Posts Tagged ‘Kyle McCullough’

After clinching the top seed in the EPHL on Friday, the Brooklyn Aces continued to dominate last night, defeating the Hudson Valley Bears 9-3.

“Just were having fun out there,” said Aces forward Mike Christensen. “We were smiling and working hard. We started out slow, but we rebounded well.”

Despite the fact that the Aces were the aggressors through the early going, Hudson Valley got on the board at 2:56 on a harmless wrister Elvis Tominovic that made it through a screen by, giving the Bears a 1-0 lead. After the goal, the game began to take a more physical and frenetic pace; definitely not what most would have expected before the game.

However, at 8:54, a Christensen slapper with the puck on edge from the top of the left circle with the man advantage beat Hudson Valley goaltender Peter Maro [18 saves in the first period], tying the game at 1-1. After several minutes of free-flowing and physical hockey, a beautiful Jesse Felten wrap-around after a Dan Carney shot from the point with 47.6 seconds left broke the stalemate and put Brooklyn in the driver’s seat going into the second period.

Powered by two-goal nights from Kyle McCullough and Eric Frank, the Brooklyn Aces defeated the cellar-dwelling Hudson Valley Bears 6-2 last night.

The Aces offense continued right where it left on Thursday, scoring three goals through the first 4:16 of the first period, getting a goal from Frank and a pair from McCullough. Hudson Valley answered back just 11 seconds later however on a Lynn Beedle tally that cut the Brooklyn lead to 3-1 going into the second period.

The next 20 minutes of action were quiet offensively, as the only note on the scoresheet was a C.J. Tozzo goal, his 26th of the season at 17:15, that gave Brooklyn their three-goal lead back at 4-1.

The Aces started the third period off on the wrong foot, as Chase Decker scored for the Bears and made it interesting at 4-2. The game stayed that way until the final minute, when Frank and Ian McLoughlin scored 35 seconds apart to put the game away at 6-2.

With Mike Christensen and Rob Miller back in the lineup last night, the Brooklyn Aces had the depth at the blue line and on the forward lines that they’ve lacked recently and as a result were able to skate over a beleaguered Hudson Valley Bears team in an 8-1 impressive win.

“I’m happy with the way we played defensively tonight,” said Aces head coach Chris Firriolo. “All three lines played well out there as well; I liked the combinations out there.”

While the defense was solid all night, the Aces wasted no time building a lead, getting a goal from Christensen at 3:38 of the first period on a shot that banked in off a Hudson Valley defenseman. Just 21 seconds later, Christensen scored again after Tony Resendes fed him the puck on a two on one, making it a 2-0 game. At 9:29, the Aces made it a three-goal game after Eric Frank tapped in a rebound in front while on the powerplay.

It’s that time of the week ladies and germs; time for another Aces Over Brooklyn Podcast.

This week, I chit-chat with the EPHL’s leading assist man and one-third of the Aces “BMT” line, Kyle McCullough, who discusses what it’s like to play at Aviator Arena, how he found his way to the Aces and what expectations he’s set for himself this season.

Check it out!

As always, you can listen directly here at: http://media.switchpod.com/users/patrickhickeyjr1/AOB1126.mp3

Or you can download the file on to your I-Pod or I-Phone here:

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

Through the first eight games of the EPHL’s inaugural season, the Brooklyn Aces have flown high above the competition, amassing a 7-1 record while leaving a trail of smoke over their opponents, outscoring them 52-23.

However, despite possessing the league’s best overall defense, that features talented two-way defensemen such as Rob Miller, Nick Grove, Andrew Scampoli and Doug Hoffman, in addition to the rock-solid goaltender combo of Eddie Neville and Miro Recicar, the Aces offense has been the real story of their magical season.

Nonetheless, while the Aces have gotten offense from a variety of sources, the team’s first line, aptly tabbed “The BMT Line,” of James Brannigan, Kyle McCollaugh and C.J. Tozzo, have left their opponents in pieces, ranking first, second and third in team and league scoring.

“They really work well together,” said Aces head coach Chris Firriolo. “They are definitely a top line in this league, for sure.”

According to the team’s official website, The Brooklyn Aces defeated the New Jersey Rockhoppers 6-3 last night. Brooklyn native James Brannigan and Mike Christensen netted a pair of goals apiece, while Kyle McCullough had two assists.

No other news is available at this time, [I wish I had more, but I'm only covering the team's home games this season] but at the very least, it’s a great step in the right direction for this team. Anyone that has seen this team practice this season will tell you that they have tons of speed on the forward lines and a crafty and intelligent defense to go along with more than solid goaltending.

Looks like the Rockhoppers found that out first hand last night.

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