It was a back and forth game last night between New York and Ohio. The Lizards headed into the game 3-10 with the Machine at 2-11 to decide if there would be a tie for last place. In their first meeting, Joe Spallina’s squad took home a 14-8 victory. Ohio went into halftime with a 7-4 lead, but the Machine indulged just a little too early as the Lizards stormed back with a ten goal performance in the second half, with Bear Davis’ team only recording four goals, to walk away with a 14-11 victory. In their win, Greg Gurenlian dominated at the face-off X, winning 19-28 draws and led in ground balls with ten. Ohio could not stop the beast much, using three different face-off personnel in Eric O’Brien (8-25), Chase Carraro (0-1) and Jake Bernhardt (1-2). Scoring wise, the rookies lead the way for Spallina, with Rob Pannell recording six points (3G, 3A), making an even stronger statement for Rookie of the Year, followed by Jo-Jo Marasco’s five points (3G, 2A) and Stephen Mock’s four goal night. Other teammates that got on the stat sheet were Stephen Peyser, Tommy Palasek and Michael Skudin, all with one goal, including Jeff Tundo’s one assist and David Earl’s one goal and one assist. Drew Adams let up all eleven goals on 27 shots while making sixteen saves. Ohio’s Kiel Matisz lead his squad in points with three goals. Steele Stanwick scored two goals, while Logan Schuss and Dominique Alexander tallied one goal and an assist. Chazz Woodson ended the season in style, scoring a last second high-flying goal. Joe Cummings and Eric O’Brien each recorded one goal. LSM Kyle Hartzell and rookie Marcus Holman each picked up an assist. Brian Phipps stepped in net for about two minutes and didn’t see any action. Scott Rodgers took most the time, letting up all 14 goals, making eleven saves on 25 shots. The Machine end the season 2-12, tying their record from last year. New York will need to go back to the drawing board and figure out a system that will work for them. They had too much offensive power to finish second to last. Ohio has a very bright future ahead of them, losing very close games. A good draft class, both supplemental and collegiate, and maybe some trades, will boost their team immensely.
