Posts on ‘March 8th, 2009’

If any team needed a game against the Hudson Valley Bears right now, it would be the Brooklyn Aces.

Despite having a 10-point lead over the New Jersey Rockhoppers for the top spot in the EPHL, Brooklyn has been unable to muster offense against them and their arch rivals the Danbury Mad Hatters.

Scoring 14 goals in their last two games against Hudson Valley, look for the Aces to take out their frustration on the last place Bears today.

However, expect a few other things as well.

Over the past few games, the Aces offense has been struggling to get goals. This has stemmed from the defense’s inability to take shots from the point that forwards can control from the rebound or while in traffic in front of the net. Unable to get a forward in front of the net, the Aces have seriously limited their defense’s ability to produce offensively. It’s something that Aces head coach Chris Firriolo wants to see more of, so expect it to be implemented and experimented with more today.

Despite stellar efforts from Mike Christensen and Eddie Neville, the Brooklyn Aces were unable to ward off the New Jersey Rockhoppers, falling 4-3 in a shootout last night.

The struggling Aces offense did light the lamp first though at 5:52 of the first on a Kyle McCullough marker that gave them a 1-0 lead. The score stayed that way until Rockhoppers tough guy Jason McCrimmon scored his second goal of the season at 10:06 of the second to tie the game at 1-1. 5:52 later, New Jersey scored again, this time off the stick of Justin Todd, giving the Rockhoppers their first lead of the night at 2-1 going into the third period.

That’s when the Christensen show finally began.

Just 2:48 into the third, the shifty Aces center scored his 26th goal of the season to tie the game at 2-2. However, Brooklyn was unable to feed off the momentum, as 49 seconds later, Tom Boudreau scored to make it a 3-2 game.