Yeti 6 - Lazers 2
Refs: Bob Anderson/Jake Kline
Scratches: Jeremy Lee, Ryan Johnson, Curtis Johnson, Tony Benanti, Jarrod Currin
Goals: Fatula 4, Day 1, P. Pompeii 1
Goals: Dodd 1, Reiter 1
Assists: Jacobson 2, Fatula 1, P. Pompeii 1, S. Pompeii, 1, Day 1 Assists: Gasbarre - 1
Saves - McKinley 26, Sampson 33
Part time player status: Ryan Johnson is eligible to play 8 regular season games.
Adam McKinley picks up where he left off in winter league:
The Yeti earned a 6-2 victory over the Lazers to kick of the 2018 XHL season. Adam McKinley turned aside 26 of the 28 shots and Dan Fatula led the attack with four goals and a helper. Derik Day and Phil Pompeii added a goal and assist while Mike Jacobson tallied a pair of assists. The Lazers played the game ironman with a substitute goalie in net. Jonah Sampson filled in for Jeremy Lee who was unavailable and played well in his stead, as he was able to make 33 saves and keep the score close. Day scored the first goal of the season off a face-off win by Fatula mid-way through the first period. Lauren Dodd tied it up soon after. But Fatula's first goal gave the Yeti a 2-1 lead after the first frame. The Yeti added three goals in the 2nd period to gain a 5-1 foothold on the contest. The teams exchanged goals in the third period. Brandon Reiter was finally able to get on the scoresheet with a few minutes remanining in the game after seeing McKinley turn aside several of his shots earlier in the game.
Jonah Sampson: No moral victory:
1. You subbed in for the lazers tonight. Were you hapoy with how you played? Not too happy, I expect more out of myself. I may have been a fill-in, but I felt as though I was capable of contributing to a win tonight. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make that happen. 2. Any goals you wish you could take back? I’d say I got a little too comfortable deep in my net a few times, and got burnt for two goals I wish I had back. I also let one in with two or three seconds left in the second period that I should’ve contended better. 3. What can you say about the team effort? Playing with only four skaters is tough, but I know how hard the Lazers compete on a weekly basis. Playing for the Ducks the last few seasons, the Lazers were always a team that would tire you out, because they are so relentless going after the puck. 4. You played on the ducks before and made a good impression. At what age did you start playing goalie? I started playing goalie when I was about ten years old. I never really got into the competitive side of it until I was about sixteen, and I worked every summer trying to hone in on my skills. I still feel as if I have a lot of work to do, but I hope to be able to become one of the more reliable goaltenders in the league. 5. What can you say about how your counterpart played? Adam was solid, as always. I keep an eye on all of the goalies in the league to see what they do best, and how I can learn from them. Adam is definitely a guy you can learn from, and for this being the first game of the season, he’s got to be happy with how well he played.
Xtreme 8, Knights 4
Referees: Bob Anderson/Adam McKinley
Scratches: Kevin Smith, Tate Rutherford
Goals: Bussard 3, Cebulskie 2, Jewell 1, Stitt 1, Walter 1
Goals: Schindler 2, Kline 1, Tosh 1
Assists: Jewell 1, Stitt 1, Walter 1, Bussard 1
Assists: Calvert 1, Schindler 1, Kline 1
Saves - Lingenfelter 22, Schindler 22
Part time player status: Kevin Smith is eligible to play 8 regular season games.
Xtreme pick up big opening night win:
In the most anticipated game of opening night, the Xtreme doubled up the Knights to earn an 8-4 victory at 7:00. Joe Bussard picked up where he left off a year ago by leading the Xtreme with three goals and an assist. AJ Cebulskie netted two goals in the final minute of the game in his rookie debut. Clint Lingenfelter earned the win in net by stopped 22 of the 26 shots he faced. The two teams exchanged goals in the first period before Bussard was able to put the Xtreme up for good late in the period to make the score 3-2. Bussard and Tyler Stitt added second period tallies to give the team a three goal cushion heading into the third period. Jake Kline cut the lead to two with his first goal as a Knight, but Bussard halted any comeback bids with a power move to restore the three goal lead mid-way through the third period. Kurt Schindler led the Knights with a pair of goals while Todd Schickling turned aside 22 shots in his first XHL game.
AJ Cebulskie: Making immediate contributions:
1. Nice win over the knights. Were you happy with how the team played? I was very happy how my team guided me through the entire game. My team played very well all together. 2. How did it feel to contibute two goals? It felt awesome when I scored my first goal with the older guys. The second one made me feel even better! 3. You have good guys surrounding you. What kind of expectations do you have for the team? I have big expectations for my team I think we play good I’m very happy. 4. How confident are you with your own play? I am pretty confident, I just need to learn from my mistakes my team also helps me with my mistakes. 5. The knights are expected to be up in the standings as well. What does a win against them do for confidence? The win boosted me a lot because I know they have some amazing players on their team. There are many more teams to come and they are all good. I can’t wait for more games
Renegades 7, Colonials 6
Refs: Todd Schickling/Jason Iseler
Scratches: Tim Herman, Rob Keith
Goals: Stinchcomb 3, Hunter 2, Vollmer 1, Matchock 1
Goals: Bob Anderson 4, McMinn 2
Assists: Hunter 2, Lehman 2, Vollmer 1
Assists: McMinn 3, Bob Anderson 1, Terwilliger 1
Saves: Matchock 24 Clontz 14
Part time player status: Rob Keith is eligible to play 8 regular season games.
Renegades make opening night statement:
The Renegades made a statement by defeating the two-time defending champion Colonials 7-6 in their league debut at 8:00. With the teams tied at 3 after the first period, the Renegades pulled away with in the second period by scoring 3 more goals in the frame. Pat Hunter scored from mid-court off a deflection with the opening draw of the second period to give the Renegades a lead they did not surrender the rest of the way. The Renegades were able to pull away to a 7-4 lead by the middle of the third period. The Colonials got within a goal but Renegades goalie Josh Clontz was able to shut the door in the final minutes to preserve the win. Pat Hunter paced the Renegades with two goals and two assists while Denny Stinchcomb added three goals of his own. Bob Anderson and Luke McMinn led the Colonials with five points each. John Matchock manned the pipes for the Colonials who were playing without Tim Herman and Rob Keith. He stopped 24 shots. Clontz picked up the win by turning aside 14 shots.
Mayhem 11 Vikings 3
Refs: Jason Iseler/Josh Clontz
Scratches: Matt McGinnis/Spencer Forsythe/Jake Foradori
Goals – Bembenic 4, Waltman 4, Cebulskie 3
Goals – Trithart 2, Pangallo 1
Assists – Bembenic 2, Cebulskie 2, Puhala 1, Miller 1, Caltagarone 1
Assists – Cherico 1, Trithart 1, Farcus 1
Saves – Wood 46, Dennison 6
Part time Player Status ----------- Levi Miller has played 1 game, he will be eligible to play 7 more games. Jake Foradori has not played any games yet.
Trenton Bembenick/Nic Cebulskie cause lots of Mayhem for the Vikings
Opening night concluded featuring 8 rookie players. Two of them stood out, Trenton Bembenic and Nik Cebulskie. Bembenic scored 4 goals and 2 assists, including a goal less than a minute into the game to set the tone for the Mayhem. The Mayhem would go on to score 8 more consecutive goals to take a 9-0 lead before Brett Trithart scored the first Viking goal of the season. The Mayhem took a 4-0 lead after the 1st period and would go up 8-0 after 2. In addition to Bembenic’s big night, Tyler Waltman matched him with 4 goals of his own, while Nic Cebulskie would go on to add 3 goals and 2 assists to lead the way. Brett Trithart led the Vikings with 2 goals and an assist. The Vikings were only able to get 9 shots on net against another rookie goalie, Jim Dennison. Dennison spent most of the night watching his counterpart, Rich Wood seeing shots going his way frequently. On the night, Wood faced 57 shots, saving 46 of them. Wood played 2 seasons ago with the Aces but has not seen much hockey action since. The Mayhem didn’t take long to welcome him back to the league.
The Mayhem will look to keep their momentum going at 6 p.m. next Monday night against the Knights while the Vikings will try to bounce back against the Xtreme. Help should be on the way for the Vikings as they were missing 2 players last night in Jake Foradori and Spencer Forsythe. The Mayhem were able to take advantage of having 2 extra bodies on the court. The two teams will meet 3 more times this season.
Trenton Bembenic ---------- Leads Mayhem to opening night win:
1. You contributed a lot to the teams win. How did it feel? It felt great to help the team to get our first win
2. How do you think the team looked overall? I think the team looks good because of the young group we have and we have a lot of time to learn and get to know how each other play
3. You feeling more confident? yes because now I’ve played a season and I know how I need to play and I know how others play
4. This team has lots of young guys. Are you glad you get to play together? absolutely we are a young team and we can all learn from each other to get better 5. Any team improvements needed going forward? there is always room for improvement, I just think we need to learn how each other play more and keep communicating when we’re out there
Shawn Logan ------------- Thin bench gets the best of Vikings:
1. Tough loss tonight over the mayhem. What do you think went wrong? That's an easy answer. 8 minute shifts is never going to work...when you only have 1 sub you have to constantly utilize it. This is the #1 thing that has killed every young team I've played on. My advice is to watch some real hockey and not how long even the stars in the NHL's shifts are. If you can skate more than 1 to 2 minutes you're not back checking. 2. Only one game in. Any positives? Sure there are positives we actually made a little push toward the end of the game...if we can add to the bench everything will go alot better. 3. How did your body feel after the game? I've been going to gym for a month so far and it felt like I never stepped in one before. That will come fast good news is my wrist feels relatively good! 4. Rich made a lot of saves. Did you think he made any saves that stood out? Rich was a bright spot in our team those 2 on 1s are never really his fault and he's going to see a whole lot of them. There was alot of shots it's hard to remember one but I was impressed multiple times. 5. Despite the loss, was it nice to get back on the court? It feels great to be skating again and even just seeing some old familiar faces. I want to lose 25 more pounds and get back to a more competitive level and put that injury behind me for good. This season I couldn't be happier just to skate and hopefully share some of my experience