Trophy and t-shirts on the line last night nuff said 8-1 win. CHAMPIONSHIP
Win and advance. A seat at the table and a chance to compete for the championship was on the line last night as Ghilani faced off against Neoscape in the semi finals. Neoscape was coming off a win last week over a depleted Big Guns team which fielded 5 skaters. Ghilani was handed a loss by their nemesis the Hansons 4-1. Neoscape skated to a 2-0 lead in the first period scoring in the first minute of the game then again at 3:10. Ghilani answered with their first of six with just over a minute left in the period when Alan Donnelly found defenseman Brian Donnelly in the high slot. Set up man Kevin Scannell tied it up in the second at 2-2. Alan Donnelly scored the first of 4 goals by Ghilani in the 3rd with assists to Brett Yancey and Brian Donnelly to tie the game 3-3 at 8:19. Brett Yancey then scored the game winner to go up 4-3 two minutes later. Steve Henley banged home an insurance goal with help from line mates Ryan Dunnigan and Sean Verner and an empty netter by Brian Donnelly for his second of the night closed out the scoring and the game to make it stand at 6-3. Defenseman Sean Doyle, Brian Murphy, Brian Young and Justin Waters all played sound in their zone all night as well as fellow defenseman Mark Carrasquillo who by his own shear determination led the team in minutes played. Goaltender Andrew Manning holds down this section of the wrap up every week with his strong play and for this season to continue will counted on to play like he has every week.
Playoffs:
Its playoff time with an opening round meeting with Neoscape which seemed to be known for a month or so. Both teams have played each other tough in their 2 meetings this season. Sean Verner got Ghilani on the board in the first with a great indvidual effort going to the net on a takeaway in the zone. Defenseman Brian Young who's efforts dont always reflect that on the stat sheet set up the second tally of the game making a head's up play to keep the puck in the offensive zone finding Steve Henley who found leading point man Brett Yancey for number 2. Kevin Scannell got the 3rd on another helper from Young. Neoscape got to with in one midway through the 2nd then Alan Donnelly and Steve Henley closed out the period to make it 5-2. Sean Verner got his second of the game to cap off a 3 point night with an assist from Ryan Dunnigan off the faceoff. Again Andrew Manning was great between the iron and defensively Ghilani got contributions from Sean Doyle and Brian Murphy to help secure the W.
Not the kind of finish Ghilani would have like to have seen but in a game that had no impact on the standings Ghilani was lucky to get out of this one with a point. A first round playoff match up with Neoscape in 2 weeks is what lies ahead on the schedule. Goals scored by Kevin Scannell, Alan Donnelly and Brian Donnelly.
Not having played Neoscape since the beginning of the year these two teams have been flip flopping in the standings each week. Goaltending came up huge in the first 2 periods as the teams skated to a 2-2 tie into the 3rd period. Ghilani got first period goals from Steve Henley on a great second chance effort. Ryan Dunnigan who keeps buring the biscut from the slot scored 2 from his go to spot on the ice. Dunnigan tied the game in the third period 3-3 set up by line mate Sean Verner. With less than 2 minutes left set up man Kevin Scannell buried home a rebound to take a 4-3 lead. With the goalie pulled Neoscape looked to tie the game up on a 6-4 with an offensive zone faceoff. Collin O'Neil working hard to get the puck out of the zone found daylight and buried an open netter to seal it at 5-3.
Answering nicely after a 2 game losing streak Ghilani held their opponent to 1 goal for the second straight week. What seemed to be their achillies heel earlier in the season has turned into their strength lately with another great defensive effort. Collin O'Neil opened the scoring in the first period set up by a great play by Brett Yancey. The Wolverines tied the game up at 1-1 in the opening minute of the 2nd period. After failing to score on a 5-3 halfway through the 2nd period it seemed to be like the goalie was going to steal the game. Much like the previous couple games Ghilani ran into a hot goalie turning away a handful of quality chances. The start of the 3rd period saw Brett Yancey the teams most consistent player take the opening faceoff and score in 8 seconds to make it 2-1. Ryan Dunnigan found the back of the net over a minute later posting up where he has been scoring all season long in the slot. Under 2:00 Wolverines pulled the goalie and was putting pressure in their offensive zone when Brian Young and Collin O'Neil found leading goal scorer Alan Donnelly for an empty netter to seal the victory. Not seen in the stat sheet was a great game dy defenseman Sean Doyle who made great plays in the defensive zone. Goalie Andrew Manning was again the backbone for this win with tremendous saves including a 3 on 1 in the opening minutes of the game.
A late season funk found Ghilani at 1-3-1 in their last 5 games. Wednesday was a must win to keep pace in the division standings. The first period found Ghilani up 1-0 when Alan Donnelly buried a shot at 9:55. This looked like a sign of things to come but the Lux tender turned away a period and a half of shots as Ghilani forwards kept sending biscuits his way being denied a handful of quality chances. Steve Henley buried a goal half way through the 3rd only to have Lux rally to come within one less than 2 min later. Collin O'Neil closed out the scoring with a empty net goal with 40 seconds left to get Ghilani back on track with the playoffs quickly approaching. Again goalie Andrew Manning was outstanding in net and defenseman Brian Murphy played outstanding in his defensive zone to help secure the win.
When you get bested by an effort last night by the Trillium goalie there isnt much to say but recognize you were beat. Their tender must have faced 35 shots last night many from his scoring areas and turned back almost all of them. Ghilani got goals from Alan Donnelly, Brett Yancey and Sean Verner but it wasnt enough as Gilani was shut out in the 3rd enroute to a season worst 1-3-1 slide in their last 5.
Ghilani loses to the Hansons for the 2nd time this year. This time knocking them out of first place. Mark Nelson scores 2 goals and has 2 helpers. Brett Yancey and Steve Henley had the other tallies. Ryan Dunnigan and Collin O'Neil had assists to extend their point streaks.
With the Big Guns posting 4 goals in the first Ghilani had to play catch up all night. Getting the game back to a 1 goal deficit in the 3rd period the Big Guns scored to increase their lead to 6-4 scoring again at 5:15 to make it 7-4. Collin O'Neil tallied to make it 7-5 then the Big Guns closed out the night with an empty netter to make it 8-5. It seemed all night Ghilani was a step behind in the defensive zone chasing all night leaving goalie Andrew Manning to keep the game from getting really out of hand with some great saves. Collin O'Neil chipped in with 2 goals and Ryan Dunnigan is continuing to find the back of the net for the 5th straight week. Ghilani plays the BYE next week which should prevent a 2 week slide.
Ghilani has been on quite a roll having not lost a game in the last 2 months going 6-0-2 almost saw that streak come to an end last night. All 3 periods saw equal scoring in a game that see sawed back and forth through the first 2 frames. Alan Donnelly opened the scoring at 14:20 of the first followed by Ryan Dunnigan who was on just his second shift of the game buried one from the high slot to put Ghilani ahead 2-1. Java tied up the game at 2 at 11:45. Brett Yancey put his team ahead 3-2 late in the second on a feed from Alan Donnelly. Java tied it up again in the final minute of the second on a rebound. The first half of the 3rd period was all Coffee as Ghilani could not find their stride with turnover after turnover in the neutral zone leading to 2 goals to make it 5-3 with 3:46 left in the game all but closing the door on the contest. Ghilani called a time out at 2:29 to get their shit together. After an icing call Steve Henley stepped in to take the face-off won the draw to Kevin Scannell to Defenseman Brian Donnelly who threw the puck on net where Steve Henley was there to tip home the point shot. Down 1 with time running out Ghilani tied the game with 1:20 left. Working the puck down low Scannell found Donnelly on the point again everyone expecting shot he fed the puck back to Scannell who found Mark Carrisquillo on the door step for the goal. Ghilani kept the pressure in the closing seconds almost scoring multiple times. Hats off to Java's keeper who must have stopped 30 shots last night.
Ghilani faced a tough test in the underated Skunx last night. The Skunx are a team whose record does not indicate how good they are controlled much of the game in the first 2 periods. Ghilani found themselves down 3-0 in the first period had their work cut out for them until Ryan Dunnigan who has been on fire the last couple games got Ghilani on the board at 3:41 of the 2nd period. Dunnigan found himself in a foot race with the opposing goalie beating him to the puck and found a wide open net for the goal. Into the 3rd period Ghilani was trailing by 2 until Alan Donnelly found Brett Yancey on a beautiful cross ice pass to get within 1. Ghilani battled hard late into the 3rd period when Alan Donnelly tied the game at 6:38 banging home a backhand shot in the slot. The Skunx took the lead 4-3 just over a minute later. Ghilani forward Steve Henley who has been quiet on the stat sheet as of late found the twine on a shot from the high slot to tie the game at 4-4. With just over 2 minutes left Ryan Dunnigan tallied to give Ghilani the lead 5-4 and were able to hang on as goalie Andrew Manning who shook off three first period goals came up in a big way to secure the victory. The win has Ghilani at 6-0-1 in their last 7 games. The defensive play of Justin Waters and Brian Murphy in the final minutes of the game were a major contribution to help their team win. The win last night was a testament to the resolve this team has shown all year battleing back against a tough team for the victory.
Prior to christmas break Ghilani had been riding high going 4-0-1 in their last 5 games faced a tough test in the Meatballs wednesday night. Alan Donnelly opened the scoring in the first 4 minutes followed by Ryan "Dalton" Dunnigan doing what he does best banging home the rebound. Donnelly scored again to close out the first period on a breakaway set up by Collin O'Neil. The second period however was all Meatballs as they closed the gap to 3-2 and very well could have tied it on a contoversial call with the net being dislodged. Sean Verner gave Ghilani some breathing room when he put home a rebound off a Kevin Scannell shot. Scannell's 3 assists give him a team leading 17 in the sharing category. The third period which started 4-2 saw 6 pucks find the twine between both teams. Collin O'Neil who looks like he is starting to turn it on at the right time deposited the biscuit after Brian Donnelly rang the post from just inside the blue line. Brett Yancey followed with a PP goal at 3:41, Yancey's 3 point night (1G 2A) made sure he held onto the scoring lead for another week. A defensive meltdown inside 3:00 got the Meatballs back into the game scoring quickly with 2 goals in under a minute to close it to 6-4. Ryan Dunnigan answered within the next 20 seconds for his second of the game to give Ghilani some insurance 7-4. In the final minute Collin O'Neil got his second tally to put the game away going top shelf on a breakaway. Not to be forgotten was the play of goalie Andrew Manning who came up with huge saves at big moments in the 3rd period to help seal the victory.
2009 will be our inaugural season in the NESHL. As many other great things, it all started in a bar, over beers, over many beers. One year ago we decided to play pick-up hockey every sunday night amongst friends, and have more beers. After 52 games against each other, we decided it was time to branch out and actually play a hockey game, and have beers after the game...
...Results to follow
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