ShameOnUs: Spiders fall again to Shame, 4–3

March 22, 2014

The last game of the regular season went down exactly like the first, a ShameOnIce come-from-behind win.

A big (for AHA standards) crowd made it out to New Hope Saturday night for the last game of the regular season for the Spiders and ShameOnIce. This was the rubber match on the season, with the Shame taking the first in a come-from-behind win 3–2, and the second a penalty-filled shutout for the Spiders.

The Shame were all but eliminated from playoff contention weeks ago, and the Spiders locked up a playoff berth a week ago, so tonight’s game was just for exercise, and heading into the playoffs on an up note. Instead, it was a reprise of the first game of the season, with the Spiders unable to hold a lead.

Offense got started late in the first for the Spiders, with the reunited line of Grotbeck/Schroeder/Fritz putting on a tic-tac-toe clinic from the corner to the slot to the crease.

That was followed by the Schwinn/Freed/Schuster line, and the Spiders finished the shot-filled first period up 2-zip. Shots were 17–11 in favor of the Spiders.

Midway through the second, the Shame got on the board and cut the lead to one. But under a minute later, a Byland blast from the point was expertly deflected up and in by Freed to reclaim the dreaded two-goal lead.

Dreaded, because it disappeared in less than a minute, with the Shame closing the score to 3–2 in what should’ve been no goal as the Shame’s Bartels introduced himself to McCormick’s crease.

Two-and-a-half minutes later, the gassed Spiders turned over a puck in the corner that found its way back to the goal. After two periods, it was a tie game. Shots in the second were 14–10 for the Shame.

In the third, both teams had plenty of chances, but both goalies were ready, and turned away shot after shot. But another turnover by the Spiders gave the Shame the lead at 10:28 to go in the third. And despite a dozen more shots, the Spiders could not capitalize. With McCormick pulled for the extra skater with just over a minute left, the Spiders did their best to avoid the shame of another lost lead. And they almost did, with three solid opportunities in front of the Shame goalie, but she was having none of it. The last-ditch effort, with a face off at 0.1 seconds to go, would not result in a buzzer-beater. And the game ended at 4–3 for the Shame.

The generous shot clock will help with goalie save percentages, and showed both teams played an even game, with the Spiders shooting 42 on net (17, 10, 15), and the Shame 40 (11, 14, 15).

The officiating crew apparently had Saturday night dates after the game, putting in place a two-game-puck system that kept commercial breaks to a minimum, and put no one in the box, the second time this season for the Spiders that no penalties had been called on either team.

McCormick though, had a date with more than two game pucks though, as he subbed for the B3 Spiders on the same New Hope S ice sheet in the next game. A handful of C3 Spiders stuck around to cheer on their goalie and Spider brethren, though that squad ended up losing 9–4 to the B3 Fighting Piranhas.

Standings watch

The Shame’s victory gives them the season series 2–1. The Shame finish their season at 9–9–1–1 with 20 points in sixth place, and what will likely be a game and a half out of a playoff spot.

The Spiders finish the regular season at 12–7–1–0, 25 points and in third place, a game-and-a-half improvement over last season (11–9–0–0; 22 points; fourth place), and a one-game improvement over the team’s first season at C3 (10–7–2–1; 23 points; sixth place). The team returns to the AHA winter post-season for the sixth consecutive year.

Tonight’s loss was the fifth one-goal loss this season, and ninth one-goal game overall. Plus it was the fourth game this season where the Spiders gave up a lead to lose the game.

In the standings, the Spiders will need to wait to find out who their playoff opponents are. The Nighthawks wrapped up C3 West earlier this week, and the rest of the slots are dependent on week 20 games in both divisions.

So, next up, the first round of the playoff round-robin begins Wednesday at 7 p.m. vs. the Nighthawks at Eden Prairie.