Posts under ‘Playoffs’

The Brooklyn Aces’ Andrew Scampoli has been hearing all season from his family that he’d make a better forward than defenseman.

Tonight, he proved them right, scoring the game-winning goal with 4:26 left in overtime, giving the Aces a 3-2 win over the New Jersey Rockhoppers in the first game of the best of three EPHL Championship Series.

“I called for it and as soon as I did, it was on my stick,” said Scampoli. “I knew if I got it off quick I had it and luckily I put it right where I wanted.”

However, while Scampoli’s heroics gave the Aces the win, goaltender Eddie Neville was the real star, making 35 saves, including 13 in the third period to keep the Aces in the game.

“Eddie was the man tonight,” said Aces head coach Chris Firriolo. “New Jersey was dynamite tonight and made him work. It was one of the top three hockey games I’ve been a part of in the 14-years I’ve been involved in this sport. Neville was phenomenal.”

Just minutes ago, Aces Over Brooklyn interviewed Brooklyn Aces head coach Chris Firriolo and asked him about his thoughts going into the first game of the team’s championship series with the New Jersey Rockhoppers tonight.

Check it out:

As always, you download and listen to the file directly @

http://media.switchpod.com//users/patrickhickeyjr1/AcesOverBrooklynPodcastChrisFirrioloPregame326.mp3

Or you can download it on your I-Pod here

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=294739484

While both the Brooklyn Aces and New Jersey Rockhoppers have gained tremendous reputations around the league for their offensive ability, it is their goaltending that got them to the playoffs this season.

In Eddie Neville and Miro Recicar, the Aces have the best tandem in net in the EPHL. However, of the two, Neville has been tested more against the better teams in the league, with Recicar getting the majority of the team’s games against the Hudson Valley Bears and also an unusual amount of offensive support through the majority of the season to boot.

If Neville’s value was in question or unknown going into last week, the team’s play over the last three games of the season proved just how important he is to the success of the team. With Neville out the last week of the season with a neck injury, the Brooklyn Aces struggled, as Recicar was not on top of his game. Falling behind in every game during that span, Brooklyn was not the same team it was when Neville was between the pipes and it showed.