The Cleveland Freeze punched their ticket to the PASL Ron Newman Cup Championship Playoffs in Chicago with a thrilling 6-5 playoff victory over the Detroit Waza Flo. A boisterous crowd of 1,218 spectators witnessed a thrilling affair Saturday evening at Melvindale Civic Center.
 

The Waza fed off the energy from the home crowd in the opening quarter but the visitors struck first when Steve Gillespie sidefooted a shot into the bottom corner of the goal nine minutes in. The Waza controlled most of the play in the first quarter and refused to be denied an equalizer. Zach Wilkes’ right footed effort was tipped off the post by Freeze keeper Mike Mason but Detroit Captain and Coach, Dominic Scicluna pounced on the rebound with less than a minute to go in the quarter.

Detroit used the momentum from their goal to begin the second quarter, but Mike Mason kept the door shut making save after save to keep the score level. Midway through the quarter the Freeze capitalized on the power play when Steve Gillespie banked a pass off the boards to Danny Bartulovic who slotted the ball home easily in front of goal. The Freeze would grab another with just 8 seconds to go in the half.  Steve Gillespie walked through the Detroit defense and finished past a helpless Joe Kapinos making the score 3-1 right before halftime.

The Freeze made it 4-1 when a clever through ball from Josh Grossman froze the Waza defense, leaving an unmarked Stefan Ostergren open for a tap-in on the power play. Detroit responded less than a minute later cutting Cleveland’s lead in half. Zane Pollack had the final touch as the ball went through a series of legs in the penalty box and ended up in the back of the net. Not to be outdone by the home side, just 24 seconds later the Freeze put their lead back to three goals. Another pretty passing play by the Freeze this time found PASL All League 2nd Team Player, Allen Eller in front of goal to score his first of two goals on the night. Zach Bowman would score for the Waza with under two minutes to go in the quarter, setting up what would be an exciting finish.

Mike Mason had been brilliant all evening for the Freeze and stayed strong despite conceding an early goal in the 4th quarter which was scored by Waza playmaker, Michael Grba. The fourth quarter was without question the most exciting. Play was slanted toward the Freeze end for much of the quarter and consisted of many off target shots by Detroit, Mike Mason saves, and physical play. The Waza whom had been playing catch-up all game long with the Freeze did indeed score a much deserved equalizer with just under 5 minutes to go. Ricardo Lopes hammered home a rebound on the power play, sending the Waza fans wild and more importantly tying the game.

The atmosphere in the Melvindale Civic Arena could sense a Waza win on the horizon but the Freeze had different plans. The Waza kept the ball in the Freeze zone as the clock ticked down and sent all of their players forward in search of a sixth goal. However, with just 90 seconds to go,Alex Bernot cleared the ball to a completely unmarked Allen Eller who was just over the halfway line and in alone against Kapinos. The veteran, whom had the hopes and dreams of a city on his right foot in that second beautifully chipped the ball over Kapinos and into Chicago the Cleveland Freeze went with a 6-5 win, shocking the Waza faithful!

Mike Mason deservedly earned first star honors making 21 saves on the evening and was without question the man of the match. David Jordan,Boban Cancar, Josh Grossman, and John Gulden also thwarted numerous Waza attacks and deserve credit for the team’s impressive defensive performance.

Following the game Cleveland Freeze Head Coach, Hector Marinaro said he was “proud” of the team’s performance and told his player’s that they would have to play strong defense in order to continue winning in the playoffs.

The Freeze will be playing for the Ron Newman Cup this weekend at the Sears Center in Chicago.  Be sure to follow all of the coverage on America One, Twitter, Facebook, and Talkshoe!