Happy Tuesday Steel Fans!!We hope that you had a great weekend and were able to catch one of the games this weekend. If you were unable to catch a game, here is a recap along with comments from Coach Scott McConnell, and Forward, #10, TJ Moore.
The Chicago Steel dropped the opener of the 2013-2014 season on Friday evening as the Green Bay Gamblers beat the Steel 5-1 at the Edge Ice Arena.
The first period began with both teams exchanging penalties before the scoring started. Green Bay was first to find the back of the net at the 15:42 mark. Evan Tironese took a nice feed from Drew Best and beat Steel goaltender, Chris Nell, on the backside. The first period closed with Green Bay's Gavin Stoick taking his second penalty of the game.
The second period opened and the Gamblers quickly pushed their lead to two, still playing a man down. Ryan Lough scored the shorthanded goal while Tironese picked up the assist. Chicago responded less than three minutes later when a couple of Steel newcomers hooked up for a goal. Zach LaValle fed Robby Jackson to cut the lead to 2-1. That was as close as the Steel were going to get as Sebastian Weberg scored another for Green Bay. The Steel dug themselves a hold at the end of the period when Mason Berg and Brian LeBlanc were sent to the box within minutes of each other, but managed to kill off the five on three advantage for the Gamblers
After an uneventful opening half of the third period Green Bay put the game out of reach. The Gamblers added two goals scored by Gates Jr., and Olofsson respectively. Green Bay goalie, Jared Rutledge managed to stop all but one of the shots he faced in a great effort in the net for the Gamblers.
The Steel put together a late rally but ultimately fell to the Waterloo Black Hawks 3-2 on Saturday evening at the Edge Ice Arena.
The first period was fairly uneventful for both teams. The Steel and Black Hawks traded opportunities but were unsuccessful each time. There was some excitement with 12:02 remaining in the period when the Black Hawks put the puck in the back of the net but the goal was waived off. The rest of the period remained scoreless and both teams headed to the dressing rooms tied 0-0.
The Black Hawks got things started quickly in the second when they found the back of the net just 1:02 into the period. With 14:46 reaiming Waterloo's Brandon Montour and Austin Vieth found Liam Pecararo for his second goal of the contest and pushed Waterloo's lead to two. Just 31 seconds late the Black Hawks found the back of the net again with a shot from Brandon Salerno. Montour picked up his second assist of the night on the goal. The Steel finally responded just over 10 minutes into the second when Patrick Polino beat Waterloo goaltender Cal Peterson to cut into the lead.
Trailing 3-1, Chicago came out for the third period and cut further into the Waterloo lead when Alec Vanko scored his first goal of the season off a feed from Robby Jackson. The Steel had a great opportunity to tie the game with about three minutes remaining in the game, but Waterloo's Peterson was up for the challenge and stone walled the two on on try. With 41 seconds remaining Chicago pulled goaltender Chris Nell but the Steel could not force overtime even with the extra attacker.
Today we took the time to sit down with Coach McConnell and forward, T.J. Moore, to get their thoughts on the game...check it out!
Coach McConnell
"Friday's game was a good test for our guys. The score wasn't indicative of the game itself. We had opportunities, their goaltender played very well. We didn't capitalize on our opportunities like Green Bay did."
"Saturday was a great hockey game. Both goalies played well, and a major learning step for our team. To be in a 3-0 hole, and continue to battle, and have a chance to tie the game with a minute to go is an invaluable lesson for a young team that we can build off of. We showed this weekend if we battle we can be in any game. There is going to be a few growing pains in certain games. Our objective is to get better every time we hit the ice."
T.J. Moore
Friday: "You could tell it was our first game of the year. We got better as it went on. It was a good sign that we kept fighting even though we were down in the third."
Saturday: "It was a tough loss because it was so close. It was a good sign that we were only a bounce or two away from winning. We played really hard. During the games our best asset was our conditioning and hard work. Even though we couldn't win a game we made progress playing together as a team instead of individuals.
The Steel are away this weekend. On Saturday, September 28th, Team USA U-17's will welcome the Chicago Steel to the Ann Arbor Ice Arena in Ann Arbor, MI. Game time is set for 7pm (6pm Chicago time). Then on Sunday, September 29th, Team USA U-18's will host the Chicago Steel at the Ann Arbor Ice Arena. Puck drop will be at 3:35pm (2:35pm Chicago time). Tune into Fast Hockey to catch some of the action.
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