Aces bested by Idaho Steelheads

COURTESY IDAHO STEELHEADS

Jordan Warwick

Courtesy to The Arbiter

The Idaho Steelheads (23-21-2-3) faced their toughest opponent as the Alaska Aces (33-13-6), the reigning 2011-2012 Kelly Cup champions. The two rivals took the ice on Wednesday, Feb. 8, Friday the 10 and Saturday the 11. Seven of Alaska’s nineteen losses have come from the Steelheads with two of them occurring in the last series, resulting in the Steelheads beating the Aces 7-6 in their match-ups this season.

Wednesday started the series between the two and began with a great defensive effort for both teams, leaving the first period scoreless. Less than five minutes into the second period, Patrick Kennedy (Forward) scored on a power play giving the Steelheads a 1-0 lead on the Aces.

The Aces answered when Nick Mazzolini scored on a power play, and shortly after, Idaho maintained their lead with Derek Leblanc’s 11 goal of the season. The Steelheads expanded the gap when newcomer Aaron Lewicki scored his first goal with the Steelheads in the third. Mazzolini struck again with a second power play goal late in the game, but it was not enough to push the Aces to a win, resulting in a 3-2 victory for Idaho.

Friday’s game drew a large crowd with 4,853 fans packed into CenturyLink Arena. The first goal of the night, scored by Idaho’s Stephen Schultz (newly acquired Forward), made the night look promising for the Steelheads only until Ace’s player Chad Anderson scored on a power play in the second. Idaho defenseman Adam Maccarone shot one passed Alaskan goalie Adam Courchaine, bringing the Steelheads lead to 2-1. But only held this lead for less than a minute when Dan Kissel scored against Idaho’s Jerry Kuhn.

Overtime play looked promising while the teams remained tied late into the third period, until Brian Swanson scored with only 1:34 remaining on the clock, to give Alaska the 3-2 victory.

The Steelheads began Saturday’s game fired up after Friday’s loss, starting off strong by scoring three goals in the first period in front of an impressive crowd of 4,653 fans. One of which was scored on an Alaskan power play, when Jacob Cepis caught a loose puck and passed it off to Derek LeBlanc, making it his twelfth goal of the season. Bryan Hince, Idaho’s newest goalie, showcased his skills by coming up with 34 saves and only let one puck get passed him.

The Steelheads did not give in after the 3-0 advantage going into the second, when David Fredriksson scored just 22 seconds into the period. This 4-0 lead by the Steelheads sent Alaskan goalie Adam Courchaine to the bench for the remainder of the game. In the second period, Jacob Cepis also scored on a shorthanded play bringing it to 5-0. The Steelhead’s hopes of having a shutout was expunged in the third with an Alaskan goal, but fans still cheered as the buzzer sounded and a 5-1 victory ended the series.

The Steelheads face the Utah Grizzlies at home on Wednesday, Feb. 22, Friday, Feb. 24 and Saturday, Feb. 25. The puck drops at 7:10 p.m. for all games.

This article was written by Jordan Warwick, a marketing student participating in the Idaho Steelheads Internship Program presented by The Arbiter.

Short URL: http://arbiteronline.com/?p=81550

Posted by Wyatt Martin on Feb 16 2012. Filed under Sports, Sub Feature. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.