First Line Leads Reptar to Another Big Win

Things got chippy at Matthews on Sunday. And despite not having their captain, Reptar on Ice was able to stay composed and not have a repeat of last year’s brawl, as they cruised to an 8-1 victory in a game that featured an ejection for Team America and 5 goals from their first line.

Andrew Stukas, serving as captain in Colin Flynn’s absence, put Reptar up 1-0 early with a bit of luck. America attempted to wrap it around the board behind their net. Unfortunately for them, the puck caught a weird bounce and popped up high in the hair. It fell to a wide open Stukas who gloved it down and beat the goalie on the backhand.

Then things got ugly. America had a player ejected after he made it clear how he felt about the tripping penalty that was called on him. Then Reptar’s Jon Martiniello was lucky to avoid the same fate when he too disagreed with a call. He was allowed to stay however, which did not go over well with America’s captain. In fairness, he complained about almost everything that happened in the game. He might be better served being a ref since he spent all game making calls and having conferences with the refs.

Reptar wouldn’t sit on their lead. Minutes later it was Matt “Moose” Merenich scoring from the slot. Moose would score again on his next shift before America would pull one back to make it 3-1 after 1.

Reptar, and more specifically Billy Goddard, wasted no time putting the game out of reach in the second. On his first shift of the period, Goddard picked up 2 goals and just missed on a third.

Next up was Greg Stofman. After the puck was poked loose from a faceoff in their defensive zone, Stof beat the defenseman to it and had a breakaway from the red line. To absolutely no one’s surprise, Stof put it away easily. 6-1 Reptar. But they weren’t done.

Stukas would add another on a great feed from Goddard to cap off a great day for the first line. Then it was last week’s hero Mark Loh getting the final goal (just 30 minutes after he had scored on his debut for Intramural Soccer).

And that’s how it ended, 8-1 Reptar. But not without more complaining from Captain America. But all the complaining in the world couldn’t take away from Reptar’s big day. Zach Frisch was the only forward not to score, but he chipped in with a few assists. And the defense never gets much mention, but that is because all they do is take care of business. This game was no exception. Jon Casali, who played back there to replace Flynn, looked like a seasoned defender. His partner Tom Wickham was solid, as usual. The other pairing Cody Carlson and Martiniello had good games as well. Both were eager to jump into the offense in search of a goal, but neither good find one. In net, Billy Stacy was great. He was tested a bit more than usual, but he was up for the challenge.

So its another win for Reptar and another unhappy opponent. Next up is Christ Crew, likely with a chance to clinch a playoff spot.