New hockey rink coming to The Epic Center

The current rink at The Epic Center. Picture by Franklin Heinzmann.

WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y. – The Epic Center will be getting a new roller hockey rink. The rink will be installed by September 4, 2018. The new roller hockey rink is a product of Athletica Sports Systems. Athletica Sports Systems has installed rinks for 29 of 31 NHL teams, and across North America

Atheltica Sports Systems is the “… Preferred Rink Equipment Supplier to the National Hockey League®, the American Hockey League, and USA Hockey,” according to athletica.com.

The rink is a variant of The PRO Series. The dimensions of the new hockey rink will be 185’ x 85’, and will feature two player doors on each bench, and a door for a Zamboni. The kickplates will be yellow and a half inch thick. The boards will be white and made of T-5 tempered aluminum alloy box extrusions. These boards are specifically designed for all rinks by Athletica Sports Systems, and meet some of the highest engineering standards.

“The PRO Series boards have been independently tested by an engineering firm, and did not fail at 2 ½ times the prescribed engineering standards,” according to athletica.com.

In addition to getting a new hockey rink, The Epic Center will be lowering the team fee for each of the next four sessions. Epic Center will also be changing their scheduling format. The Epic Center will also be introducing new days to play during Sessions III and IV. For Session III there is an option to play in a Friday league, and for Sessions III and IV there is an option to play in a Sunday league.

The Epic Center will be making changes to their regular season format as well. Regular season games will go to a three minute overtime, then a sudden death shootout. Teams will be awarded three points in for a regulation win, two points for an OT/shootout win, one point for an OT/shootout loss, and zero points for a regulation loss. Teams will then be seeded by the total number of points they’ve accumulated over the regular session.

Each team will now be guaranteed to play at least one playoff game. Each team will have the potential to play two additional games for each session depending on how well they do in the playoffs. The playoffs will be single elimination, with ties games being decided in a sudden death overtime period.

In addition to each player receiving t-shirts, and a spot on the Wall of Champions, league champions will be engraved on a brand new trophy, made by Covered Wagon Promotions (picture coming soon). For each session, the top goal scorer, top playmaker, and top goalie of each division will receive a custom plaque featuring their photo, name and session stats engraved on it.

Progress pictures and a promotional video debuting the new rink will be released on Epic Sports Report and epic-center.com in the near future. Be sure to follow @epicctr on Twitter, and like us on Facebook.

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Top goal scorers flex their muscles as Blazing Nuggests beat Kobalds Deep: Game of the Week

Blazing Nuggets forward Mitchell Weisgosz (#2) looks to enter the Kobalds Deep (red) zone. Picture by Franklin Heinzmann.

Coming into Tuesday night’s Tuesday Roller Hockey matchup, both Kobalds Deep and Blazing Nuggets boasted 4-3 records and a tie for second place in the standings. Their one and only meeting saw Blazing Nuggets defeat Kobalds Deep 13-0.

The game’s first goal was scored by Mitchell Wielgosz after he deked out a defender on a one on one and scored with 14:39 left. About a minute later, Kobalds Deep goalie Jacob Szymczak two great saves on a Blazing Nuggets forward, but Wielgosz cleaned up the rebound off of the second shot for his second goal of the night. With 10:10 left in the first half, Wielgosz scored his third of the night by going bar down to make it 3-0. Wielgosz had scored a hat trick within the first 12 minutes of the game.

Kobalds Deep scored their first goal with 7:24 left in the first half. Sean McCormick scored on shot from the corner of the rink. He was parallel to the net, and somehow snuck a shot in the net to make it 3-1. McCormick scored his second of the night with 5:59 left in the first half. Off the ensuing faceoff, Wielgosz took it down the ice and scored his fourth of the night to make it Blazing Nuggets 4 Kobalds Deep 2 (or Wielgosz 4 McCormick 2).

Within the span of 50 seconds, McCormick scored two goals for Kobalds Deep. McCormick capitalized on a defensive turnover to score his first of two goals and scored his second to beat the halftime buzzer. His second goal was so hard that it knocked off the goalie’s Gatorade bottle off of the top of the net, NHL 18 style.

At halftime the score was tied at four all. Blazing Nuggets had the shot advantage, 17-16. Blazing Nuggets was understandably upset at halftime after blowing a two-goal lead in a matter of 50 seconds. Captain Dennis Fruehauf emphasized persistence with shots on target. On the other side, Kobalds Deep were talking about how they planned on riding the momentum they had going into halftime.

Well Kobalds Deep’s plan didn’t work out, as Blazing Nuggets forward Andrew Then scored his team’s fifth goal on a deflection of Ken Smith’s shot from the point with 23:19 left in the second half. Derek Malke scored another to make it 6-4 Blazing Nuggets.

With 17:39 left, Kobalds Deep went to the powerplay, but couldn’t convert. Shortly after killing the penalty, Andrew Then scored on a quick wrist shot to make it 7-4 Blazing Nuggets. With 8:51 left, Kobalds Deep went to the powerplay again and once again couldn’t convert. As their time on the powerplay expired, Blazing Nuggets earned themselves two minutes on the powerplay. Kobalds Deep scored a shorthanded goal. Kenneth Stephens was the one to score what would be Kobalds Deep’s fifth goal.

With 2:07 left, McCormick scored his fifth goal of the night and right after, Kobalds called a timeout. They then tried to spread the floor and pick their spots instead of aggressively put pucks on net. They pulled the goalie with a minute left, but only to get an empty net goal scored on them. It was Wielgosz who put the final nail in the Kobalds Deep’s coffin.

Final Score: Blazing Nuggets 8 Kobalds Deep 6

 Blazing Nuggets also won in the shots on target category, having 33 shots on net to Kobalds Deep’s 29 shots on net. After the game, Wielgosz was happy about his four-goal performance and acknowledged that a few breaks went his way on the way to Blazing Nuggets 8-6 win.

“I’d say I felt great out there tonight,” Wielgosz said. “The puck stuck to my stick, and I definitely got lucky with some rebounds coming my way. It’s always great to get a win too.”

Wielgosz and McCormick are now both tied for the title of top goal scorer with 19 goals apiece. Mitchell S., of 1017 Brick Squad also has 19 goals.

Blazing Nuggets are now tied for first with Puckin’ Monkeys. Blazing Nuggets take on Pulse Revival next week. The loss didn’t drastically hurt Kobalds Deep’s position in the standings as they now sit in third place. Kobalds Deep face the aforementioned Puckin’ Monkeys next week.

 

Announcement

No Game of the Week next week. Be on the lookout for a never before seen kind of article coming next week!

 

To see the schedule for the upcoming mini-session, stats and more head to epic-center.com

 

Rover win Coed championship: Game of the Week

Rover after their 4-3 victory in the Tuesday Coed Soccer championship. Picture by Amanda Karneth.

Just like last week’s Game of the Week article, I covered a regular season matchup between two teams who faced off in the championship. This time it’s the Tuesday Coed Soccer championship featuring two Epic Center staples, Dukes of Hazard and Rover.

The championship started off in a relaxed state, just like most of the Coed soccer games played at the Epic Center. Shots on target through the first 17 minutes of play shots on target were 3-2 in favor of Rover. The closest a team came to scoring a goal was 7:49 when Rover nearly scored, but it was stopped on the goal line thanks to Dukes of Hazard GK Gunther Boyd. He’s usually a forward, but played GK in the championship.

With 4:01 left in the first half, Austin Francemore scored the first goal of the game to a roaring applause from his team’s bench to put Dukes of Hazard up 1-0. From there, the flow off the game picked up immensely. To end the first half, Rover couldn’t convert on two preceding corner kicks or on a long throw-in. With the score 1-0 Dukes of Hazard, shots on target were 7-4 in favor of Rover.

On the first on target shot of the second half for either team, Rover’s leading scorer Brendan Altiman-Cosgrove to make it 1-1 with 23:14 left in the second half. After an injury timeout, Sierra (no last name given) gave Dukes of Hazard a 2-1 lead. With 16:15 left in the half, Altiman-Cosgrove tapped the ball again navigating through chaos in front of the net to tie the game at two each.

The 13:28 mark of the second half was the beginning of a stretch in which three goals were scored within a span of 56 seconds. Rover forward Ali Rodgers scored off a defelction, then Francemore scored his second of the game from about the hlfway line on a laser to tie the game at three. Then to complete the trifecta, Paul Lagano scored to make it 4-3 in favor of Rover with 12:32 left.

Lagano’s goal ended up being the game-winning goal, as Rover held off Dukes of Hazard’s efforts over the remaining time left in the second half. After the game, Lagano felt his goal was the final hurdle Rover needed to jump to get back to the glory land.

“We haven’t won in a couple of sessions, so it’s nice to get back on top,” Lagano said. “It’s nice to score the goal that in the end, got us back to being known as the champions of the Coed league.”

Final Score: Rover 4 Dukes of Hazard 3

Both teams will be participating in the upcoming Tuesday Coed Soccer ‘mini-session’ along with two new teams, Leave My Arse-elona! and Buffalo Lighting.

To see the schedule for the upcoming mini-session, stats and more head to epic-center.com

 

The Quack Attack win championship in thrilling fashion: Game of the Week

The Quack Attack in their ‘League Champs’ t-shirts after their 2-1 win over Mad Lads United. Picture by Franklin Heinzmann.

In a previous Game of the Week article, I covered a regular session matchup featuring The Quack Attack and Mad Lads United, all that was up for grabs was tie on top of the standings. This time around ‘Epic Center League Champs’ t-shirts were on the line, as this matchup was the championship for the Tuesday Men’s Soccer session.

The game started out very sloppily. Both team were guilty of several turnovers, communication breakdowns, panicked passes and off-target shots. Through the first 15 minutes of play, both teams had more shots hit the ceiling than were put on target. It wasn’t something that anyone could’ve seen coming.

Wesley Frechette, of Mad Lads United, broke the scoreless tie on a volley kick with 7:48 remaining in the first half. The Quack Attack responded with a goal by Zach Jividen that was headed into the net off of a cross from the left wing. The score remained 1-1 as the buzzer sounded to end the first half. Shots on target were 5-4 in favor of Mad Lads United.

When I went to go give each team the ‘Don’t forget we have t-shirts for you guys if you win’ reminder that all timekeepers give in the championship, both Mad Lads United and The Quack Attack both focused in on their halftime meetings after recovering from 25 minutes of non-stop soccer.

Both teams came out of the gate conservative to start the second half. Mad Lads United realized that as an opportunity to get aggressive and go on the attack. Through the first ten minutes of the second half, shots on target were 6-2 in favor of Mad Lads United. None of them hit the back of the net.

After another 9 minutes of intense soccer with both team narrowly missing opportunities to take the lead, Lauren Cullinan scored with 1:18 left on a shot that she snuck near side past the Mad Lads United goalkeeper. After being the only girl to play in the Men’s league (The Epic Center made an exception for a player with her elite skillset) this session, Cullinan was elated after scoring what would be the game-winning goal in the championship.

“I felt great [after scoring],” Cullinan said. “It was a reward for rocking it as the only girl to play in the guys league.”

Final Score: The Quack Attack 2 Mad Lads Untied 1

Both teams will be participating in the upcoming Tuesday Men’s Soccer mini-session, which starts next week. Their next matchup will be must watch soccer.

 

To see the schedule for the upcoming mini-session, stats and more head to epic-center.com

 

Rover leapfrogs Dukes of Hazard for first: Game of the Week

Rover (left) and Dukes of Hazard (right) convene at halftime. Picture by Franklin Heinzmann

Rover and Dukes of Hazard and have faced off many times over the years that they’ve been playing at the Epic Center. Each game is very competitive, and is always one of the highlights of any given Coed soccer session. The latest installment of Rover-Dukes of Hazard did not disappoint.

Dukes of Hazard came into Tuesday’s game on top of the standings with a 4-1-0 record, and Rover’s record was 3-1-0. Since there are only three teams participating in this session of Tuesday Coed Soccer, this game was the first of a doubleheader for Rover. They would go on to play the winless No Fuchs Given after the conclusion of their match against Dukes of Hazard.

Brendan Altiman-Cosgrove, Rover’s (and the league’s) leading goal scorer, and Guenther Boyd, Dukes of Hazard’s leading scorer, traded goals within the first moments of the game. Afterwards, both Dukes of Hazard and Rover went on to put many shots on target, but not convert any into goals until 5:56 left in the first half. Jeff (no last name given) scored to make it 2-1 after intercepting a goal kick. Boyd scored his second goal to make it 2-2 with 3:49 left in the half.

In order to make up for a costly turnover that led to a goal, Dukes of Hazard goalie Austin Franclemont made a nice save on the next Rover shot on target, took the ball up the length of the field, deked Rover’s goalkeeper, passed to Boyd, who was victim of a nice goal line clearance by Rover’s middle defender, Josh Billica. The goal line clearance landed right at Dukes of Hazard winger Kyle’s (no last name given) feet. He easily scored to make it 3-2.

At halftime the score remained the same after the crazy sequence of events that resulted in Dukes of Hazard taking the lead. Dukes of Hazard led in shots on target, 8-5.

Off the opening kickoff, Rover’s Paul Lagano tied the game up with a low driven shot past the keeper. With 16 minutes left Boyd compelteted the trifecta for a hat trick. The goal gave his team a 4-3 lead.

Rover then decided to put the pedal to the metal and try to get a goal. Rover’s Allison Rogers scored her first goal of the session to tie the game at four a piece. Rover continued to be aggressive and Altiman-Cosgrove put his team ahead with a goal with 6:28 left. Rover then shifted their gameplan that was the opposite, lots of defense.

It paid off, as Rover secured the 5-4 win over Dukes of Hazard. With their defeat of No Fuchs Given in the second half of their doubleheader, they now sit in first place heading into the playoffs. Dukes of Hazard will play No Fuchs Given, and the winner of that will play Rover as the second game of a doubleheader.

Announcement

Sorry for no heads up in regards to no article last week, the Epic Center closed for the week of Independence Day!

To see standings, stats, and more head over to epic-center.com

Puckin’ Monkeys hand Blazing Nuggets first defeat: Game of the Week

Puckin’ Monkeys (purple) shake hands after their 5-3 win. Picture by Franklin Heinzmann.

 

The 6 P.M. game on Tuesday featured Puckin’ Monkeys who took on Blazing Nuggets, the number one team in Tuesday Roller Hockey. Blazing Nuggets won their only other matchup with Puckin Monkeys by a score of 4-1.

Each team exchanged goals in the first four minutes of the game. Blazing Nuggets goaltender Dennis Fruehauf made some nice saves to counter the pressure that Puckin’ Monkeys put on throughout most of the first half. With 6:29 left, Mitchell Wielgosz snuck a shot near side to put Blazing Nuggets up 2-1. Just like earlier in the half, Puckin’ Monkeys replied rather quickly with a goal of their own. Matthew Galley scored to tie the game at two-a-piece.

After that goal was scored, Blazing Nuggets got more aggressive and took control of the game, applying pressure right up until the buzzer sounded at the end of the first half. The score was 2-2 at halftime with Puckin’ Monkeys leading in shots, 12-11.

With 18:35 left in the second half, a bad turnover by a Blazing Nuggets defender led to a Puckin’ Monkeys goal, which was scored by Robert Wolfe. Shortly after, Blazing Nuggets had their chance to tie the game on the powerplay, but Puckin’ Monkeys’ penalty kill held strong for the entire two minutes. With 9:21 left, Blazing Nuggets tied the game, on Wiesgosz’s second goal of the game. Wiegosz now leads the league in goals with 14.

After an intense and competitive five minutes of roller hockey, Galley struck once more with another clutch goal to give Puckin’ Monkeys a 4-3 lead with just over five minutes left to play in the second half.

After seeing that goal go in, multiple players on the Blazing Nuggets bench threw their sticks in frustration. Their childish acts lead to one game misconduct penalty being assessed to Blazing Nuggets. To put the game out of reach Puckin’ Monkeys forward Matthew Manns scored a wrister on the ensuing powerplay to make it 5-3.

Final Score: Puckin’ Monkeys 5 Blazing Nuggets 3

After the game, Matthew Manns was happy that Puckin’ Monkeys won, but knew the team could have done a better job.

“I think defensively we could have played better,” Manns said. “There were a few instances here I thought we could have done better. Overall, I think we did just alright.”

Despite personally having a good game, Blazing Nuggets goalie Dennis Fruehauf was very blunt with his thoughts on how Blazing Nuggets played during the game.

“We played awful,” said Fruehauf. “We were sloppy too.”

 

To see standings, stats, and more head to epic-center.com

 

Mad Lads tied for first with win over Quack Attack: Game of the Week

Mad Lads United attacker Lucas Metzger (Orange #5) looks to pass. Picture by Franklin Heinzmann

On Tuesday, The Quack Attack took on Mad Lads United. Both teams were 2-1 heading into the game, and with Bulldogs’ defeat over The Roos, a share of the top of the standings was on the line.

After a couple of shots on target from both sides, Mad Lads United attacker Lucas Metzger scored the game’s first goal with 23:19 left in the first half. After that goal was given up, The Quack Attack adjusted their strategy to always keep a defender behind the halfway line. With 19:42 left, The Quack Attack were awarded a penalty. Scott Panullo converted the penalty to even the score at one a piece. With 15:14 left in the first half, The Quack Attack defender Adam Bir made a great goal line clearance which saved a goal. With 13:30 left in the half, Niko Kotzambasis scored his first of the night to give Mad Lads United a 2-1 lead.

Up until that point, Mad Lads United had been dominating the game in terms of possession and shots on target, but after Kotzambasis’ goal, The Quack Attack got more aggressive offensively adding three shots on target within the span of two minutes. Unfortunately, it didn’t pay off. After another five minutes of classic Epic Center soccer, Metzger scored his second of the night on a low driven shot with 4:37 left in the half to make it 3-1 in favor of Mad Lads Untied. The score held into halftime.

At halftime the shots on target were 7-4 in favor of Mad Lads United. Towards the end of the first half, both teams got tired quicker than teams usually do. This can be attributed to the temperature inside Open Field 1, where every Tuesday Men’s Soccer game is played. Substitutes were made more and more by each team as the game wore on.

The second half started out hot. Mad Lads United attacker Ostap Tkalich scored right of the opening kickoff to make it 4-1 in favor of Mad Lads United. On the ensuing kickoff, The Quack Attack went down the field and earned a corner. Zach Jividen scored a header off of the corner kick to make it 4-2 with 22:11 left in the game. After about six minutes of evenly played soccer, Kotzambasis scored his second of the game. He scored on a half-volley kick from just outside the 18-yard box. The ball came off of his foot faster than a bullet out of a pistol.

Five minutes later, Metzger scored his third goal of the night to earn a hat trick. Metzger’s goal put Mad Lads United ahead by a score of 6-2 with 11:10 left in the game. It was assisted by Tkalich who put his opposing defender in a blender before setting up Metzger for the goal. After that point, each team added a couple more shots a piece, but the energy that the game provided had died. It could be attributed to the lack of backups each team had in reserve, the temperature, or simply because either team couldn’t convert any chance they created.

Final Score: Mad Lads United 6 The Quack Attack 2

Announcement

There will be no Game of the Week next week. I plan on covering a Tuesday Roller Hockey game for the next installment of the Game of the Week.

To see standings, stats, and more head to epic-center.com

Flashy goals help Dukes of Hazard beat No Fuchs Given: Game of the Week

 

No Fuchs Given defender Dan Moreno (black) looks to pass back to Alex Bratos (gray) and avoid an oncoming attacker (white). Picture by Franklin Heinzmann.

 

Dukes of Hazard and No Fuchs Given faced off to start the summer session of Tuesday Coed Soccer on Tuesday night. The rosters of Dukes of Hazard and No Fuchs given are both filled with players who have been playing at the Epic Center for many years. Dukes Of Hazard is named after a combination of the TV series “Dukes of Hazzard” and Chelsea FC winger Eden Hazard. The name No Fuchs Given is a reference to Christian Fuchs, a player on Leicester City F.C. of the English Premier League.

The game started without much urgency. Each team spent the first ten minutes or so feeling each other out; getting a sense of each other’s strengths and weaknesses. With 14:38 left in the first half, Nina Komosinski scored to put No Fuchs Given ahead 1-0. It was the first shot on target by either team, and it ended up in the back of the net. Exactly 10 minutes later, after each team split the amount of shots on target, Dan Hill scored for Dukes Of Hazard to tie the score at one a piece. With 3:20 left in the first half, Sierra (no last name given) scored off of a rebound scored for Dukes of Hazard to give them the 2-1 lead.

At halftime the score was 2-1. No Fuchs Given kept trying to catch Austin Franclemont, goalie for Dukes of Hazard, out of the net but to no avail. Each team knew the task at hand and went out to try and achieve it in the second half: win.

The first shot of the second half was fantastically saved by Alex Bratos, goalie for No Fuchs Given, who kicked out his left leg to stop the ball from going in the net.  Shortly after, Louise Galuski took a shot from the corner of the 18-yard-box that curled around the goalie, went off of the crossbar and in. It was one of the best goals I’ve seen in about a year working at the Epic Center. Galuski’s bar-down goal gave Dukes of Hazard a 3-1 lead.

With 15:55 left in the second half, Dan Hill scored his second of the night to make it 4-1 in favor of Dukes of Hazard. With 12:54 left in the second half, Dukes of Hazard’s Guenther Boyd chipped it over Bratos to give his team a 5-1 lead. It looked just like a teardrop shot from Golden State Warriors PG Steph Curry, which floats in the air before landing over the head of the defender (in this case the goalie). Though No Fuchs Given’s deficit had grown from one to four in a span of 10 minutes, they still played to the best of their abilities. Komosinski earned and converted a penalty to score her second of the night to close Dukes of Hazard’s lead to 5-2.

After Komosinski scored the penalty, No Fuchs Given started to play much more aggressively; getting more shots within the last 10 minutes than they did through out the game leading up to that point. To counter No Fuchs Given’s attack, Dukes of Hazard switched to a 4-2 formation instead of the standard 3-3 formation (that every soccer team of every league at Epic Center plays). The tactical decision to drop am attacker back ended up working out for Dukes of Hazard as they secured the 5-2 win.

To see standings, stats, and more head to epic-center.com

Bulldogs-Mad Lads United decided by one goal in session opener: Game of the Week

Bulldogs goalie Anthony Grabp (yellow) looks to send a goal kick to one of his teammates (white), but Mad Lads United defenders (black) are lurking. Picture by Franklin Heinzmann.

 

On Tuesday, the summer session of Men’s Soccer kicked off. Bulldogs and Mad Lads United (MLU) faced off in the 10 P.M. game. Bulldogs is one of only two teams that are playing from the Tuesday and Wednesday Spring sessions to play over the summer. MLU, the team formerly known as Manchesthair United, rebranded and switched from red t-shirts to black t-shirts.

This game wasn’t very entertaining from a goal-scoring standpoint, but both goalies put on quite a show. Anthony Grabp, goalie for Bulldogs, made a great save on a MLU two-on-one just two minutes into the game. In the ensuing minutes Austin Long, goalie for MLU, made a diving save to keep the game tied at zero. With 8:42 left in the first half, MLU defender Niko Kotzambasis scored after joining the attack to create a mismatch. After the goal was scored, momentum clearly shifted to MLU’s side. Despite having momentum they couldn’t convert another goal before the buzzer rang to end the half.

The score was 1-0 at halftime. The moods of each team at halftime were polar opposite of each other. MLU was happy, laughing, and very light in nature. Bulldogs was deflated, quiet and very serious. Bulldogs were acting as if their one goal deficit was a nine goal deficit.

To start the second half, three different MLU attackers hit the post. It was clear the momentum from Kotzambasis’ first half goal carried into the second half. As time dwindled down it was clear, Grabp was single handily keeping Bulldogs in the game making saves left and right. The greatest chance for Bulldogs to score came with 7:21 left, but Long made his best save of the night (not just in this game but out of all three games played on Tuesday). Long saved a shot with his fingertips while he was fully extended in mid-air. That save was the last turning point in the game. Long and MLU shut down Bulldogs for the remaining seven minutes and secured the 1-0 victory to open the session.

 

To see standings, stats, and more head to epic-center.com

 

We Need A Sub’s comeback win secures a spot in the championship: Game of the Week

Algino Monkeys forward Micheal Waczkowski (#22) takes a shot on We Need A Sub’s (Red) net. Picture by Franklin Heinzmann

Last night, the number two seeded Algino Monkeys took on the number three seeded We Need A Sub in one of two Yellow Roller Hockey League playoff games last night. The two teams each one a game when they faced each other in the regular season twice.

On the first shot of the game, from either team, Jesse Koester scored for Algino Monkeys to make it 1-0. Algino Monkeys forward David Tornabene scored his team’s second goal of the game with 18:04 left in the first half. We Need A Sub made their first mark of the game with 15:22 left in the first half when Michael Shields scored. On the ensuing faceoff, Koester scored his second of the game to make it 3-1 Algino Monkeys. Then, We Need A Sub’s Andrew Clark scored his first of the game to make it 3-2. Much like the last goal We Need A Sub scored, Koester scored on the ensuing faceoff to make it 4-2. With 11:02 left in the first half Algino Monkeys’ Jake Farey scored to make it 5-2.

After 7 total goals from both teams in the first 11 minutes in the first half, you’d think goals would be scored left and right. But only one goal was scored for the rest of the half. It was scored by Algino Monkeys’ Farey and was assisted by Micheal Waczkowski to make it 6-2 with 1:26 left in the first half. The score held until the buzzer. Shots at halftime were 19-15 in favor of Algino Monkeys. The shot difference was the same as the goal difference.

To start out the second half, We Need A Sub’s Shields went five-hole and scored to make it 6-3. Shields’ teammate Robert Chabanne tacked on another just 1:03 later to make it 6-4. After a shaky first half, We Need A Sub goaltender Evan Cage really stepped it up in the second half and made some great saves. Including the one that he made on an Algino Monkeys forward that led to We Need A Sub’s fifth goal scored by Shields. With 14:47 left, We Need A Sub had cut their deficit to one and had momentum on their side. With 13:20 left in the second half, Nick Koch scored the game tying goal for We Need a Sub. That goal was the fourth unanswered We Need A Sub goal. Algino Monkeys regathered themselves and scored with 8:25 left in the second half. With 2:51 left, Algino Monkeys made a clutch save, stopping We Need A Sub’s 2 on 1.

Shortly thereafter, Clark scored to tie it up at seven. After a very intense two minutes of roller hockey filled with shots, saves, dekes, and more, the score was tied and the clock was ticking. With 12.7 seconds left, Clark scored his third and what turned out to be the game winning goal.

The final score was 8-7 in favor of We Need A Sub. The shot total ended 34-33 in favor of We Need A Sub. Like the first half, the shot difference was the same as the goal difference.

With their upset win, We Need A Sub advances to the Roller Hockey Yellow Championship to face Molokai Cops with t-shirts on the line. The game will be May 16 at 9:00 P.M. and it might even be the game I cover for next week’s Game of the Week article *insert thinking face emoji*.