SUNDAY, JANUARY 7, 2007
HNA TIER 3 FALL/WINTER LEAGUE
LOS PHANTASMOS vs. BARBARIANS
Los Phantasmos 4 – Barbarians 3
WILMETTE, IL – While the previous battle between these
two warring factions resulted in a lopsided, 6-1 Phantasmos
victory, this game was to be more of a war of attrition.
It is a hallmark of Los Phantasmos (and their Phantoms brethren)
to keep their opponents off of the board in the first period.
By limiting the Barbarians to only three shots in the first
period, this goal was accomplished easily. However, the Barbarians
goalie proved to be just as stingy, turning away 10 Phantasmos
shots.
The second period got rolling when Sean “NASA Loves
Them Some” Tang launched a wicked shot on net that befuddled
the Barbarians goalie. Although he made the initial save,
the goalie didn’t see that the puck had trickled between
his pads and was sliding around dangerously close to the goal
line. Luckily for Los Phantasmos, Greg “The Great Opportunist”
Rolnick did see this, and pounced in to knock the puck home.
Not satisfied with his assist, as opposed to a goal, Tang
later took a feed from defenseman, Jay “Poops McGee’s
Daddy” Smith and broke in alone to score.
The offensive hits just kept on coming, as Bo “Don’t
Make Me Kick You in the Head” Coonce set up Randy “Peach
Fuzz” Cochran, and Jeremy “The Groupie Line Forms
to the Left” Campbell connected with Josh “F-Stop”
Tallo for the third and fourth Phantasmos goals.
The Barbarians managed to squeak two of their own past netminder,
AJ “Gutenberg” Brandt, thus keeping the game close
and full of suspense.
Having apparently used up all of their offensive mojo, Los
Phantasmos were forced to play on the defensive side of things
throughout the third period, and were out shot 11 to 5. The
Barbarians did manage to pop one more goal in, and narrow
the scoring gap.
Down by only one, the Barbarians set up camp in Los Phantasmos
zone and tried their best to pepper Brandt with shots. However,
the crafty goaltender made one spectacular stop after another,
including a glove save that moved fast enough to require the
officials to check the team roster to make sure there wasn’t
a “Clark Kent” on the squad.
During the final minutes, Los Phantasmos rallied behind (and,
thankfully, in front of) Brandt to stymie the Barbarians and
preserve the win.
GAME NOTES: Los Phantasmos were out shot 24-22 and went 0
for 4 on the PP and 2 for 3 on the PK; All-Star center, Ross
“Skates of Fury” Gerbasi was kept off of the score
sheet for the first time in his Phantasmos career; We here
at Los Phantasmos central are sad to report that defenseman
Scott “Brevity” Battle’s Hockey Help Hotline
has been closed down indefinitely due to what has been described
as, “Lack of verbal content.” Battle is working
closely with his team of loquacious litigators to see what
can be done. In the meantime, feel free to drop by a Phantasmos
game for some one-on-one effusive coaching sessions with #10
himself.