Good karma leads Spiders to 5-2 win over Beavers

Feb. 3, 2013

On the eve of the Super Bowl, the Spiders had their own big game. In addition to the re-match of a game that ended at 1-1 earlier in the season, the Spiders were also hosting the First Annual Family Night & Food Drive. Players were encouraged to invite family and friends to the game with donations of non-perishable food items being collected.

The big crowd may have had the Spiders feeling a little pressure as the Beavers took control early, scoring just under five minutes into the game. Aggressive forechecking from the Beavers left them open to odd man rushes and the Spiders took advantage late in the first. Matt Adelmann carried the puck up the right wing on a two-on-one rush. Adelmann froze the goalie with a shot fake before feeding the puck to Dave Schliesman breaking up the middle. With the goalie down and the net open, Schliesman put it home to tie the score at 1-1. Just minutes later, Jay Hilden set sail up the wing and beat the goalie cleanly with a pinpoint wrister into the corner to give the Spiders the lead.

Sub goaltender Derk Jacobson made several key saves through the second period, helping the Spiders maintain the lead and momentum.

Defenseman Josh Cagle tallied his first goal of the season early in the second period as he cleaned up a loose puck in front, courtesy of a determined effort by Cory Vandenberghe behind the net. Defenseman Chris Stalpes also got in on the act, tapping home a loose puck in the crease. Matt Adelmann added his 10th goal of the season to extend the lead to 5-1 at the close of the period.

With a comfortable lead and only 17 minutes to play, the Spiders just needed to avoid a collapse to wrap up the win. A late flurry from the extremely aggressive Beavers closed the margin to 5-2 but strong play in net by Jacobson, cleaning up loose pucks in front by the D, and attentive backchecking by the forwards kept the damage to only the lone goal. Final score: 5-2.

The final shot count was 37-18 in favor of the Spiders but neither this margin nor the final score indicate how evenly played the game was. The speed and aggressive breakouts and forechecking from the Beavers resulted in numerous odd man rushes in each direction. If the Beavers only had 18 shots they must have had just as many blocked and numerous dangerous pucks cleared just in time by the Spiders. As it always is, the team that capitalizes on their opportunities comes out on top.

By all measures, the first annual Spiders family night & food drive was a huge success.

• Spiders win 5-2 over a very tough Beavers squad.
• Roughly 100 fans made the trip to SLP to cheer on their squads.
• 180 pounds of food was collected that will be donated to the Minnehaha Food Shelf.

The win moves the Spiders to 9-2-1-0 on the season. Thanks to a couple other surprising results (Puck Hounds over Sled Dogs, Aces over Thunder Chickens) the Spiders are now 1 ½ games up in the division. Next up are key matches against the Thunder Chickens on February 10th and Sled Dogs on February 16th that will end up with the Spiders blowing open the division or coming back to the pack. While the Spiders beat both teams 6-2 earlier in the season you can expect the rematches to be much closer.