Olé! Spiders slay Bulls, regain division lead

March 15, 2009

Backed by solid goaltending, the Spiders packed a scoring punch knocking out the Bulls, putting their playoff hopes in jeopardy.

As the AHA season is nearing the final chapter, the Spiders could be peaking at just the right time. All season they have been solid defensively, but as of late no can seem to solve the spider goaltending. That coupled with increasing offensive numbers make the Spiders a team to watch as we look forward to the play-offs.

It took just 5 minutes for the Spiders to find the back of the net on Sunday evening as Thorson tipped in a Maietta backhander. Spiders 1, Bulls 0. While that would prove to be the eventual game-winner, the spider scoring machine was just getting warmed up. While it was warming up, the defensive corp shut down the early Bulls on-slaught. While the Bulls out-shot the Spiders in the first stanza, Brian Dow continued his rock solid play turning away all they could muster.

In the second period, the spiders went up 2-0 when Shawn Tromiczak unleashed a cannon from the point that no one saw until it found the top shelf. The Spider media moguls reportedly clocked this slap drive at an astonishing 97 mph.

The final frame was like a red tidal wave. The Bulls ran right into the Spider buzz saw and when their heads stopped spinning, the Spiders had tallied 4 more to skate to a 6-0 final. Scoring in the third period looked like this:

• At 12:34 - Dave Schliesman- Unassisted
• At 8:19 – Brad Butalla from Lindsley and Cagle
• At 5:46 - Maietta - Unassisted
• and at 5:19 - Schliesman from Thorson and Maietta...

Your Smith & Wesson “Big Guns” of the day...

• #3 Star - Shawn Tromiczak. 1G (97 mph cannon that almost went through the netting)
• #2 Stars - Thorson, Maietta & Schliesman line: combined 4G, 3A, GWG, +12.

and your Smith & Wesson "Player of the Game"

• Spider net-minder Brian Dow: 24 shots, 24 saves (Last 2 games: 58 shots, 58 saves). Fun to watch!