Bellie report – vs. Victoria Shamrocks – June 7th, 2012
The Bellies are back on the winning track, but it did not come easily. In fact, it took ten extra minutes to finally seal the deal.
From the outset, the teams were neck and neck. Despite the Bellies’ recent three game losing streak and the Shamrocks’ five game undefeated start, there was much debate leading up to game time. Nobody dared count the Salmonbellies out this early in the season, slump or no slump. As they Bellies went on to show all the fans who walked through the front door, there is good reason to have faith in this group of guys.
The home team scored first and maintained one and two goal leads throughout the first twenty minutes. It wasn’t until after the intermission that the Shamrocks really came on strong, closing up a two goal deficit and taking their first lead of the game. By the end of the second, however, the Bellies had closed a two goal gap of their own, added another score for good measure and the score was 9-8 in their favour.
If there was a lull in scoring it came in the third period. Only five goals were scored, three of them by the Shamrocks. With 2:35 left in regulation time, they tied it up for good.
The seesaw scoring continued until the final minute of the extra period when the Bellies scored two goals less than thirty seconds apart and held off the powerful Shamrock offense in between.
Leading the Salmonbellies’ scoring was Ilija Gajic with three goals and five assists. Curtis Hodgson, Jordan McBride, Kevin Crowley and Martin Cummings each added two goals of their own and Sean Robinson and Corbyn Tao both earned themselves four point nights.
The WLA three stars were:
- Ilija Gajic
- Ryan Benesch
- Jordan McBride