Friday, September 29, 2000

Thunder add new faces to lineup, but lose a close one to a competitive Liberty Lake Squad

Friday, September 29

EUGENE, OR...Strength comes from struggle and the Eugene Thunder learned some lessons about struggling Friday night in their 3-1 loss to the visiting Liberty Lake Lumberjacks at Lane County Ice Arena. Facing a much older team, the Thunder came out in the first period and fought the battles in the corners, kept the Lumberjacks to the outside in an attempt to limit their scoring opportunities and were patient with their chances when they got them. A back and forth period ended with no score. But newcomers Joe Cetta, Eric Graftaas, Chance Lau and Aaron Roberge got their first taste of life on the ice in Eugene. Their contributions to the strength of the Thunder became more clear as the night wore on and they all began to find their legs.

Early in the second period, while on the powerplay, Garret Carter opened the scoring with a point shot that found the back of the net. The Thunder powerplay unit was working well, Mark Demmer and Nolan Baker setting up numerous chances. Tommy Baker proved to be a threat on the powerplay every time he took the ice with numerous shots on net. He drew a lot of attention from Lumberjack penalty killers especially.

The Lumberjacks managed to tie the game late in the second, but the story of this period was goaltending. Martin Stehl was nothing short of fantastic. His puck control and cool head in scrambles allowed the Thunder to control the tempo of the game, even while the LumberJacks were showing no signs of the long bus ride to Oregon.

With the game tied, the Thunder brought their game to a higher level in the third period. Andrew Fields had several good scoring opportunities and worked hard to create space for his teammates. Freddy Martinez was seen on a breakaway that brought the entire bench to their feet, but the Lumberjack's goaltender stood tall, ultimately robbing Martinez. While Aaron Roberge got busy winning face offs and setting up Garrett Carter for more of his laser shots from the point, Max Manders, Josh Friedman and Sean MacDonald worked hard in the corners, digging pucks out and bringing them to the net. Back on the blue line, Cory Howard, Jake Meisenheimer and Joe Cetta were setting the pace with their physical play and heads up breakouts. It was all about pressure and the Thunder took it to Liberty Lake with all they had.

In the end, it wasn't quite enough. The Lumberjacks stepped up right along with the Thunder, scoring two more goals in the third period to win the game 3-1.

"I'm very proud of the boys," said coach Kelly Hubbard. "They did a good job. They played together as a team, they worked hard. The game was close. And we'll come back at them tomorrow night with the same energy and drive."

The Thunder will continue to face these same Liberty Lake Lumberjacks both Saturday at 7:30 pm and Sunday at 1:00 pm at Eugene's Lane County Ice Arena.

 

Friday, September 29, 2000

 

 

No.	Name	GP	Mins	W	L	T	GAA	Svs	Sv%	SO
1	Martin Stehl	1	60	0	1	0	3.00	44	.936
30	Cory Johnson	0		0	0	0