It was billed as the game of the season. The best team versus the second best team. Two teams, not far removed from a heated Facebook thread that single-handedly increased Mark Zuckerberg's net worth by 14%, facing off in late season game with much more than playoff positioning on the line. A win by either team would be a statement win. Trailside was looking to avenge the only loss of their season, a 7-3 defeat at the hands of Red Army back in May, while the Comrades were looking to continue their hot streak and extend their winning streak to ten games.
It lived up to the billing.
Aaron Duda scored a goal three minutes into overtime to give the Red Army a 6-5 victory, and for the time being, sole possession of first place.
"That one felt great," Captain Steve Hand said after the game. "Two good teams just going at it. It was a battle out there. We got our battle scars to prove it."
Hand then removed his elbow pads and showed off a gruesome cut on his left elbow. For Hand, it was the first time seeing the injury.
"Blood! It's bleeding!" Hand then burst into loud, hysterical sobs and cowered in his locker room stall until a trainer provided him with a Popsicle and a Scooby-Doo band-aid.
As dramatic as the game ended, the start was anything but competitive. Trailside struck twice in the first five minutes, and pressured for more as the period progressed. An uncharacteristic penalty by Mark Hendricks gave Trailside a chance to take a commanding 3-0 lead, but an aggressive penalty unit spearheaded by Ryan Odell thwarted Trailside's extra man opportunity.
"It was important to escape that first period only down by two," Odell said. "We knew we weren't playing up to their level. That PK at the end of the period helped us build some momentum. We just needed to carry something into that first break."
Odell, who
does not wear a visor or shield despite suffering two separate injuries to his face this season, was paramount in blocking shots all game, selflessly throwing his body in front of shots from Trailside's intimidating offensive attack.
"I'm a man," Odell said. "Seriously, look." Odell was then arrested for indecent exposure.
He is questionable for Saturday's game.
The Soviets got on the board early in the second period when Pat King rifled home a puck that ricocheted off a Trailside defender to him. The point shot from Odell was knocked down in front, and goaltender Chris Celenski, still reacting to Odell's blast, did not ready himself for King's rebound attempt, which found the top part of the net.
"It gave us life on the bench," Mike D'Ignazio said. "I'm pretty sure Stefan still yelled 'Oh yeah!' though. It's probably because he doesn't know where he is."
Moments after making it 2-1, the Soviets struck again to tie the game. D'Ignazio fed Pete Collis a pass in the neutral zone. Collis skated to the slot, and with Hendricks driving hard to the net with a defender, Collis was able to fire a snap shot inside the post that Celenski couldn't pick up.
For Collis, it was his first career goal.
"What? No, I've scored lots of goals before," Collis said, receiving shaving cream pies to the face from his teammates. "Guys, guys! Oh come on! Now my eyes sting! Seriously guys, I can't see."
Collis is questionable for Saturday's game.
Trailside was able to take the lead back in the second period when all-star defenseman and big truck enthusiast, Craig Desjarlais, was able to release an uncontested wrist shot from the top of the circle to beat Kevin Durkin.
"I couldn't get out to him on that one," a visibly upset D'Ignazio said after the game. "I think [Hendricks] and I mixed up our signals."
"Nope, totes your man," Hendricks added.
King brought the Comrades even again, as he scored his second of the game after slicing through the defense and depositing a nifty backhander top shelf where Mommy hides the baby Tylenol. The goal more than made up for an earlier retaliatory penalty that King had taken in the frame.
"I was feeling it this game," King said. "The puck was sitting for me and I was able to be involved in the offense. Felt good."
Added King, "Plus, when you've got a set of sick mittens like me, great things tend to happen. Ladies?"
After saying this, Tundra Davidson, the goaltender for The Huskies (a team in the senior adult female soccer league) turned her attention toward King, chased him down, and accepted his rhetorical request, giving King the longest night of his life. And a limp.
King is questionable for Saturday's game.
The score remained tied heading into the third period. The mantra on the Red Army's bench was to stay the course.
"We were pretty happy with how we had been playing," Jamie Simek said. "I mean, it really comes down a "would-you-rather", ya know? Would you rather be down 2-0 after the first period or tied 3-3 after two periods? Uh, duh, right? We had improved our situation. I'll give you another example of a would-you-rather."
Simek then detailed a hypothetical situation involving an enema, vomit, and a swordfish.
"I'd definitely take the enema," Simek concluded.
Trailside broke the tie in the third to take a 4-3 lead. On the ensuing shift, Collis scored his second of the game on a nearly identical goal as his first, cutting toward the slot and firing one far side.
For Collis, it was his first career goal.
The Soviets were then given their first power play of the game after D'Ignazio took a slash. With a chance to take the lead for the first time, the Comrades instead were frantic, and gave up shorthanded opportunities. Then, when settling down finally, Hendricks got into a scuffle with a Trailside forward and the two were each assessed matching roughing penalties, removing a big weapon from the Soviet's arsenal.
Rather than backing off the offensive opportunity however, the Soviets sent out out the line that had been doing the damage so far in the game, as Duda, King, Hand, and Simek went out to work the final minute of the power play. They owned the puck, and just as the time for the first penalty expired, Duda ripped a rising snap shot that beat Celenski top shelf where analogies elude aspiring writers.
Chants of Duuuuuu-daaaaaa rained down from the stands.
"That was actually me," Hendricks said. "I was still in the box. I had a great view of it. But those chants? All me. Duuuuuu-daaaaa!"
With the lead for the first time in the game and a little more than five minutes to play, Trailside threw caution to the wind and began throwing everything on net. Durkin was able to stave off the attack, but a late defensive lapse left a forward all alone in front, and with a little more than two minutes remaining, the game was tied 5-5.
"We didn't want to panic after that late goal," Simek said. "It's like, would you rather be tied at five with a few minutes to go in regulation, or walk in your parents having a threesome with your fourth grade gym teacher, ya know?"
In overtime, both teams exchanged chances early on, but it was Trailside who got a golden opportunity after Simek's pass was intercepted near center. A Trailside forward raced in all alone on Durkin, looking to seal the game, but was denied by the left pad.
"Strep throat ain't got sh- hold on," Durkin said, pausing to wheeze for several minutes. "It's got some on me."
Moments after the save, D'Ignazio retrieved the puck and raced up the boards. He was defended well near the Red Army bench, but the puck came loose to Hendricks, who continued the thrust into the Trailside zone and unleashed a low wrist shot that Celenski kicked out. Duda, who had been driving hard down the far wing, beat his defender to the puck, and jammed in the rebound to vault the Comrades to sudden victory.
"It was a gutsy effort all around by the boys," Duda said. Duda, who gave a semi-enthusiastic fist pump after scoring the goal, added, "That was the most exciting moment of my life."
"I'd definitely take the gym teacher," Simek said. "She was a silly."
THREE STARS:
3: Kevin Durkin
2: Pat King
1: Aaron Duda
