Saturday, September 30, 2000

 

Thunder Hit Turbulence Early in SeasonSeptember 30, 2000EUGENE, OR…Tonight’s rematch against the Liberty Lake Lumberjacks didn’t go according to plan. At least not according to the Eugene Thunder’s plan. The final score read 9-2 in the Lumberjacks’ favor as the young Thunder team continued to struggle in the face of Liberty Lake’s experienced onslaught Saturday night at Lane County Ice Arena. The Lumberjacks had the Thunder scrambling in their own end throughout the opening half of the first period. And things did not improve when the Thunder began to get themselves in penalty trouble. The Lumberjacks’ have a potent powerplay. And on their second powerplay opportunity they capitalized, scoring their first goal 13:20 into the period. A young team, the Thunder didn’t bounce back well from the deficit. Ten seconds after the powerplay goal, Liberty Lake converted again. Corey Johnson playing in net for the Thunder managed to make the first save, but the waves of Lumberjacks kept coming and the puck found the back of the net. Then, only two and a half minutes later, Liberty Lake corralled yet another rebound, making the score 3-0 in their favor at 16:06. Three goals in less than three minutes. It started to look like it might be a long night in the trenches for the Thunder.Coach Kelly Hubbard immediately called a timeout to settle his troops down and remind them of the game plan, which did not include a blowout. It worked, for a while. The Thunder pulled together and held Liberty Lake off for the rest of the period. At times it wasn’t pretty, but they managed to do the job. The second period, however, started out much the same as the first. Liberty Lake came out of the locker room on fire. They kept constant pressure on the Thunder squads, making breakouts difficult. Every shift continued to be a battle as Liberty Lake clogged the passing lanes, intercepting passes, throwing resounding body checks and crashing the net. Tommy Baker, wearing the C for the Thunder, found himself going to the penalty box early in the period as he defended Corey Johnson in a pileup in the Thunder crease. He took a Liberty Lake forward with him, but his presence on the ice was missed. Mark Demmer followed Tommy to the box shortly thereafter. Again, Liberty Lake was able to unleash their masterful powerplay unit. Again, they found the back of the net. The Thunder continued to reel as they gave up a short handed goal at the 8:48 minute mark. Two and a half minutes later, the Thunder continued their parade to the penalty box, giving the Lumberjacks a 5 on 3 powerplay. Another successful powerplay conversion put the score at 6-0. As the score climbed and frustrations mounted, newcomers Josh Friedman and Chance Lau picked up the physical play. Aaron Roberge did his part, wining most of his faceoffs, giving the Thunder a chance to control the play. But Liberty Lake kept pressing, scoring two more goals before the second period was over and outshooting the Thunder 23 to 8. The shots after two periods stood at 42 for the Lumberjacks and 13 for the Thunder. Corey Johnson was literally under fire.The third period finally started to look like the Thunder were coming around. In the opening minute of the period, Aaron Roberge drove into the offensive zone and made a beautiful backhand pass to Mark Demmer who buried the puck for the Thunder’s first goal of the night. It was the Thunder who were pressing now and the Lumberjacks were the ones on their heels. Garrett Carter and Tommy Baker seemed to lift the whole team up as they peppered the Liberty Lake goaltender with their laser shots from the blue line. The Lumberjacks were skating in circles, wondering where the firepower was suddenly coming from. Eric Graftaas continued to drive the net as he’d been doing all game, but now, he started to find the puck coming to him when he got there. Hard work by Graftaas and Eugene locals Andrew Fields and Jeff Knebel produced the Thunder’s second goal of the night as Fields found the handle on a puck in the crease.Freddy Martinez made some slick moves through the neutral zone, undressing several Lumberjacks on his way to their net. Sean MacDonald and Max Manders picked up their forecheck while Jake Meisenheimer and new blueliner Joe Cetta escorted more than a few Lumberjacks to the boards with authority. Cetta was even seen racing down the ice with the puck in an exciting two on one with Fields.Liberty Lake managed to add one final goal to their total, but Eugene had finally found their legs. "Tonight, we learned a lesson," said coach, Kelly Hubbard. "We have to come out of the locker room ready to play with these guys tomorrow, but tonight, we didn’t fold up the tent, we didn’t give up. We came back hard in the third period and we played step for step with them. Just like we did last night, just like we can do tomorrow. It’s just one game and it’s still early in the season yet. We can skate with these guys and we will."

The Thunder finish up their tripleheader with the Liberty Lake Lumberjacks tomorrow, Sunday, October 1st at 1:00 pm at Lane County Ice Arena.

 

Saturday, September 30, 2000 vs. Liberty Lake Lumberjacks

No.	Name	GP	G	A	Pts.	PIMs	PP	SH	EN	FG
1	Martin Stehl	1
4	Cory Howard	2				2
6	Joe Cetta	2
7	Max Manders	2
8	Sean MacDonald	2
9	Freddy Martinez	2
10	Eric Graftaas	2
11	Chance Lau	2
12	Andrew Fields	2	1	0	1
14	Aaron Roberge	2	0	1	1
15	Josh Friedman	2				4
16	Nolan Baker	1
17	Mark Demmer	2	1	0	1	4				1
19	Jeff Knebel	2	0	1	1
21	Garrett Carter	2	0	2	2	2
23	Jake Meisenheimer	2
24	Tommy Baker	2				6
30	Cory Johnson	1

 

 

No.	Name	GP	Mins	W	L	T	GAA	Svs	Sv%	SO
1	Martin Stehl			0	0	0
30	Cory Johnson	1	60	0	1	0	9.00	47	.839