Spiders buck the odds, beat first place Battle Cats

Jan. 9, 2014

The Spiders were certainly the underdogs on Sunday night. Five straight losses don’t instill a lot of confidence and with the Battle Cats coming in with a 7-1 record, the Spiders chances looked grim.

The Spiders started quickly, testing the Cats goaltender early and often. Midway through the first period Mike Townsend got the Spiders on the board with the man advantage. Two more first period goals by Aaron Bedessem and Jay Hilden staked the Spiders to a 3-0 lead at the first intermission.

As expected, the Battle Cats came storming back in the second. Two quick Cat goals had the Spiders reeling and searching for the dominance they had displayed earlier. Spider netminder Brian Dow came up big, stopping a breakaway to retain a 3-2 lead. Dow continued holding down the fort while the Spiders regained their footing, bringing the second period to a close with the Spiders clinging to a 3-2 lead.

The third period was Chris Stalpes’ turn to shine. After blocking a shot in the defensive end led to a breakaway, Stalpes carved open the goalie with a backhander through the five hole. Minutes later Stalpes put home a beautiful crossing pass from Jay Hilden on a 2-on-1. With the momentum back on their side the Spiders finished the game strong with Matt Adelmann adding a goal to make the final 6-2.

The first star of the game was certainly goaltender Brian Dow with 34 saves, including the previously mentioned breakaway.

The win moves the Spiders to 3-6-0 on the season. The Spiders next face off against the Mutiny at 6pm on Sunday, January 12th at SLP E. The Spider beat the Mutiny 8-2 earlier in the season.