Aces Muzzle Bears in 7-6 Win

Losing their first home game 3-2 last Saturday after amassing 62 shots on goal, the Brooklyn Aces were looking to take out their frustration on the Hudson Valley Bears.

But after the first two periods, the Aces, looking flat and unenergized, seemed destined for another loss at home.

However, after a three-goal third and 61 shots on goal for the night, they clawed out a 7-6 come from behind win.

“We battled back and chipped away,” said Aces coach Chris Firriolo. “We have to be more disciplined though. We came out on fire in the third and I was proud of them for it.”

Things started out sloppy in the first, with both teams committing early turnovers and their respective goalies responding. Bears forward Scott Horvath then broke the early stalemate, putting Hudson Valley on the board first after beating Aces goaltender Miro Recicar from the doorstep at 3:20. At 7:41, Hudson Valley stretched the lead to 2-0 after a Chris Seifert shorthanded goal that seemed to take the fans in attendance out of the game.

“We played sloppy,” said Aces forward Mike Thomson. “We battled back though. We just kept going.”

Brooklyn’s speedster Jesse Felten answered back on the powerplay just 26 seconds later at 8:05 however, cutting the lead to 2-1. Just when things started to look brighter for Brooklyn, they got a lot worse. Forced to kill a 43 second five on three powerplay after Rob Miller and Mike Christensen landed in the penalty box for hooking and tripping, the Aces found themselves in a tight squeeze. With eight seconds left on Christensen’s penalty, Hudson Valley then reclaimed their two-goal lead after another goal on the doorstep, this one by Devin Guy.

With the score remaining at 3-1 through the end of the first period, the Aces needed to come out strong in the second and after just 1:08 of the period, Seifert added his second goal on the night, stretching the lead to 4-1.

1:08 later, the Aces battled back once again as Ian McLoughlin scored to make it a two-goal game.

Still down two goals in the second, Aces captain Dan Rohanna got the fans back into it at 4:19 with an evenly-matched scrap with Joe Pele. All of a sudden, Brooklyn had the jump that netted them 12 goals in their first two games on the road and was back and buzzing. At 7:08, Brooklyn’s hard work paid off after newbie Andrew Scampoli, playing in his first game of the season with the team, scored, making it a 4-3 game.

Former Ace Scott Estey, claimed by the Bears a few weeks ago, then broke the momentum for Brooklyn, scoring at 16:54 to give Hudson Valley their third two-goal lead of the night. Refusing to give up, the Aces scored with 18.4 seconds remaining in the period, as sniper James Brannigan notched his fifth goal of the season, making it a 5-4 game after two periods of play.

“I love it here so far,” said Scampoli, who joined the team yesterday after starting the season with Danbury. “We got together after the first period was over and we decided to get to work. Our drive and athleticism really shined through tonight.”

Down by a goal with only 20 minutes to play, Christensen got the Aces off on the right foot in the third, catching Hudson Valley goaltender Len DiCostanzo sleeping, bouncing a wide angle shot from the corner off his right pad and into the goal, tying the game at 5-5. Brooklyn continued to run into penalty trouble in the third however, as Miller and Felten were both sent to the sin bin, giving Hudson Valley another five on three. Recicar was confident in net this time around however, making several solid saves.

With Recicar holding down the fort after a shaky first two periods, the Aces got a powerplay opportunity and made the most of it after a nice passing play by Nick Grove and Brannigan that eventually found it’s way to C.J. Tozzo with 9:05 remaining. With their first lead of the night, Brooklyn then doubled it after Kyle McCollaugh scored shorthanded at 12:20. The Bears proved resilient however and battled right back, as Estey scored for the second time, just 17 seconds later, making it a 7-6 game.

Hudson Valley’s offense was shut down the rest of the way however, as Brooklyn tightened up defensively and got some help when Hudson Valley head coach Scott Beneke was ejected with 2:41 remaining, securing a 7-6 come from behind win.

Now 3-1 after four games played, the Aces have outscored their opponents 22-16 and are currently in first place. Nevertheless, Firriolo believes his team still has a lot of work ahead of them.

“This is the third game in a row we came out flat,” he said. “This is a problem we’re going to have to fix. We have a lot of problems to correct and a lot of work ahead of us. ”

Notes-

Rohanna and Pelle dropped the gloves again later in the game, with Rohanna clearly getting the better of the Hudson Valley forward the second time around.

Video- Rohanna vs. Pelle Round 2

Photos by Ron Hatcher and Patrick Hickey Jr.

Video by Patrick Hickey Jr.

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