UPPER VALLEY HOCKEY LEAGUE

ODDS:	Brewers by 1
OVER/UNDER:	8

Tonight's first UVHL Battle is between the 3-9-0 Brewers and the 1-9-2 Whalers. New additions and some crucial deletions to these rosters have not allowed either team to find their form as of yet at the halfway mark of the season. Two newcomers and a cagey veteran lead the Brewers in scoring at about a point per game pace. The Whalers top scorer has one third more points than their #2 scorer, and come into tonight's contest on a 4 game losing streak. Their last win was 8-4 over the Brewers. The Brewers have lost 3 in a row and appear to have the edge in total goals for through 13 games.

Brewers come back to down Whalers

Well, I was way off on the pre-game prediction as far as the margin of victory was concerned, but I nailed the Over/Under and the victor. Not bad for a 13 week absence, eh? The stats spoke for themselves, and based on them the Brewers had the edge in total goals for and seemed like the best bet for the win. However, it didn't look that way early on...

The Whalers dominated the first period, but collapsed in the second period, rather than their usual third period brain fart. There were no shots on goal at either end through the first several minutes of play, but the Whalers' first shot on net was a goal by their leading scorer Jay Zaneloni fed by a nice pass off the stick of Nick Hall to open ice at the Brewers' blueline after they blew defensive coverage and left Z alone to walk in on Crowson. One of the Brewers' new guys made a nice drag move on Whalers' defender kirt Johnson, but Johnson spun around and got Cort Pomeroy with a poke check after he was already by him to deny the Brewers' first shot on net with more than 5 minutes gone in the period. The B's first shot on LeLallier came at teh 7:55 mark, and then they got 2 more quickly right after that. A Whaler defender made a long pass up the boards to Jason Gramling at the B's blueline and Crowson denied him down low with the save. Tom Crapser made it 2-0 for the Whale at 5:50 with a top corner goal from the slot, and the B's seemed out of it. Crowson kept his team in it with a big save at 1:24 where Gramling, who was standing still, deked out an advancing Brewers defender on the turnover and got off a nice shot in the slot. The Whale had a very bad line change at the end of the period but luckily for them LeLallier made the first save and the B's forward missed the rebound sending it wide. Shots were almost even 8-7 in favor of the Whalers.

In the second the Brewers scored early off the post and off Lallier's ass and in at 13:43 by Pomeroy. The Whale answered with a post shot of their own off a Zaneloni slapper fed by Hall at 12:50. The B's Brian Smith scored on a slapper to the low blocker side at 12:15 to tie it up at 2-2. The first Whalers shot in the second came at 10:48, and the momentum was completely reversed to favor the Brewers pretty much from the puck drop this period. Hall and teammate Jason Rouillard collided and went down, and this seemed indicative of the second frame for the Whalers. However, the Whalers dominated on face-offs, and one was won so cleanly it went through the Whalers D's legs at the offensive blueline, but was picked up by B's winger Aaron Mancuso who hustled down for a shot at the other end. Pomeroy scored again at 5:00 into the top corner to put the Brewers up 3-2. That was when the total collapse occurred. A mere 24 seconds later Keith Lazarczyk scored after grabbing a bounce from the rear boards that careened in front; then while I was still writing notes I missed a follow-up goal by Chris Dubin 9 seconds later that made it 5-2 Brewers. Zaneloni dominated on face-offs for the Whalers, but the additional puck possession did not limit the Brewers this period, nor did it prevent them from taking a big margin in shots 16-7.

The third period saw the Whalers return the favor in shots by the exact same tally, 16-7, but they had nothing to show for it. The Whale made a breakaway pass to Gramling at 13:11 but he was denied once again by Crowson on the blocker side. Crowson then made the save of the night with a big stick save on Hall at 11:32 with a twisting backwards dive across the open net where Hall was waiting for the cross-crease pass that he thought was a sure goal. Some incidental contact in the neutral zone between Z and Garren Poirier resulted in a retaliatory slash by Poirier after Poirier found himself unexpectedly on his ass and Z wobbling to keep his balance after the bump. Crowson continued to shine in the third with a big glove save at 5:49 on Gary Laperle's attempt off a cross-crease pass by Crapser. Whalers defender Chuck Gaede made a spectacular diving play at 3:41 to block a potential breakaway shot by Lazarczyk. Kirt Johnson continued with some stellar defensive work taking the speeding Chris Johnson's advance full force getting cleanly in the way with his body to prevent the Brewers' winger from advancing in alone from the left boards. CJ was frustrated and slashed Crapser at the other end just as time was running out. Shots were even by game's end at 31-30 with Crowson seeing one more shot than Lallier.

Final Score: Brewers 6, Whalers 2

Final Tally: Chris Dubin and Cort Pomeroy each had 2G to lead the Brewers scoring, and Crowson shut the door in the third after being heavily outshot in that period.

Final Analysis: The Whalers pushed hard to try and comeback in the third, but Crowson shone in net for the B's in the third, and the Whalers ultimately lost the game in the second allowing two goals early and 3 more in 33 seconds.

McD

 

Team:	Time:	Type:	Player:	Details:
1st PERIOD
WHL	11:46	Goal	Zanleoni, Jay(13)	Assist(s): Hall, Nick(6) Gaede, Chuck(3)
WHL	05:50	Goal	Crapser, Tom(5)	Assist(s): Laperle, Gary(5)
2nd PERIOD
BRE	13:43	Goal	Pomeroy, Cort(7)	Assist(s): Johnson, Chris(22) Yehle, Jason(6)
BRE	12:15	Goal	Smith, Brian(4)	Assist(s): Yehle, Jason(7)
BRE	05:00	Goal	Pomeroy, Cort(8)	Assist(s): Mancuso, Aaron(3) Charette, Dan(7)
BRE	04:36	Goal	Lazarczyk, Keith(2)	Assist(s): Smith, Brian(6)
BRE	04:27	Goal	Dubin, Chris(8)	Assist(s): Yehle, Jason(8)
WHL	01:06	Penalty	rouillard, jason(4)	2 minutes for higk sticking
3rd PERIOD
BRE	06:37	Penalty	Poirier, Garren(12)	2 minutes for slashing
WHL	02:42	Penalty	Hall, Nick(2)	2 minutes for tripping
BRE	00:56	Goal	Dubin, Chris(9)	Assist(s): none
BRE	00:00	Penalty	Johnson, Chris(7)	2 minutes for slashing

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