Greece Athena/Odyssey 4, Gates Chili 1

Greece Athena/Odyssey 4, Gates Chili 1

D&C Staff Reports 12/06/08

Erik Gunderson scored three goals to lead the Thunder (4-0) at Genesee Valley. Riley Bourbonnais recorded three assists, Greg Ryan had two and Mike Miller also had a goal for Greece. Brandon Christopher scored for Gates Chili (1-2-1). Parker Bonis made 14 saves for Athena/Odyssey. Jason Carville made 31 saves for Gates Chili.

Wes Vyverberg Reports

Sat Dec 6th Game Report

Now the weather outside was frightful and while most die-hard hockey wing nuts would have favored a Winter Classic venue, the Greece Thunder Hockey team was forced to quickly acclimate themselves to a balmy atmosphere inside the Genesee Valley Ice Arena, as they suited up for battle with the Gates Chili Spartans last Saturday Night on arguably the softest ice surface in town. It's always a physical contest with the Spartans and this game was certainly no exception as a Gates player checked Thunder captain Pat Sofia from behind 30 seconds this side of the partial anthem, earning himself a 4-minute major and a 2 game DQ. Shaken but not stirred, Sofia... Pat Sofia was thankfully OK and able to return to play after a brief respite on the bench.

As Herb Brooks said in his famous locker room speech before taking the ice against the Russians, "great moments are born from great opportunities" and while this may not have been the most pivotal game of the season with any sort of international ramifications, it wasn't "some throw away game up in Rochester" either. And so, the boys of thunder took full advantage of this great opportunity by cashing in with not 1, not 2, but 3 powerplay goals, during the Spartan's 4-minute non-releasable major, to establish an early 3-0 lead. Parked in front of the Gates crease for much of the 4-minute advantage, Eric Gunderson knitted himself a natural hat, picking one out of the air off Carville's blocker, and tapping another home on a rebound, although the first goal came on the initial rush, a pretty tic-tac-toe passing play from Ryan to Lane to Gunderson, who then beat Carville glove side. Greg Ryan, Riley Bourbonnais, and Matt Lane each logged a pair of assists on the Gundapalooza. Thunder went on to out-shoot the Spartans 12-3 in a rather chippy first frame.

Despite the beating they sustained in the early going, Gates would not wither away, as they answered back with a goal 2 minutes into the second period to hang on. Thunder posted another 12 shots to the Spartans 8 for a 2-period margin of 24-11. Third period saw Vyper dangling in a forward area with a wraparound bid that kicked out to Mike Miller on the backdoor for the putaway and Miller's first varsity goal. Parker Bonis made 14 saves for his third win of the season. Steve Hebberect really stepped things up on D. First star of the game honors go to Gunda for the hat, second star is shared by Bourbonnais, Lane, and Ryan, while third star goes to Gates keeper Jason Carville with 31 saves. Coach Weilert's detailed post game analysis revealed that "it's good to win", he makes a good point. Styling in their nicely appointed shells, Thunder outshot the Spartans 11-4 for a 3-period total of 35-15, emerging from this blue collar battle unscathed with a 4-1 victory and advancing their record to 4-0. Yeah Thun-DER!

Spread the word and bring a friend along as Thunder hosts Churchville-Chili Saints this Thursday, Dec 11th, 8pm @ the 'shore. According to Melvin Palmer, it'll be a hoot!