Third-Period
Rally Tames Wild, 3-1
September
5, 2004
In the third game of the End of Summer
Hockey Fest, Santa Clara met up with the Inland Valley Wild, a merger of
the Desert Coyotes club and the Ontario Senators. In a battle that
was not decided until the final minute of play, the Blackhawks came out
on top, 3-1. Kevin O'Brien, Patrick
Castagna and Billy Kiernan tallied
the goals, with assists coming from Castagna,
Kiernan,
Mitch
Venosta, Phillip Wong and Kyle
Yedlicka. Devon Luna had a strong
game in net, stopping 23 out of 24 shots. It was a costly win for
the Blackhawks, as defenseman Chase Brevoort
broke his wrist in the final minute of play. Santa Clara will need
to step it up defensively in Brevoort's absence, and they'll be tested
right away in tomorrow's contest against the Bakersfield Dragons, a team
which played in the Midget-A CAHA championship tournament last season.
The first period of play featured plenty
of action but no goals. Santa Clara failed on two power plays, while
the Coyotes were unable to convert on one of their own. Kyle
Yedlicka just missed wide on a shot at 8:04. Patrick
Castagna was later stymied on a quality shot during a power play at
4:10. The Blackhawks finished the period with a flurry, but Yedlicka,
Kyle
Nunn and Castagna were rejected
in succession on saves at the 0:40 mark and the period ended in a scoreless
tie.
It took a fluke goal to finally open the
scoring and it happened during an Inland Valley power play at 9:29 of the
second period. A Wild skater passed the puck off the boards near
their own blueline, and it slid over to Kevin
O'Brien at the redline. O'Brien
one-timed it back toward the Wild end of the ice, but an Inland Valley
skater made an ill-advised play, attempting to knock it out of the air.
Instead, he redirected O'Brien's shot
and it whistled past the out-of-position netminder to make it 1-0.
The Blackhawks continued to apply pressure, but were unable to extend their
lead despite a nice move and pass from Patrick
Castagna to Kyle Yedlicka, resulting
in a shot by Yedlicka that was stopped
at 6:04. Inland Valley went on a power play at 3:41, but then committed
a minor penalty of their own at 3:06 to kill their own power play.
The Wild then evened the score on the ensuing 4-on-4, making it 1-1 at
2:21. The period would end that way after Phillip
Wong missed just wide on an open net at 1:24.
The final period featured thirteen penalties,
though only one power play for the Wild and two for Santa Clara. Patrick
Castagna had the best scoring chance in the first half of the period
when he found an opening while the Hawks were shorthanded at 8:08.
But Castagna was robbed and the score
remained tied. Santa Clara's Devon Luna
had to come up with two, big shorthanded saves of his own during a Blackhawks
power play, at 6:10. After being rejected on at least three opportunities
earlier in the game,
Patrick Castagna
was rewarded for his strong play, nailing the game winner at 5:12, just
23 seconds after the Hawks' power play expired. After
Castagna
dropped to the ice in a battle for possession in the Wild 's corner, Billy
Kiernan picked up the loose puck and skated around the back of the
net before centering it out front. Mitch
Venosta's one-timer was turned back, but the rebound slid out to Castagna
who had gotten up to join the fray. As he moved in toward the crease,
the puck found his stick and Castagna
buried it. With five minutes remaining, there was still ample time
left on the clock for the Wild to come back. Devon
Luna did his part to tame the Wild, snatching a shot through traffic
with the big chopper at 3:42. At 1:05, Inland Valley picked up another
penalty and Santa Clara finally put the game in the bag on a power play
goal from Billy Kiernan. On a Santa
Clara dump-in, Kyle Yedlicka grabbed possession
near the side boards and skated into the slot before shooting the puck.
Phillip
Wong got a piece of it and then the biscuit slid back out to Kiernan
who put it into the back of the net to close out the scoring.
Santa Clara finishes up the tournament
with a game against the Bakersfield Dragons on Labor Day morning.
Bakersfield gave Santa Clara's 2003-2004 Midget-A team all they could handle
last year in a game that the Blackhawks did not win until late in overtime.
While both clubs have changed personnel, the Dragons are sure to put a
solid team on the ice.
Blackhawks
- 3, Inland Valley - 1
| TEAMS |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
TOTAL |
| Blackhawks |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| Inland
Valley |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
Scoring Summary
First Period
Scoring: None. Penalties:
De Vince, Inland Valley (interference), 11:47; Kissen, Inland Valley
(head check), 5:11; Wilks, Inland Valley (roughing), 4:10;
Castagna, Santa Clara (roughing), 4:10.
Second Period
Scoring: 1, Blackhawks, O'Brien 1 (unassisted),
9:29 (sh). 2, Inland Valley, Oyama (Olson, Ethel), 2:21. Penalties:
Brevoort, Santa Clara (hooking), 10:09; Costa, Santa Clara (roughing),
3:41; Champlin, Inland Valley (interference), 3:06.
Third Period
Scoring: 3, Blackhawks, Castagna 4 (Venosta,
Kiernan), 5:07. 4, Blackhawks, Kiernan 1 (Wong, Yedlicka), 0:45 (pp).
Penalties:
Castagna, Santa Clara (boarding), 12:00; O'Brien, Santa Clara (tripping),
10:45; Kissen, Inland Valley (roughing), 10:45; Kissen, Inland
Valley (tripping), 7:73; Callaway, Inland Valley (double minor, roughing)
(10:00 misconduct), 3:06; Castagna, Santa Clara (double minor, roughing)
(10:00 misconduct), 3:06; Hodge, Inland Valley (interference), 1:05;
Kissen, Inland Valley (elbowing), 0:10; O'Brien, Santa Clara (roughing),
0:10.
SHOTS
ON GOAL
| Santa Clara |
11
|
9
|
12
|
--32 |
| Inland Valley |
5
|
11
|
8
|
--24 |
Power-play Conversions: Santa Clara - 1 of 5;
Inland Valley - 0 of 3. Goalies: Santa Clara, Luna (24 shots,
23 saves; record 2-0-0). Inland Valley, McAulay (32 shots, 29 saves).
Plus/Minus: +1(Castagna, Yedlicka, Fredericks,
O'Brien, Venosta, Kiernan); even(Pienkos, Brevoort, Wong,
Draper, Holt, Costa); -1(Nunn); DNP(Hernandez, Scarbrough).
Hits: 5(O'Brien); 2(Brevoort,
Nunn);
1(Costa, Fredericks, Castagna, Holt, Yedlicka, Kiernan, Wong).
