Coach Brian McSparron commented after the tournament, it was great for us to come on this long journey and to win the Rumble in Richmond tournament. During our Friday night game against Loyola, we had a very sloppy first period which can be contributed to the long bus ride. In the second period, we started dictating the tempo as we were getting our legs back. The third period started strong until we started taking penalties. The two power play goals just killed us. Loyola played a great game with excellent goal tending especially stopping the penalty shot by Ryan Fritz in the second period. In my opinion, this was the key to the game. If we had scored on the penalty shot, it would have given us the momentum.

In game two against Richmond, the team battled back from its second loss of the season the night before. We were down two goals to none after the first period and the team could have thrown in the towel and taken the easy way out. But they worked hard, especially in the second period, going back to the basics of getting in front of the net and taking advantage of rebounds for goals. Ryan Fritz one on one breakaway was great.

The five on three penalty kill at the five minute mark of the third period was huge and we only allowed one shot during the penalty kill. This win marked our twentieth victory of the season.

The third game against Neumann, gave us an opportunity to give playing time to our third and fourth lines which they certainly deserve after their hard work throughout the season. Back up goalie, Taylor Medford, looked solid in goal during the last half of the third period. We eagerly anticipate the final rankings and hope we can maintain our #2 spot which will give us an automatic bid to the National Tournament. These kids have worked hard to achieve the goals set at the beginning of the season.

Stars of the Game:

Friday night: Goalie Maxx Lucas allowing just one even strength goal that kept us close as we struggled through the early part of the game.

Saturday night: Christian Gattung line of Gattung, Zaske, and Sweeney – they had a great game in both scoring and fore checking. Drew Baker for his two goals and Pat Kelly for his strong defensive play.

Sunday morning: Offensive stars were Matt Zaske with two goals and Ryan Fritz with two goals. Defensive star was B.J. Stapleton for his solid play and three assists.