Spiders demolish Thunder Chickens 8-2!

March 29, 2013

The Spiders vs. Thunder Chickens game on Tuesday had all the makings of a knock-down, drag out street brawl. The Spiders were playing with the division title, playoff seeding, and urgency to stop a late season free fall. The Thunder Chickens would be even more desperate, needing a win or tie to qualify for the playoffs.

But instead the Spiders decided to leave no doubt of the best team in the division, scoring in bunches to take a comfortable 8-2 win.

The Thunder Chickens got on the board first with a well-placed wrister off goaltender Brian Dow’s stick-side post. The Spiders answered with three quick goals late in the first period. The first goal came from Aaron Bedessem with Matt Adelmann starting his big scoring day with two goals.

The Chickens closed to 3-2 early in the second and threatened to score again, controlling the puck for nearly five full minutes at the beginning of the period. The Spiders weather the storm before again piling on goals late in the period. Brian Armagost, Matt Adelmann (hat trick!), and Jim Maietta (short handed) added goals to break the game open with a 6-2 score through two periods.

Matt Adelmann (four goals!!) and Cody Buckalew (another shorty) added to the scoring in the third period to make the final score 8-2.

Even more important than the win is how the Spiders did it. Tape-to-tape passes, clean breakouts from the defensive zone and solid backchecking made this a complete victory.

Big statistical nights have placed several Spiders among the C1 East leaders. With two points Jim Maietta finishes 1st in scoring with 29 points. Dave Schliesman (27 points), Matt Adelmann (26 points), and Jay Hilden (20 points) also finish among the top 10 in scoring.

In goal scoring, Matt Adlemann’s four goals on Tuesday bring him to 17 for the season, one behind division leader E. Karlson of the Puck Hounds. Jay Hilden (15 goals), Jim Maietta (14), and Dave Schliesman (13) also finish in the top 10.

Spiders took the top four spots for assists with Jim Maietta take top honors with 15. Dave Schliesman and Josh Cagle both tallied 14 assists to tie for second with Aaron Bedessem in fourth with 13 helpers.

Lastly, Jim Miaetta failed in his bid to lead the league in both scoring and penalties, finishing second with 31 minutes. Jack Delsing was third with 30 minutes, especially impressive (or depressing) considering he played only 8 games.

The Spiders will now move on to the playoffs as the top seed in pool A. The Spiders will kick off the playoffs on Tuesday against the Beavers.

Stay tuned for a playoff preview in the next couple days.