Greece Athena/Odyssey 9, Spencerport 1, (ESL)

D&C Staff Reports 12/16/08

J.T. Stenglein scored two goals and recorded three assists to lead the Thunder (6-0). Erik Gunderson and Riley Bourbonnais each scored twice for Greece. Pat Sofia, Brandon Cheeseman and Mike Miller also scored for Athena/Odyssey. Mike Rotolo made 17 saves for the win. Scott Doud scored for Spencerport. Tyler Lariviere made 31 saves for the Rangers.

Wes Vyverberg Reports

Game Report

The Greece Thunder Hockey team figured they were on easy street, walking into the ESL Sports Center tuesday nite ranked second in the state. But the Rangers could not have cared less. They came out hitting hard and playing for keeps like a dog on a scent. Bourbonnais broke the seal assisted by Stenglein, four minutes in. Then it was Bourbonnais scoring another, 8 minutes later, with Cheeseman and Lane picking up the helpers. Thunder outshot the Rangers 15-6 in the first, however it was Spencerport who would draw first blood in the second period as they capitalized on a turnover down low in the Thunder end. To Thunder's surprise, the Rangers were able to sustain a high level of intensity, holding Thunder to only a 1-goal lead through 29 minutes and 59 seconds of play.

Then came the most pivotal moment of the game, the straw that broke the Rangers' back... Matt Lane picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone, walked it in as the clock was winding down, and waited patiently for Stenglein to appear on the backdoor, before sliding it over to him for the tap in at the buzzer. Shots were fairly even at 12 and 9 but just imagine how dejected the Spencerport players must have felt going into the dressing room knowing that all they had to do was play one more second of defense to keep it a one-goal game. Instead, they were on the short end of a 3-1 margin, which would only get worse.

Spencerport came out flat as a pancake in the 3rd and Thunder had a field day piling on six more goals. They went 5 for 6 on the PP, with all 5 goals coming within the first 30 seconds of the man advantage. All tolled there were ten different point getters: Stenglein led the way with 2g/3a for 5pts; Sofia notched 1g/2a for 3 points; Gunda and Bourbonnais each had a pair of goals; Cheese offered 1g/1a for 2pts; Briganti, Ryan and Lane contributed two assists apiece; Miller picked up his second goal of the season and Grills registered one assist on the powerplay.

Rotolo made 17 saves for the win (his second of the season). Scotty Tam-Grimshaw made his debut in this game and reportedly took a shift with his step-bro, Tyler Grimshaw. Ian Cumming saw his first minutes of the season late in the third and Tyler Mattle made an appearance as well. When all was said and done, Thunder outshot the Rangers 40-18 and advanced their record to 6-0, with a convincing 9-1 win.