March 29, 2017

IDAHO JUNIOR STEELHEADS SWEEP TAHOE, AWAIT BUTTE

After unloading 22 goals on the Tahoe Icemen last weekend to sweep their semi-final series by scores of 13-2 and 9-4, the Idaho Junior Steelheads will host the Butte Cobras this weekend in the Northwest Division Championship.

Game times for the best-two-of-three series at Manchester Ice will be 7 PM MDT Friday and Saturday nights, and a rare 4 PM Sunday start if a third game is necessary.

The winner will advance to the WSHL Thorne Cup Championship Final Tournament in Ogden, Utah, April 12-16.

The Cobras upended the higher-seeded Southern Oregon Spartans in Medford last weekend to advance to a division final series for the first time in their brief history.  They edged the Spartans 2-1 last Friday night, then exploded for five unanswered goals in the second half of the third period Saturday night for an 8-3 clincher.

In the other three divisions of the league, the Wichita Jr. Thunder were the only other lower seed to win last weekend.  They eliminated the Oklahoma City Blazers and will be at El Paso this weekend for the Midwest Division championship.

The Casper Coyotes visit Ogden in the Mountain Division finals.  Valencia will be on the road in Long Beach to face the Bombers in the Western Division.

Should Butte defeat the Junior Steelheads this weekend, and Long Beach beat the Flyers, Coach John Olver’s team would still enter the final tourney in Ogden as the “wild card” team.  If both Butte and Valencia take the respective division playoff championships, Long Beach would be the wild card team.

Olver said, “Butte has one of the top records in the league in the last 20 games, a 17-3.  They have obviously peaked at the end of the season and went into Southern Oregon and knocked them off.     We’ll have to be ready to play from the opening whistle.

“Butte is playing aggressively and can be physical.  We have to make sure we come out and match their physicality.”

The Junior Steelheads were no strangers to unanswered goals in the two victories over Tahoe, ripping off streaks of 10 last Friday and five on Saturday.

FRIDAY

IDAHO 13, TAHOE 2

Hunter Lester (Boise) got the series started early with a power play goal 2:43 into the game in front of 257 fans.  The Icemen tied it with a goal just about halfway through the period.  The 1-1 tie at the end of the period was as close as they were to get in the entire series.

Fredrik Lindqvist (Norrtälje, Sweden) and Johnny DeRoche (Lynnfield, Mass.) scored for Idaho in the first 5:33 of the second period to make it 3-1.  Tahoe got one back 10:24 into the period, but that proved to be their final tally of the game.

The 10 unanswered goals by the home team came from DeRoche and Lester again in the second period, and Rei Kikuchi (Tomakomai, Japan), Lance Herning (St. Charles, Ill.), Jonathan Davidsson (Hönö, Sweden), Matt Kindred (Garden City, Mich.), Alex Piliya (Vitebsk, Belarus), Kindred again, DeRoche again for a hat trick, and Jack York (Boise) in the third period.

Five of Idaho’s goals were power play goals, earned in six man-advantage opportunities, and Piliya’s was a shorthanded one.

Sergei Pysarenko faced four Tahoe shots in each period, making 10 saves to get the win.  The Junior Steelheads barraged two Tahoe goalies with a total of 74 shots on the night.

SATURDAY

IDAHO 9, TAHOE 4

Before about 400 fans, the Junior Steelheads amassed a 3-0 lead in the first 15:27 on goals by York, Bryan Kaes (Boise) and Chris Hunt (Albany, N.Y.).  Pysarenko surrendered a power play goal to Tahoe, then Idaho took the 4-1 first period lead on a DeRoche power play lamplighter.

The Icemen cameth with two goals to cut the lead to 4-3, but 11 seconds after the third Tahoe goal, York scored on a nifty backhand shot to start the five unanswered goal streak.  Piliya and Tyler Berndt (Fond du Lac, Wisc.) on a power play made it 7-3 after two frames.

Lindqvist and Kindred on a power play by the halfway point of the third period gave Idaho nine for the game.  Tahoe got their fourth and last on a power play with 141 seconds left in the contest.

Pysarenko finished with 13 saves for another victory to move the Junior Steelheads on to the division finals.  Idaho “took it easy” on Tahoe with just 47 shots on goal on this night. 

Defenseman Ty Cousineau (Minnetonka, Minn.) was ill and missed the series but should be available to face the Cobras.  Goaltender Tyler Matthews was injured in a practice last Friday and will miss Butte.  Brenden Leise will provide netminder insurance for the Junior Steelheads.

Submitted by Dick Dorfman