Posts Tagged ‘loss’

When Jersey Rockhoppers goaltender Nick Niedert was named the EPHL’s MVP last week, some questioned it.

Today however, Niedert proved for one last time just how dominant he could be, making 43 saves as his Rockhoppers defeated the Brooklyn Aces 4-1 to claim the very first EPHL championship.

“Niedert was dynamite tonight,” said Aces head coach Chis Firriolo. “He showed why he was MVP.”

Despite an absolute lack of offense, the Aces were the aggressors in the first, out-shooting the Rockhoppers 16-9. Niedert was on top of his game, making several solid saves, but was also aided by a Jesse Felten shot that rang off the goalpost around the midway point of the period. On the other side of the ice, Eddie Neville wasn’t tested much, but held his ground and played his part in keeping the game scoreless after 20 minutes of play.

Powered by a three-goal third period and a Tom Boudreau goal in overtime, the Jersey Rockhoppers won game two of the EPHL championship series over the Brooklyn Aces 5-4.

The way the Aces see it however, they were robbed.

With the Aces up 3-2 in the third, referee Michael Geoffrion was unable to sort out the massive amount of penalties he called, leading to a 25-minute stop in the action that Brooklyn never recovered from.

“He took this game into his own hands,” said Aces head coach Chris Firriolo. “He was terrible.”

Things did start out Brooklyn’s way however after Chris Holmes scored at 2:36 to give them an early 1-0 lead. Tony Resendes had an opportunity of his own a few minutes later, but missed the net on a two on one chance. That was all the offense in the period as both Neville and Niedert were solid, especially in traffic, where most of the chances were generated. However, with only 20 shots through the first 20 minutes, the majority of it was played in the neutral zone as neither team was willing to take chances big enough to induce real scoring opportunities.

Despite a four-point night from defenseman Andrew Scampoli, the Brooklyn Aces were unable to defeat EPHL leading goal scorer Tom Boudreau and the New Jersey Rockhoppers, falling 6-4 at the Codey Arena yesterday.

Boudreau led off the scoring at 7:41 of the first and the score stayed that way into the second period when Matt Puntureri tallied at 3:21 to make it a 2-0 game.

That’s when Brooklyn began to rally together, as Scampoli scored at 10:09 to cut the lead in half. However, New Jersey was a step ahead, getting a goals from J.P. Pauly and Boudreau over the next four minutes to give themselves a 4-1 lead going into the third.

Again Brooklyn fought back, getting goals from “Super” B.J. Kuper and Scampoli at 5:20 and 5:32, cutting the New Jersey lead to 4-3 with 14:28 left to play. Yogi Berra must have been in attendance for the game, because it was Deja-vu all over again., as the Aces attempted a comeback was spoiled by the Rockhoppers for a second time.

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.

DANBURY, CONN- Behind a 35-save effort from Derek MacIntyre and their trademark gritty play, the Danbury Mad Hatters defeated the Brooklyn Aces 3-0.

For the Aces, this loss was an especially frustrating one, as the the team failed to convert on five powerplays and 35 shots on goal.

“We haven’t scored goals against Danbury or New Jersey in the past three weeks,” said Aces captain Rob Miller. “When you don’t score, you’re in trouble. It was happening when I was behind the bench and it’s still happening with me on the ice. We have to snap out of it.”

R.J. Gates led off the scoring for Danbury, taking swift advantage of a puck handling flub by Aces goaltender Eddie Neville and deposited a wrister in the back of the net at 7:08 of the first.

“Eddie was great tonight, but that mistake put us behind the eight ball,” said Aces head coach Chris Firriolo. “We were never able to get back on track after that.”

If the Brooklyn Aces have had a kryptonite this season, it’s been been New Jersey Rockhoppers goaltender Nick Niedert.

Making 39 saves on the night, the gritty netminder guided his team to a 5-3 win over the Brooklyn Aces.

Things didn’t start off the Rockhoppers’ way however, as a Mike Thomson marker at 6:49 of the first gave Brooklyn an early 1-0 lead. New Jersey then bounced right back, getting tallies from Tom Boudreau and Chris Ferazzoli at 10:22 and 15:56, giving the Rockhoppers a 2-1 lead going into the second.

New Jersey extended the lead on a Kyle Bozoian score that made it a 3-1 game. Aces defenseman Doug Hoffman scored on the powerplay at 10:51, cutting the lead to 3-2 with only one period of play.

Nevertheless, the Rockhoppers weren’t done offensively, as Anthony Becker’s 16th goal of the season make it 4-2. Brooklyn still has some fight in them and Thomson ended up lighting the lamp for the 18th time this year, making it a one-goal game with 2:20 left to play.

Nick Niedert has proven more than a few times this season that he knows how to steal games against the best the EPHL has to offer.

Making 35 saves against a hungry Brooklyn offense, the Rockhoppers netminder powered a 4-1 win over an Aces team that is looking far from the first place team it’s supposed to be.

“We’re going to create offense, we’re a skilled team; we just have to take advantage of our opportunities. We’re just a bit too vanilla right now ,” said Aces captain C.J. Tozzo. “We were a bit soft. We have to get hungry again.”

Things started off well for the Aces however, as Chris Holmes slapped his way on to the blank scoreboard in the first, depositing his own rebound past Niedert at 8:36 after a sexy pass from Kyle McCullough, giving Brooklyn a 1-0 lead.

The Brooklyn Aces knew last night’s game was an important one and even though they scored three goals in the third period, a flat start after an early first period goal doomed them in a 7-5 loss to the New Jersey Rockhoppers.

B.J. Kuper broke open the scoring at 1:38 on the powerplay after a Matt Tyree tripping penalty, giving Brooklyn an early 1-0 lead. The Aces wouldn’t score again until 12:37 of the second, when Mike Christensen scored on the powerplay. In between that lapse in offense for Brooklyn, the Rockhoppers got four goals from the quartet of Tyree, Kyle Bozoian, Matt Puntureri and Anthony Becker. Soon after Christensen’s goal, the Rockhoppers got another goal from Becker at 14:01 and one from Logan Bittle at 15:57, making it a 6-2 game going into the third period.

Coming into this afternoon’s game against the Danbury Mad Hatters, the Brooklyn Aces were 18-0 when going into the third period with a lead.

For 57 minutes and 58 seconds, that streak looked like it would continue, but behind a pair of late goals by Alex Redmond and Erik Kent, the gritty Danbury Mad Hatters skated to a hard fought 5-4 shootout win.

“They worked hard,” said Aces forward Eric Frank, who scored twice in the game. “But no one on this team wants to lose to them. We can’t make excuses. I think they just wanted it more in the end. We took it to them for 58 minutes and then we made mistakes. They’re a good team and they took advantage.”

Jesse Felten opened up the scoring at 1:52 of the first, giving Brooklyn the early lead. Eric Frank later scored on a juicy rebound after a Felten shot from in between the circles at 7:26 to make it a two-goal game. Frank tallied again at 9:57 after a gorgeous cross-ice pass from Kyle McCullough, giving the Aces a 3-0 lead after less than 10 minutes of play.