Quarter 1

The cubs are slow off the starting blocks and give up a quick goal to Newport. Then, some great buildup gets the Cubs a solid finish inside and an equalizer. Soon after, the Cubs suffer an ejection and give up another goal to Newport. However, a great outlet pass from the goalie results in a goal that just barely passes the line for the Cubs. The Cubs suffer another ejection and give up another goal. The Cubs suffer a THIRD ejection but survive this time.

Score 3-2 Newport

Quarter 2

A sweet bar-in shot finds the back of the net, and the Cubs equalize. The Cubs give up another goal on yet another ejection. They continue to step up, though, and score a nice one from the center of the pool. Another Cubs ejection allows another Newport score. A few minutes pass and the Cubs give up a penalty and another goal. A fast outlet gives the Cubs their first penalty, and they convert. A last second ejection leads to another goal due to man advantage for Newport.

Score 7-5

Quarter 3

The Cubs suffer another ejection and give up another goal while one man down. The Cubs come up with a big stop and come down to convert for the first time this half. Out of a timeout, the Cubs notch one in the top left corner and cut the deficit to one. A pass to the middle sees a conversion by the Cubs and an equalizer. The Cubs use some clever ball movement to free space to a bucket from the left side into right side netting. The Cubs take the lead but give up an equalizing goal to the opposition almost immediately.

Score 9-9

Quarter 4

Out of the sprint, the Cubs get the ball to the left side where a skip shot finds the right side of the net to give the Cubs the lead. Newport receives an ejection, but the Cubs fail to capitalize. Newport finds the middle and convert to equalize. Newport strikes again to take back the lead with 2 minutes left in the game. The Cubs get a chance with someone inside, but, just as he’s about to lose the ball, Coach Healy calls his second-to-last timeout of the game. With one minute left, the Cubs give up a penalty and go down two goals. The Cubs score with 43 seconds left to give themselves a fighting chance. Alas, just as soon as hope lived, it died when Newport scored again with 20 seconds left to play.

Final score 13-11 Newport

Game Analysis:

The Cubs made the game a true fight throughout as the opposition got away with some clear violations early on. However, the difference in especially the first half seemed to be the Cubs’ response to the opposition’s provocations. The few times the Cubs caved and shoved back, they received ejections. This proved pivotal as about six goals, or half, of Newport’s goals came when they had a numbers advantage due to penalties against the Cubs. Though the Cubs played extremely well, it was the momentary lapses in concentration that proved to be the team’s downfall. The goal that sealed the Cubs’ fate came on a miscommunication that put two guys on the offensive end when it should only have been one. When asked what the Cubs did well, head coach Eric Healy said, “I think we fought, the never-say-die attitude was in effect. We also put ourselves in a great position to win; it’s just unfortunate that we were unable to capitalize on our opportunities at the end.” The Cubs led by one goal with three minutes left in the game, and in that time, Newport received an ejection that would have proven pivotal had the Cubs scored. Unfortunately, the team did not convert at the very end, and it cost them the game. Hopefully, the lessons learned will help the team in tomorrow’s 12:00 p.m. semi-final game.

Goal scorers that game were the following: Vavic (5), Pernecky (2), Altmayer (2), Kranz.