All Good Things...(12/5 Recap)

They say all good things come to an end. Unfortunately, the Greece Thunder Hockey team's win streak was not immune. After going undefeated last season with a perfect 27-0 record to win it all and then returning this year with an OT victory in their home opener to add to it, the Thunder finally fell, losing 3-2 on Sat 5-Dec @ Lakeshore, to an unlikely West Seneca West club who was making their varsity debut. Despite utter domination of the play and outshooting their opponent by a 2 to 1 margin (33-15), Thunder came up short. Maybe it was because the Anthem wasn't live or because the planets were out of alignment or perhaps the weight on their shoulders was simply too heavy, trying "not to lose"?

With Captain Brandon "Cheese" Cheeseman handing out free samples of the new Cheesey Gordita Crunch and Assistant Captain Dan "Vyper" Vyverberg blocking shots, West Seneca was only able to muster up 5 on goal to Thunder's 18 in the opening period. One of those 18 was a powerplay snipe by Freshman Justin Simonelli, who was on the receiving end of a draw won by Cheese to the left of the West Seneca keeper. Simonelli waited patiently for a screen to develop before pulling the trigger to make it 1-0 Thunder with only a buck thirty seven to go in the period. Twenty seconds later West Seneca returned to the box and Thunder's second unit came out to give it a whirl.

Six minutes into the second period West Seneca tied the game, putting away a rebound that kicked out to the high slot. Shots were 6-3 in Thunder's favor for a two-period total of 24-8 as Thunder continued to hammer away with a relentless forecheck. Now going to the break frustrated with a 1-1 tie after controlling the game for thirty minutes, one would have expected Thunder to come out of the tunnel ready to get their pint of blood and make a statement. But as luck would not have it, they gave up the go-ahead goal instead, as a clear out in front of Thunder's crease hit a defenseman's leg and deflected into their own net, to give West Seneca a 2-1 lead. Ten minutes ticked away before Thunder would get the equalizer they so desperately needed. It came on the powerplay as Vyper gloved an attempted West Seneca clear to keep the zone, chipped it to Eric Hostetter who would immediately find Assistant Captain Mike Miller down low on the backdoor for the putaway. Three minutes later the unthinkable happened as a West Seneca winger set up base camp in the circle to the left of Cumming and was afforded enough time/space to wind up a close range slapper that went in upstairs for the eventual winner. Thunder would scramble to get it deep and get the extra attacker out before West Seneca called a T.O. with only 20 seconds to go in the contest. Mattle got the nod for the draw and put it right on net, but the WSen keeper covered up. He won the second draw as well but Thunder was unable to get a shot through the mad scramble that ensued and before you knew it, time had expired.

As much as the loss hurts, there is a silver lining in that this year's team no longer carries the burden of keeping last year's streak alive. From this point forward they can come to the rink without that pit in their stomach worried about losing and ending the streak, cuz its over. Instead, they can focus on moving forward together and making their own mark on this young season. Putting things in perspective, coach Wade reassured the boys that despite how upset they were about the loss, "the sun will come up tomorrow for you". But for his brother who died playing hockey and for all those men/women who have died serving their country, it will not. We gain strength through adversity and that which does not kill us only makes us stronger.

Having played one of the best games of his HS Hockey Career to date, forechecking, backchecking, blocking, tackling and leaving it all on the ice, Vyper earned himself first star of the game honors. Second star goes to Justin Simonelli for getting his head up, moving the puck well and netting his first varsity goal. Third star goes to Tyler Mattle for demonstrating an impeccable work ethic in both ends of the rink, giving 100% all nite long.

Thunder is now 1-0 in the league, 1-1 overall. They will be scrimmaging Hilton during practice this Friday sometime after 3pm. Next game will be a 7:30pm tilt with STORM Rival Greece Arcadia/Olympia Lightning, this coming Tuesday nite, 15-Dec at the shore. While their second meeting of the season on 23-Jan marks the official STORM Game, the first meeting is sure to be a spirited contest, one you won't want to miss and if you bring two friends, and they bring too friends, and so on, we can pack the stands and raise the roof and then in January... we do it all again, we do it, we do it, we do it all again!