UPPER VALLEY HOCKEY LEAGUE

Tuck Looks To Extend Perfection...Should Roll Through The Brewers.

ODDS:	Tuck by 4 goals
OVER/UNDER:	10 goals

Tuck hosts the Brew Crew tonight in this weeks late game. Tuck is coming off of a very impressive performance where they shut down an offensively talented Nordiques squad....very handily 10-2. The Brewers had a battle of the basement dwelers with the Whalers and escaped with a 3-2 overtime win.

The Brewers "open ice" concept of play should be exposed tonight by a very solid Tuck team....or maybe their unconventional style of play will keep Tuck off guard.

Tuck has white might be the best defensive unit in UVHL history with McGovern, Barnett, Helming & Johnson manning the blue line, their offensive unit isn't too shabby either.

The Brewers like to try to stretch the field with some hail marys, but beating Tuck's defense is only half the battle as they then have to try and get one past the goaltending duo of Yacey & Kenning.

The Brewer's Matty Crowson is solid in net. He should keep Tuck at bay for at least a couple minutes...until the Brewers tire out and hang him out to dry.

Tuck wins this one....7-3.

Tuck Survives Brew Crew to Stay Perfect: 5-4

On paper, this looked like a guaranteed blowout for for Tuck. The Brewers were 1-2-0 with blowout losses to the Nordiques, 10-4, the Gamblers, 7-2, and a 3-2 shootout win over the lowly Whalers. Tuck was 3-0-0 with a solid 4-3 win over the top rated Gamblers, followed by a 5-4 shootout win over Dead River and a 10-2 thrashing of the offensively potent Nordiques.

Tuck should have walked through the Brewers, but the unconventional style of the Brewers seemed to keep Tuck off kilter for most of the game. The Brewers like to stretch out the ice, forcing their opponents defense off the blue line, and it seemed to work.

The best side-note of the game concerned the head to head battle of Chris "The Old Johnson" Johnson of the Brewers & Chris "The New Johnson" Johnson of Tuck. Johnson & Johnson, who have no relation decided early on that they didn't like each other, and may have wanted to prove that THEY were the dominant Chris Johnson of the UVHL. The battle started early in the first period when the two Johnsons headed behind Tuck's net and battling for the puck and "The New" Johnson shoved the "Old Johnson" causing him to loose his balance and fall face first into the boards. After the next whistle "Old" Johnson confronted "New" Johnson which spiraled into some excessive jabbering, stick work and body contact throughout the game. Many times the extracurricular activity was bordering on matching penalties, but the refs let the game go on.

The Brewers converted early on Tuck's netminder, Daniel "Son" Yacey, who's style is a mix of butterfly and tae-kwon-do. Aaron "Man-Child" Mancuso made it 1-0 at 13:38 on a backdoor pass from Jason "Old Yeller" Yehle for the only goal of the first. Both netminders, Yacey & Matty "The Crow" Crowson made huge saves to keep the status quo of the game throughout the first, and Crowson had to be especially good killing off two Tuck powerplays.

END OF THE FIRST: Brewers 1, Tuck 0

The Brewers made it 2-0 at 13:17 when Brian "Slasher" Smith converted on a long pass from Chris "The Old Johnson" Johnson. James "Steve Bates Lookalike" Hay cut the lead in half from his brother from another mother Stevie "James Hay Lookalike" Bates and Chris "The New Johnson" Johnson at 12:00. Billy "The Kid" Fletcher hooked up with Brian Smith with 7:42 in the second to bring the Brewers back on top by 2 goals only to see a Tuck go up on the powerplay when Andrew "Hellboy" Helming cut up the middle of the ice and blasted a slapshot from 60 feet out past Crowson's glove, unassisted.

The Brewers were still playing solid hockey, backed by solid goaltending from Crowson. They hoped to carry that play into the 3rd period and prove to the league that they were for real...but it didn't happen.

END OF THE SECOND: Brewers 3, Tuck 2

The third period saw Tuck score 3 consecutive goals to crush the hopes of the Brewers, turning their lead into a two goal deficit. A pair of goals in the fifth minute of play and just 19 seconds apart were the back breaker. The first was an unassisted blast from the point by Chris "The New" Johnson that had eyes and Crowson never saw, followed by Colin "BikeValley" Carrihill's goal that was set up by nicely by Helming. Stevie Bates had the eventual game winner with 8:08 to play. Chris "The Old" Johnson jammed home a rebound with 5:45 to play giving the Brewers hope as they continued to press on offense only to see Yacey shut them down. The Brew-Crew had a few last minute scoring chances that made the final minute enjoyable as a fan.

END OF REGULATION: Tuck 5, Brewers 4

The Brewers showed some veteran craftiness in the way they handled Tuck tonight. They didn't just sit back and try to survive the onslaught, the Brewers spread out the ice and found a weakness in Tuck's armor. The Brewers ultimate demise came from their short bench. Tuck deserved the win, their youth propelled them through a full 45 minutes.

 

Team:	Time:	Type:	Player:	Details:
1st PERIOD
BRE	13:38	Goal	Mancuso, Aaron(3)	Assist(s): Yehle, Jason(1) Fletcher, Bill(1)
BRE	09:33	Penalty	Dubin, Chris(1)	2 minutes for Tripping
BRE	04:59	Penalty	Yehle, Jason(3)	2 minutes for Body Checking
2nd PERIOD
BRE	13:17	Goal	Smith, Brian(2)	Assist(s): Johnson, Chris(9)
TCK	12:00	Goal	Hay, James(5)	Assist(s): Bates, Steve(5) Johnson, Chris(10)
TCK	10:53	Penalty	Barnett, Jordan(1)	2 minutes for Tripping
BRE	07:42	Goal	Fletcher, Bill(2)	Assist(s): Smith, Brian(3) Barton, Brock(2)
BRE	04:42	Penalty	Charette, Dan(2)	2 minutes for Hooking
TCK	02:34	Goal	Helming, Andrew(3)	Assist(s): none
3rd PERIOD
TCK	10:33	Goal	Johnson, Chris(1)	Assist(s): none
TCK	10:14	Goal	Carrihill, Colin(4)	Assist(s): Helming, Andrew(1)
TCK	08:08	Goal	Bates, Steve(3)	Assist(s): none
BRE	05:45	Goal	Johnson, Chris(2)	Assist(s): Smith, Brian(4)

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