Spiders maintain Fighting Loons’ undefeated run

March 3, 2018

The Spiders made their second contribution to the Loons’ attempt at C3 history.

The Fighting Loons are angling to write their own chapter in the AHA Annals of undefeated teams in the winter season. They’re two games away from an almost-perfect 19–0–0–1, the lone blemish coming way back in December against the Wolf-Rayets in a 4–3 overtime loss.

The Fighting Loons would be the only team in the history of C3 to record zero regulation losses in the regular season. The last C3 team to come close was in the 2014–15 season, where the [checks notes] Fighting Loons went 18–2, and went on to win that franchise’s third consecutive trophy. (Of course, there have been other teams to go undefeated in the regular season, such as the 19–0–1–0 [checks notes again] 2009–10 D1 Spiders??)

The Loons easily dispatched the 2017–18 version of the Spiders Saturday at Richfield 7–1, with the lone Spider tally capping the third period, as Scott Bredael destroyed the donut on a breakaway.

Other than that, it was all Loons, with the wheezing Spiders having no answer whatsoever. Even a few sure-thing loose pucks in front of the Loon net patrolled by former D1/C3 tier administrator Heather Rodgers somehow stayed out. The Spiders only perfected the tape-to-tape turnover in the defensive zone, constantly giving the Loons extended possession time, who peppered the Spiders’ net, racking up over double the amount of shots for the game, at 45 (14, 21, 10) to the Spiders’ 21 (7, 5, 9). McCormick did his part though, stopping cold all five Loon breakaways.

The Spiders also had more of the ire of the refs, getting whistled for three semi-questionable calls (two of which led to instantaneous power play goals), to the Loons’ lone call (Rag Doll getting hit from behind, of course).

Despite the opportunity to elect the run time clock to start the third, the Spiders wanted to use their full Saturday night ice allotment in front of the meager crowd that stuck around after the capacity house on rink 1 for the Magicians.

Final score: 7–1, same as last week’s Leaf crushing.

And with that Loon victory, it puts first out of reach for the second-place LED Nord, thus making congratulations in order for the Fighting Loons, who clinch the C3 East division title.

Lifetime against the various versions of the Loons Dynasty, the Spiders drop to 3–5 dating back to the 2013–14 season.

Playoff scenarios

There are two spots remaining in C3 East, currently held by the Maroons and Leafs, with three additional teams still eligible claim at least one of those spots. The highest the Spiders could get is the fourth and final spot. And given the Spiders’ position at the back of the pack, the only possible scenario for the Spiders to advance will be for the Spiders to win out, and the other three teams to lose both games in regulation. Even ties/overtime losses would be enough to eliminate the Spiders’ chances. Therefore, the Spiders’ Tragic Number is down to 1. So if you didn’t make those April golf plans after last week’s loss to the Leafs, what are you waiting for?

Remaining schedules of C3 East teams in playoff contention, besides the already clinched Fighting Loons and LED Nord:

Maroons (3rd place, 22 pts.):

• Hooligans Green
• Blade Runners

Leafs (4th place; 19 pts.):

• LED Nord
• Hooligans Green

Wolf-Rayets (5th place; 18 pts.):

• Spiders
• Nighthawks Gold

Blade Runners (6th place; 18 pts.):

• Nighthawks Gold
• Maroons

Spiders (7th place; 16 pts.):

• Wolf-Rayets
• Minnesota Warriors

Next up, a quick turnaround for the must-win rubber match against the Wolf-Rayets. The Wolf-Rayets beat the Blade Runners 4–2 on Saturday to pull ahead via tiebreakers in their two-way tie for fifth and sixth place. The previous games against the Wolf-Rayets were the OT loss season opener, and the 2–0 shutout to open the 2018 calendar.

Puck drop is at 9:30 at SLP.