Spiders sunk by Lakers 5–4

Nov. 14, 2009

Reported by Eric Ackermann

Dateline Richfield Rink 1 – On-site reporting of the Spiders vs. Lakers game was a pretty exciting event for this novice reporter. Period 1 saw new lines bred in the lab of Dr. Caron, chief Spider researcher. Both teams stayed neck and neck with 8 shots each; however, Dr. Caron, tired of skating with Heitzman — shot the puck at him from behind the net and Heitzman retaliated by scoring the first goal of the game (and his first AHA goal) and only one of the period.

During the 2nd period, the excitement really started — for the Lakers’ scorers. The penalty box also was finally forced open briefly by the Lakers who after looking around, forgot one of their players inside it. Several inquisitive Spiders stopped skating to stare at the penalty box door with longing — allowing the Lakers to score 3 goals. Phantom player #50 suddenly showed up and with a tremendous effort from Christian and Dr. Caron scored a very timely goal to keep the game in reach. Checking the roster after the game, this reporter could find no #50 and assumes one of the Spiders must have gone into Ninja mode to sneak in and score, yelling the whole time — “move your 8 legs you sleepy Spiders!”

The third period started off in much better fashion as the Spiders regained their eight legs and started applying pressure. Baker though, couldn’t stop staring at the penalty box door and out of curiosity “hooked” his way into it, only to stay trapped there. He was quickly released though by a kindly Laker scoring a goal. The Lakers, excited by Baker’s experience in the box decided to emulate him and sent two of their players to investigate over the next several minutes. One Laker enjoyed it so much he visited a second time (his third for the night as he was the original discoverer of how to open the door). Dr. Caron, angry and embarrassed by his diving effort earlier to stop a shot on net, joined up with good friends Christian and Droullard to get the Spiders within one and pumped up. A couple minutes later, Herman scored a bell ringer of a goal from Ackermann, thanks to the largest screen ever put in front of a goalie in history (Tuttle and Caron). The sub goalie (Wiebusch) was later seen talking to himself and whimpering from the sights he had seen during that “brief” time. Now tied at four apiece, both teams battled hard, with the Spiders taking much of the play to the Lakers zone. However, Lakers’ player Sams put on his diving mask and diving deep into the neutral zone came up with a puck, which he deposited in the Spiders’ net for safe-keeping, despite a valiant effort by goalie Amber to stop him. Timeouts and goalie pulling then followed, but the Lakers managed to hold their lead.

Final 5–4.

3 stars of the game as voted by the on-site reporters:

• Caron – 1 goal, 2 assists and lots of opportunities from smart positioning and great effort.
• Heitzman – 1 goal, 2 assists, highly motivated and making opportunities — leading by example on the ice.
• #50 Phantom player – everywhere at the most opportune moments. Some say he is actually #40 Pellicci, but this report was stuck with the highly suspect official scoresheet as a reference.

Final game note: Making his first appearance of the season was LaCosse; he unofficially celebrated his return by being the last tourist in the “box” — though officially that visit was credited to Baker.

The Spiders drop to 1–2 in the standings as they head into a tough stretch in the schedule, facing the undefeated Fighting Piranhas next Sunday, followed by the Diablos and Wingmen.