Spiders score early, late, but not in between, lose to Mastodons 5–2

Nov. 22, 2015

The New Hope S crowd of at least 12 (including Vandenberghe’s girlfriend’s parents — you know it’s serious when the potential in-laws come to an adult hockey game) didn’t have any football game in the concourse to be distracted by like last week. Instead, they got to see the Spiders come out flat against the winless Mastodons, resulting in the Mastodons no longer being winless.

Also unlike last week, where the Spiders dominated the Les Etoiles Du Nord, the Spiders came back to earth ... and New Hope ... getting beaten in all zones, much of which was the Spiders’ own doing. The reemergence of the patented Tape-to-Tape Turnover™ didn’t help matters. While McCormick was doing everything he could to keep the puck out, the Spiders kept testing him by handing the puck back to the Mastodons in their own zone. Even in the offensive zone, the bounces wouldn’t go the Spiders’ way, and instead ended up on a half dozen odd-man (and woman) rushes.

While the Spiders got on the board early thanks to Eric Grotbeck, the Mastodons answered quickly, and eventually frequently. After one, it was 2–1 Mastodons. After 2, 3–1 Mastodons. Halfway through the third, 5–1. It was finally after the two-minute warning that Paul Berman added to the Spiders statline, and bringing the score to 5–2. Assisting on the goal were Tim Byland and, in his debut for the Spiders tonight, sub Kevin Noreen. Kevin had been on the shelf after a “lower-body” injury suffered in the final preseason game with the Northern Gators.

Final score: 5–2. The Spiders were outshot handily by the Mastodons 33–24. The lone gate call of the game went to Dave Schuster, who got barely a minute’s rest in the box. Not nearly enough time to make anyone pancakes (let alone Hall of Famer Chris Pronger).

The Spiders now sit at 2–2, waiting to see what the rest of C3 South does to determine how far out of second place they could fall.

The Spiders return to the ice after Thanksgiving, taking on the also-winless Fighting Loons (8th place, 0–2–1). Game is next Sunday at Charles M. Schulz Highland Arena, where the Spiders hope to continue their win-some/lose-some pattern by returning to the win column ... on the Road to .500.