ATHENS ROCK LOBSTERS at MOTOR CITY ROCKERS
Motor City Musters Just One Goal, Falls to Athens just 4-1
by Brady Beedon Fraser, MI - Athen’s talent showed up in spades on Friday night, as the Rock Lobsters took the first and only meeting with the Motor City Rockers, 4-1.
The first period proved uneventful, with neither side netting a goal, as Rocker goalie Trevor Babin recorded 20 first period saves.
Athens got the scoring started 5:06 into the second period when Brandon Picard tallied the first goal of the game with a quick wrister from the right wing circle.
Just three and a half minutes later, on a powerplay, Athens extended their lead to 2-0 on a Kayson Gallant one timer.
The score would stay stagnant until halfway through the third and final period, when the Rockers got their first opportunity on the man advantage. Athens’ Garrett Milan found himself on a shorthanded breakaway, when a low shot was initially saved by Babin, before Orca Weisblatt banged home the rebound, bringing the score to 3-0 Rock Lobsters.
At the 14:10 mark of the third, chaos broke out when 11 different penalties were assessed including three game misconducts, one to Motor City’s Avery Smith for being an aggressor and two to Athens Joseph Colatarci and Filip Virgili for a pair of third man in offences. The Rockers would get on the board when Kyle Stevens buried a shot from the right wing circle on the powerplay, bringing the score to 3-1 Athens.
The Rock Lobsters added a tack-on goal, when Athens leading scorer Garrett Milan put one into an empty net, putting a bow on the win for his squad at 4-1.
The loss is the ninth straight for Motor City, while the win marks four in a row for Athens. Motor City continues the weekend with a matchup against the Watertown Wolves. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 at Big Boy Arena.
Late-Game Chaos Doesn’t Deprive Rock Lobsters of Win
by Matteen Zibanejadrad Fraser, MI - The Rock Lobsters defeated the Motor City Rockers 4-1 Friday night in Big Boy Arena.
It was a dominant start to Athens’ showing, logging 20 shots to Motor City’s 5 through the first 20 minutes; however, the game remained level at 0-0 going into the first intermission.
Five minutes into the second period, Brandon Picard unleashed a wrister from the right circle that beat Trevor Babin to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
The advantage was doubled on the power play three-and-a-half minutes later, as Kayson Gallant ripped his team-leading 11th power-play goal of the year into the back of the net. The 24-year-old is now level at the top of the FPHL leaderboard for power play goals scored this year.
Athens was able to create a three-goal cushion in the third period mere seconds after going to its first penalty kill of the night, as Orca Wiesblatt buried a rebound off of a Garrett Milan effort.
The affair exploded at the 14:10 mark of the final period, as nearly a dozen penalties were issued out of a scrum between members of the two teams.
A five-minute power play began for the Rockers and the hosts were able to scratch one back through Kyle Stevens.
Looking to make things interesting late on, Motor City emptied its net. Josh Rosenzweig collected the puck and went aiming for the rare goalie goal, missing by a margin and hitting the post. He would be able to log a secondary assist however, as it was collected by Wiesblatt and flipped to Milan who converted easily.
The Rock Lobsters (33-6-2, 91 pts) travel to McMorran Arena in Port Huron, Mich. take on the Port Huron Prowlers for two games over the next two days. Puck drops at 7:05 p.m. EST on Saturday.
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