Aces Trap Bears in 8-4 Win

Coming off a tough 4-1 loss against the Danbury Mad Hatters last night, the Brooklyn Aces were looking for redemption against the lowly Hudson Valley Bears.

Putting together a six-goal second period, the Aces did just that, coasting to an impressive 8-4 win.

“It took us a while,” said Aces head coach Chris Firriolo of his team’s offensive game. “But we came out with the win. I think we have to tighten up a bit more [defensively]and today gave us a chance to work on things like trapping. We have a lot of respect for this team and I’m happy we got the win.”

With Zamboni problems before the game however, the ice wasn’t in optimal shape, having only been partially resurfaced. As a result, both teams’ offensive games suffered through the early stages of the period and gave the game a choppy feel. Despite that, the Aces made the most of things and broke open the scoring on a Mike Thomson goal in traffic at 9:16. At 13:27, Chris Robinson tallied to make it a 2-0 game.

Things could have been much worse for Hudson Valley, but netminder Peter Maro was simply magnificent, making 21 saves in the period. The Bears offense also came through at the end of the period on a Josh Coyle goal with 4.8 seconds left, making it a 2-1 game going into the second.

Not happy with their inability to finish offensively in the first, the Aces came out with guns a blazing in the second, getting a Kyle McCullough marker just 38 seconds into the period that made it a 3-1 game. At 2:13 Brooklyn continued their offensive onslaught on a Jesse Felten tally that stretched the lead to 4-1. Just 28 seconds later, Felten scored again, seemingly putting the game away at 5-1. Brooklyn wasn’t done however and Eric Frank lit the lamp on a deflection soon after at 3:58, putting his team up by five and taking Maro out of the game in favor of Chris Polino.

At 6:06, Matt McGilvray scored for Brooklyn in traffic, taking the game even further in the twilight zone. At 7:21, Frank laced a vicious wrist shot over Polino’s shoulder and put Brooklyn up by seven.

Hudson Valley refused to die though and at 9:53 got another goal from Coyle [which was originally awarded to Chris O'Brien but changed by the referee], putting the score at 8-2.

“It felt good to get a few goals tonight,” said Frank. “Even though I’d like to do it more against teams like Danbury and New Jersey.”

The Bears continued their comeback attempt at 4:24 of the third on Coyle’s third goal of the game on a wrister in traffic that cut the Aces lead to 8-3. Things began to get a bit rough as well, as Hudson Valley’s Pete Alden and Felten dropped the gloves after Alden hit Aces forward Ian McLoughlin from behind. Frank later dropped the gloves with Dana Guilbert after the Hudson Valley D-man was holding him up behind the Bears goal. Things never escalated to the point of pure chaos however, as the Aces were simply trying to run down the clock and induce a win.

“My mother doesn’t like it when I fight, but I had to stick up for my teammate,” said Aces forward Jesse Felten with a smile. “We have to do things like that.”

Before the Aces could settle things down completely though, the Bears got one last tally, this one from Tori Jacob at 18:24 that put the score at 8-4 before it was all said and done.

With the win, Brooklyn’s first place lead over the New Jersey Rockhoppers is at nine points with just 12 games remaining.

“We’re in good shape right now; we feel like the rest of the schedule benefits us,” said Firriolo, who’s team will play the last-place Bears twice over their next two games and three times over their next five. “We still have things to work on though.”

Notes-

The Aces scored on six of their nine shots in the second period.

Aces goaltender Eddie Neville made 26 saves.

Attendance for the game was 1,277.

Photos by Patrick Hickey Jr.

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