his second on a tip from in front of the net.
But in the third period, the wheels completely fell off the ship. North Valley began the period beating goalie Mikey Stanzler with a wristshot from the high slot. After Anderson and Ragoobeer took penalties, North Valley made the score 6-5 on a perfect passing play that lead to a wide open net. With Ragoobeer still in the box, North Valley tied the game on a centering pass that found its way behind Stanzler. Defensemen King and Cam Rowland were caught flat-footed on the seventh goal, a wristshot that Stanzler did not appear to see.
The frustration reached its boiling point in the final moments. King took exception to a hit-from-behind with a haymaker. With King in the box on matching minors, the Franchise was unable to generate offensive in the last minute with its goalie pulled. North Valley added an empty-netter, despite Cam Rowland's diving effort.
The Franchise will see North Valley again March 24.
Box Score:
1st Period:
Anderson 8 (M. Rowland, King)
Capelle 1 (Anderson, King)
Reich 1 (M. Rowland, King)
2nd Period:
M. Rowland 8 (King, Ragoobeer)
M. Rowland 9 (Anderson, King)
Reich 2 (M. Rowland, Ragoobeer)
Goaltending:
Stanzler 2-2 (7 GA)
Captain's Thoughts:
I'm usually a pretty talkative person, so my loss for words after this bitter defeat was surprising. Today, the Franchise really played an out-of-character game.
Certainly a lack of healthy bodies was an issue. Definite kudos go to Kris (baseball game earlier in the day), Cam (playing sick) and Josh (signed a one-day contract moments before the game). Certainly we could have used another defenseman or two. But the bottom line is, we had an opportunity to win the game, and we didn't execute in the third period.
For whatever reason, our third period was a sloppy defensive period. The forwards didn't cover the high slot, the defensemen didn't communicate, and the result was Mikey simply being hung out to dry. We played undisciplined (correction- I played undisciplined), we played scared, and we did just backed in.
There were definitely positives and negatives to take away. Positives? Brian really got comfortable, scoring twice and taking zero penalties. Sheraj was just spectacular playing major minutes, and it's safe to say that Myles had a strong game.
Unfortunately, the negatives outweighed the positives. The third period was just an example of every flaw the Franchise has biting them in the ass simultaneously.
Before I sign off, I'd like to apologize to the players once again for the penalty I took in the last minute. There is simply no excuse to get goaded into a penalty at that point in the game. I think my teammates know that I typically have a good amount of composure, and I was probably more surprised than anyone. I think my punching the guy just stemmed from being hit-from-behind illegally on nearly every play in the corner. The bottom line is that their dirty play ended up impairing my judgement. It won't happen again, and I think I learned a pretty good lesson tonight.
And isn't learning what this is all about?
See you at practice-
Your Captain
#37