Greece Thunder 4, Irondequoit 3 ( Lakeshore Hockey Arena)

D&C Staff Reports 1/07/09

Brandon Cheeseman broke a 3-3 tie with 1:14 remaining in the game to lead the Thunder. Cheeseman knocked in a rebound after the original shot by Matt Lane. Irondequoit had tied the score 3-3 on a power-play goal 19 seconds earlier by Jeff Englert.

The Thunder led 2-0 after two periods but Irondequoit scored twice ito begin the third to tie the score. Pat Sofia gave the Thunder a 3-2 lead midway through the third. Lane and Erik Gunderson also scored for Greece (10-0). Cam Weisbeck and Zach Ferrara also scored for Irondequoit (2-6-2). Tomas Slezak made 40 saves for Irondequoit. Parker Bonis made 20 saves for Greece.

Wes Vyverberg Reports

Make any New Year's Resolutions? Thunder did. They resolved to continue their winning ways and despite the fact that they nearly snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in their first outing of 2009, Thunder did what they needed to do against Irondequoit, escaping with a narrow 4-3 margin. Occupying the visitor’s bench and attacking from the north in your own barn is a bit odd, but that's how it goes when so many teams call Lakeshore home. They almost got me on the 50-50 sales too!

Thunder carried the play for two periods straight, outshooting the Eagles 15-8 and 17-5 respectively, but they only managed to get a pair by Slezak, who stood on his head. Midway through the first it was Matt Lane on the rebound, assisted by Riley Bourbonnais and Pat Sofia. And then not again until the end of the second frame on the powerplay, where Sof settled a pass from Bourbs, put it on a tee in the slot and then Gundi came by to drive it home, 2-0 Thunder.

One would think that goal just before the break might have demoralized the Eagles, but clearly they remained up for the game, as they emerged from the tunnel singing 'Fah who for-aze!' and gave us a run for our money right to the bitter end. One minute into the third Cam Weisbeck put Irondequoit on the board and suddenly it was a one-goal game. Remain calm, all is well...... or maybe not, as senior Zach Ferrara converted a rebound on the Eagles powerplay two minutes later to knot it at 2-2. This was cause for a great deal of pause within the Thunder camp. Have no fear, captain thunderpants is here, as Pat Sofia walked out with 5 and a half to go and went upstairs to regain the lead at 3-2, assisted by Matt Lane and Brandon Cheeseman. Satisifed? Well, by no means was it time to warm up the bus as Irondequoit's Jeff Englert scored 5 seconds into yet another Eagles powerplay with only a buck and a half to go in the game. Yikes, we’re tied at 3's. Time for another pause, this one much shorter, 19 seconds to be exact and if not for the courage of the fearless Cheese, the thunder would have lost, the thunder would have lost. Not to be denied, Matt Lane came charging back on the next series, put the puck on net and along came Cheese crashing the net and putting away the rebound with authority to win the game. A cinderella story, former greenskeeper here at Augusta...... i know, it's time to take my hands of the keyboard and back away from the computer, but you have to admit that was probably one of the most exciting games of the season with everyone's hearts in their throats, am i right?

Shots were 12-10 in the third for a 3-period total of 44-23 in Thunder's favor. First star goes to Brandon Cheeseman (1g/1a) with the game winner; second star goes to Matt Lane (1g/2a) for assisting on the game winner; and third star goes to Pat Sofia (1g/2a) for rallying the troops and turning in a fine 3-point performance. Bonis made 20 saves for the win (his 7th on the year) as Thunder advanced their record to 10-0, with a rather dramatic 4-3 win over the Eagles.