Greece Athena/Odys 6, Hilton 2 (Lakeshore)

D&C Staff Reports 2/14/09

The Thunder went up 3-0 after one period and then had a 5-1 lead after two. Greece Athena/Odyssey scored again in the third period before Hilton closed out the scoring with 1:30 left in the game. The Thunder (21-0) had six different goal scorers: Greg Ryan, J.T. Stenglein, Matt Lane, Eric Gunderson, Curran O'Brien and Mike McNeil.

Matt Fracassi and Corey Sherman scored for Hilton. Hilton goalies Brad Delgatti stopped 13 shots, Dan Hurlimann had four saves and Tyler Kelly had one save. Parker Bonis and Andrew Simonelli split time in goal and combined for 19 saves for the Thunder. Bonis had 13 saves.

Wes Vyverberg Reports

Game Report

Where did everybody go? With the purple ink fading in the wake of Tuesday night's climax, there was ample parking and elbow room in the stands on Valentines Day '09 at Lakeshore. It was senior nite for the Hilton Cadets coinciding with the end of section five regular season play and Vyper's 17th birthday (beware on the roads after dark). Due to an injury in the prior game there was a bit of a delay and the players had to warm-up on the west rink. With Thunder emerging from the tunnel in their purple sweaters and the Cadets coming out in their whites, our host threw us a change-up as one of their players sang the anthem with some rather interesting bass tones.

Once again wasting no time, Thunder was on the board a mere 30 seconds into the game as Greg Ryan walked across the top of the slot and beat Delgatti short side, assisted by Riley Bourbonnais and Pat Sofia. Greece controlled the play in Hilton's end for the lion's share of the opening period with numerous nifty passing plays before JT Stenglein converted on a goal line stand with six minutes to go, assisted by Ryan and Gunderson. This was followed by another Matt-n-Cheese production as Brandon Cheeseman fed Matt Lane in the middle just inside the blue line and Lane buried the wrister to make it 3-0 Thunder. Gunda picked up the second helper.

Just two minutes into the second frame, Lane hit Ryan with a long lead pass up the middle, then Ryan entered the zone on the left, found Eric Gunderson all alone on the weak side and Gunda went top shelf, popping Degatti's water bottle to advance Thunder's lead to 4-0. Another eight minutes would pass before a Curran O'Brien pass deflected off a pair of skates and into the Cadets net for Thunder's fifth goal of the evening. But Hilton would scramble to break the shutout, posting a powerplay marker with 1:23 to go in the period. Then on Hilton's final break-out attempt before the break, Dan Vyverberg blocked the puck with his body to keep the line, got it deep, and layed out an unsuspecting Cadet who was looking to finish his check.

Coming into the third and final frame of the regular season the Boys of Thunder continued to demonstrate their prowess with the puck, finding each other with tic-tac-toe-tape-to-tape passing and putting on quite a show. But Hilton had come back from the break with a new netminder between the pipes and it took a solid seven minutes to solve him. It was Mike McNeil who would do the honors, deflecting a shot from the point past Hurlimann for Thunder's 6th and final goal of the game. Scotty Tam-Grimshaw took the shot and Mike Briganti recorded the second assist. Coming down the home stretch Matt Keough delivered a nice check along the boards that drew some attention. Then with 4 minutes remaining, Hilton cycled in yet another goaltender and Thunder followed suit with Bonis passing the baton to Simonelli. With the game well at hand Andrew was probably expecting light duty, but that was not the case. Instead, he found himself in the deep-end having to sink or save during a shorthanded situation that spanned 3 out of the last 4 minutes of the game. Simonelli chose to save, making a couple of beauties right out of the blocks on the initial 5 on 4 kill. Vyper earned another Harry sticker with a save of his own. Hilton managed to get one by on their perpetual powerplay, but by the time it was all over Simonelli had turned away 6 of the 7 attempts that came his way. Nice work!

First star of the game goes to Greg Ryan with a goal and 2 assists; second star goes to Eric Gunderson with a goal and 2 assists; and third star goes to Matt Lane with one and one. Shots were 24-21 in Thunder's favor with Bonis and Simonelli combining for 19 saves. And so, the 08-09 regular season comes to a close with Thunder handing Hilton a 6-2 decision, while enjoying an unprecedented undefeated record of 21 wins and 0 losses. Queue the sound byte Jeannine!

Get off your rocker, recliner, or sectional and come on down to the 'shore to watch WKW lead the Greece Athena/Odyssey Thunder Hockey Team in their first sectional game, against the little irish of Aquinas, 1pm on Satruday, Feb 21st. Thunder... There is no other!