Spiders fall back on DST game, lose to Moose 4–1

Nov. 4, 2012

The extra hour of sleep did no favors for the Spiders. After a close period and a half, the wheels came off with two quick goals late in the second, then plenty of penalty trouble, led to the first loss for the Spiders this season.

The New Hope crowd — and Moose Media video crew — got to see a close half-game of up-and-back C3-level hockey, with both goaltenders putting on an exhibition and keeping the game knotted at zero.

With five minutes to go in the second, the tension on the scoreboard was broken when a pinched Spiders D, and perfect Moose steal led to a rush the other way, got the Moose up 1–0. Just 14 seconds later, on a faceoff in the Spider zone, Brian “Cannon” Vesall, launched his trademark rocket from the far point thanks to a perfect faceoff draw by Kumasaka. A deflection near the slot sent it careening past McCormick to give the Moose a two-goal advantage.

The Moose added insurance halfway through the third, practically shutting the door on the Spiders’ comeback hopes, that helped them last week against the Sled Dogs.

But, with two minutes to go, a perfect up-board pass from Schroeder to Grotbeck, and a perfect move by Grotbeck in front of the net got the Spiders on the board.

With a timeout, the Spiders eventually figured out their goalie-pull strategy. But they couldn’t keep it in the zone, with one shot going way wide and back for icing. The Moose’s next attempt at the kill though found the back of the net from the neutral zone, and clinched the game with a 4–1 lead.

McCormick kept the Spiders in the game, making stop after hard stop against the buzzing Moose. In all, he saw 26 shots (the 27th being the empty netter), eight in the first, nine in the second, three in the third. On the other end of the pond, David Resch stopped 20 of 21 shots (8, 10, 9).

The only place the Moose didn’t have an advantage on the scoresheet was in the penalty column. Tonight’s crew put the Spiders in the box five times, to the Meese’s two.

With the loss, the Spiders are .500, 1–1, going into next week’s game vs. the new C3 team, the Mastodons. That team hit double digits last week, beating the Diablos 10–2.

Get your tickets, for Sunday, Nov. 11, 9:30 at Breck.