Greece Athena/Odyssey 7, Irondequoit 0 (Lakeshore)

D&C Staff Reports 0/03/09

Riley Bourbonnais had two goals and two assists and J.T. Stenglein scored two goals to lift the Thunder (18-0). Matt Lane added a goal and an assist and Curran O'Brien scored his first varsity goal for Greece. Mike Rotolo made 22 saves to record the shutout. Tomas Slezak made 27 saves for the Eagles.

Wes Vyverberg Reports

Game Report

Could be my eyes are going but I could swear the anthem honors were anonymously offered by a woman wearing a master's jacket and red chucks. In stark contrast to the January meeting, where Greece kept Irondequoit around long enough to make it interesting, this time out it was all Thunder as they opened up a can of whoop-a$$ on the Eagles. Leading off for the Thunder two minutes in it was Matt Lane taking flight and beating Slezak 4-hole with a nasty snapper that would prove to be the winner. The play originated in Thunder's end with a hard-working clear by Dan Vyverberg and was also assisted by Brandon Cheeseman. Thunder dazzled their dedicated fans with a plethora of pretty passing plays during the balance of the opening period, but it was not until four minutes into the second that they would light the lamp again. Enter JT Stenglein who would find the net, assisted by Matt-n-Cheese, after circling like sharks in the Eagles end for a spell. A minute later Riley Bourbonnais was walking down the left side of the ice looking to pass to a decoy in the slot but instead he slid an unassuming backhander by Slezak to make it 3-0 Thunder. Greg Ryan picked up the helper.

While most teams would have said uncle and folded their tent by now, Irondequoit continued pressing and forced Rotolo to make some big saves. Take the next series for example. With both teams on a change and nobody to pass to, Vyper decides to walk it in, but the play quickly reversed and Matt Keough was left holding the bag. Matt showed his mettle as he caught the Eagles' attacker bearing down on Rotolo, preventing him from getting a clean shot off, but the play was whistled down with a penalty shot awarded to the Eagles. No worries, Mike was on his game and he stayed with IQ's Kirk like a mirror image to keep the shut-out alive. Before the period was out, Bourbonnais notched his second goal, walking across the middle and firing a hard shot that hit Slezak's stick and worked its way in, making it 4-0 Thunder going to the break.

Five minutes this side of the break, Stenglein netted his second goal on the powerplay, assisted by Bourbonnais and Rotolo. With a fifth marker on the board, the remainder of the game found the entire Thunder bench getting in on the action. Chipping away in front of the Eagles net, Curran O'Brien counted his first varsity goal with 4:15 to go, assisted by Bourbonnais and Grills. Shortly thereafter, Chris Coleman posted a monster shift with several good plays, including a big hit to keep the line and then winding up a knuckle-puck that just missed over the cross-bar. And with 39 seconds left on the clock Mike McNeil put one in off an Eagles defenseman's skate for lucky #7.

Doan Collision goes out to Scotty Tam-Grimshaw for standing up #14 in the neutral zone like a brick wall in the early going. First star clearly goes to Mike Rotolo for his stellar performance in the nets. Hockey is a game of momentum and every time IQ tried building theirs to get back in the game by bringing it to the crease, man behind the mask was equal to the task and stopped them dead in their tracks. Second star goes to Riley Bourbonnais with 2 and 2 makes 4. And third star goes to JT Stenglein with two goals of his own. Shots were 34-22 in Thunder's favor. Rotolo made 22 saves for his 3rd shutout and 6th win as Thunder advanced their record to 18-0, with a 7-0 domination over Irondequoit.

Thunder hosts the Fairport Red Raiders, 8pm tonite (Thurs Feb 5) at the 'shore. Don't have a senior moment and show up late, get there early to recognize your seniors before their final home game of the season!