Spiders scalped by Warriors

Nov. 1, 2009

Spiders end up on the losing side on a night where they dominated every aspect of the game except for the scoreboard. Spiders lose 4 - 3 in a heart-breaker to the Warriors.

The Warriors held true to their name as they played inspired hockey in honor of their fallen comrade #24. While the Spiders were winning the battles...when it mattered most it was the Warriors that prevailed.

The Spiders drew first blood as Captain Dave Schliesman opened the scoring with helpers from Thorson and T. Stalpes. The Spiders continued to dominate early but the pesky Warriors would not give in. While mustering only 4 first period shots, the Warriors managed to tie the score late in the period.

The second period told much the same story. The Spiders peppered the Warrior goaltender with 14 second period shots. The unorthodox net-minder was up to the task as he turned away all 14 and the second period came and went without a single tally.

Playing much of the third period short-handed, the Spiders dug themselves a big hole in the third as they gave up 3 early tallies to the Warriors. With just 7 minutes to play, our beloved Spiders trailed 4 - 1. As demoralizing as this was, they did not give in and continued to battle hard. Shawn Tromiczak brought the red & black to within striking distance with six and a half to go on a nice feed from Butalla. With about 2 minutes to play the Spider net lay empty as the home team opted for a sixth attacker. Down by 2 the Spiders mounted a ferocious attack firing 10 shots late in the period. In the final minute Dave Schliesman threw a long, cross ice pass to RW Jim Maietta who was streaking down the ice. Maietta beat the Warrior net-minder to pull the Spiders to within 1. While they had some good last second chances, when the final horn rang out the Spiders fell in defeat.

With a 2-week hiatus, I look for the Spider coaching staff to juggle personnel looking to regain that winning combination.