Late rally falls short, Spiders go down to Royals 5-4

Jan. 20, 2013

Coming off a 15 day layoff, the Spiders would start Friday’s game one of two ways. Either they would be well rested after the long break or they would be sluggish from a lack of action.

Unfortunately for all the Spider faithful in attendance, it was the latter as the Spiders extended their 15 day break by two periods.

Defensive breakdowns, inattentive backchecking and strong play from the Royals birthday boy goalie led the Royals to a 3-0 lead. Jay Hilden notched his C1-leading 12th goal of the year in the second period but that only made the Royals mad as they poured in two more in short order.

Late in the second period the Spiders finally started showing some signs of life – winning races to pucks, forechecking, and controlling the puck in the offensive zone. Matt Adlemann closed the gap to 5-2 in the final minute to give the Spiders some momentum going into the third period.

Adelmann added another goal midway through the period before Dave Schliesman pulled the Spiders to within a goal. Despite a late penalty on the Royals and pulling goaltender Brian Dow for a 6-on-4 advantage, the Spiders couldn’t get another puck in the net. Even with the loss, the Spiders can look at the late surge with some optimism.

With half the season in the books, the Spiders remain in first place in the C1 East despite the loss on Friday. The Sled Dogs lurk just ½ game back with the Thunder Chickens in third, a full game back. The Royals are tied with the Beavers 1 ½ games behind the Spiders with the Royals holding the tiebreaker for the last playoff spot.

The Spiders are next in action on Saturday, January 26th against the Warriors. Face off is at 9:15pm at Richfield 2.

On the horizon is the first annual family night and food drive game on Saturday, February 2nd. All Spider family, friends, and acquaintances are invited. Details can be found here.