Spiders top Avengers 3-1

April 6, 2013

After Tuesday’s demoralizing 6-1 loss to the Beavers, most would have expected the Spiders to just go through the motions the next two games and kiss their C1 championship hopes goodbye. But with a never-say-die attitude and, quite frankly, some luck, the Spiders are on the way back to the C1 title game.

Entering Saturday afternoon’s tilt with the Avengers, the Spiders needed a win along with a loss or tie from the Beavers in the second half of the C1 pool A double-header at Richfield 1.

The scouting report on the Avengers, gathered over beers on Friday night, said the Avengers had a couple top notch skaters, no weak links, and a goaltender who was strong but may be overly aggressive. The start of the game proved most of this as the Avengers controlled play early with the Spiders playing capably keeping the puck out of the dangerous areas.

Vandenberghe carried the puck up the left wing and behind the net before seeing Adelmann sneaking in from the blue line. The pass came right to the tape and Adelmann wasted no time putting the puck in the net.

Jay Hilden extended the lead to 2-0 in the second period on a breakaway. The scouting report on the Avengers goalie proved true as Hilden waited for the poke check attempt before going to the backhand and sliding the puck into the open net.

Goaltender Brian Dow was exceptional in net for the second straight night, robbing the Avengers of several good opportunities. None were bigger than the deflected puck he corralled in the second period, for which he received a stick in the throat from an apologetic Avenger player.

Matt Adelmann added to the Spider lead on a partial breakaway midway through the third period. At that point the Spiders just tried to keep the clock running. The Avengers closed to 3-1 late in the game as a slapshot from just inside the blue line caught Dow tied up. The goalie was pulled for an extra attacker late but nothing other than Jay Hilden hitting the post happened so the Spiders finished with a 3-1 win over a very good Avengers squad in front of 40 Spiders faithful.

Finishing scoring opportunities has been the common theme in the playoffs for the Spiders this year. The Spiders actually got the better of play against the Beavers in the first playoff game but the Beavers took advantage of their opportunities in beating the Spiders 6-1. The Spiders/Nemesis game was very even but the Spiders made some clutch plays to win the game. The Avengers outshot the Spiders by a good margin but solid defense and goaltending by the Spiders led to scoring chances that the Spiders finished.

The win was huge but it only completed half the needed result to get the Spiders into the championship game. A large Spider contingent stayed in Richfield to cheer on the Nemesis in their game against the Beavers. The Spiders weren’t disappointed as the Nemesis overcame a half-hearted effort from mercenary goalie Bobby Stewart to beat the Beavers 9-5. The result completed the Spiders playoff resurrection and moved them to the C1 championship game with a 2-1-0 pool play record. The Avengers and Nemesis end at 1-1-1 with the Beavers at 1-2-0.

This will be the Spiders second trip to the championship game. The Spiders faced off against the Royals in the 2010 title game but the Royals brough the season to a screeching halt with a 4-0 decision.

Just before press time the AHA Twitter feed posted results of the Fighting Piranhas/Royals game in C1 pool B. The game ended in a 2-2 tie, which advanced the Piranhas to the title game with a 2-0-1 record.

The Spiders have quite the history with the Fighting Piranhas as the teams played a trifecta of close games during the 2010-11 regular season (with the Spiders going 1-2) and the Spiders beating the Piranhas 3-2 during last season’s playoffs. The championship game matches the two regular season champions as the Piranhas took the C1 West with a 15-5-0-0 record.

The Spiders and Piranhas take the ice at 2pm on Sunday on rink #2 at the Bloomington Ice Gardens. Come out and support the team!