Ramblings of a Short Fat Goalie: Dawgs Roar Back Late To Overcome Skanks

After a perfect 6-0 start to the winter EAHL season, the Dawgs I squad was staring their second straight defeat right in the face. In fact, they were a mere four minutes away, down 3-1 to the team that had knocked them out of the summer league playoffs, the Skanks.

It took 51 minutes, but the Dawgs found their offense just in time. They poured in three late goals, including Nate Akell's game winner with under a minute remaining, to steal a 4-3 victory. The win keeps the boys atop the league standings, with a 7-1 record.

Defenseman (sort of) Tito Pijanowski led the way for the Dawgs, putting in his second and third goals of the season, both of which were assisted by center Dan Pham, who bounced back after missing a game due to a gashed uterus. Danny Packard scored the other goal for the Dawgs on a delayed penalty in the third period.

The Dawgs' previous game had been postponed due to a mechanical issue at the Edge Arena, and that may have played a role in the sluggish performance against the Skanks. The bad guys got on the board early, when Spencer Tscherpel found the massive five hole of Dawgs goalie Al Sterner on a power play.

Pijanowski tied the game before the end of the period, but the Skanks regained the lead midway through the second, when Eric Allen skated in alone, and faked Sterner out of his cup, before depositing the puck into an empty net.

The game stayed at 2-1 until there were about eight minutes remaining in the third period, and the Skanks went on a power play due to the second silly retaliation roughing penalty of the game by Dawgs forward Matt McGarvey.

McGarvey

After a big scramble in front of the Dawgs' net, Sterner appeared to have the puck covered, and the whistle sounded from referee Mike O'Connell. A second later, Skanks forward Nick Wheeler poked the puck from beneath Sterner's glove, and into the cage. For reasons unknown, O'Connell chose to award the goal even though the whistle clearly blew, and the Dawgs were on the wrong end of a 3-1 score.

O'Connell's call

But instead of packing it in, the bad call seemed to light a fire under a Dawgs team that had not played real well the entire game. Pijanowski converted a nice Pham pass with a little under four minutes left to bring the boys back to within one.

"Tito only need one hand. Tito make score."

With around two minutes left, the Dawgs skated the puck up the ice on a delayed penalty. A shot was taken towards the net, and recent college graduate Danny "Intent To Injure!" Packard somehow forced the rebound past Skanks goalie Mark Jacobsen to tie up the contest.

So with less than a minute left in the game, it seemed like a shootout was imminent. But Pham found Nate Akell breaking out of the defensive zone, and he broke across the Skanks blue line with the puck. Just as he got to the top of the circle, he fired a wrist shot that found a way through Jacobsen's legs and into the net for the winner.

The road gets no easier for the Dawgs tonight, when they face second place Ozone at 9:30. Ozone is leading the EAHL in goals scored, averaging almost eight per game, but are coming off a loss to Dr. 5 Hole last week. A win could give the Dawgs a commanding lead in the league standings.

In other Dawgs news:

The Dawgs' game was postponed last week, but captain Marty Richardson found a new defenseman, when he signed a pylon that was on a bare spot in the ice. Richardson reasoned that it had more potential than Rick Zimmat, who was given his outright release.

New Dawgs D-Man

Dawgs forwards Dan Pham and Tyson Dale have pledged to continue wearing one purple sock as long as the team continues to win. Here they are shown modeling the socks before a recent game.

Dale, left

Nate Akell reported today that he won't be able to play tonight due to a strange illness. It was discovered that Akell saw the movie "New Moon" so many times last weekend, that he has begun to show signs of actually becoming a werewolf.

Akell

Dawgs defenseman Mike Abdella announced this week the birth of his second son. The baby has already taken on one of the traits of his father, sporting a faggity soul patch.

Little Abs

Just a few days earlier, Dawgs defenseman Chris Acuna also announced the birth of his son. The first few days were the worst, as the baby realized who his father is.

Yes you are...