With four weeks to spare Carroll has clinched the regular season championship and the Roy Chin Cup. While it was clear that this was going to be the outcome for weeks it is still notable when it’s officially locked up especially with so many weeks left, remember last season the race for the top seed went all the way to Week 15. With the Vipers loss last week Leo is now essentially locked in to the second seed and believe it or not the closest battle in the standings is now Homestead and the Vipers. Those squads are separated by just two points which is a kind of wild given where we were in Week Eight. It would be strange seeing that Vipers team as the fourth seed in the city tournament and while it’s still unlikely to happen, the fact that it even draws a mention shows how far Homestead has grown lately and how much the Vipers have just been in neutral this year.
Weekly Recap
Carroll 6, Leo 3
Dylan Carteaux was on the attack early and often for the Chargers on Wednesday scoring four goals in what has to be his career high. The Sophomore forward has had a tough go of it this season, playing in just three league games this year entering the game after dealing with an injury throughout the first semester. He opened the scoring less than two minutes in when Davis Cline’s shot went right off Xander Mulholland and onto his stick for a rebound goal. Leo was able to answer back later in the period with back to back goals that vaulted them into the lead. The first goal was a slick spinaround shot from Dylan Davis that was able to just get past Carson Carteaux and into the goal. Leo took the lead on the power play thanks to Weston Roth. Roth and Aaron Amick made a great little play as Amick moved up the wall with the puck and Roth cut in to the slot where there was a gigantic hole in the Carroll penalty kill. Amick made the tape to tape pass and Roth did the rest. The lead wouldn’t stand for long though. About a minute and a half later Carter Gnau knotted the game up at two goals apiece. A weak shot made its way towards the goal where Gnau caught it like a pass, made a quick stickhandle as he turned around towards the net and scored.
In the second period Dylan Carteaux got back on the score sheet to put Carroll in the lead once again. Late in the second period Carteaux scored on a rebound, this time on a shot from Corbin Klenke. That was the lone goal of the period for Carroll in which they outshot the Lions 17-5 but Mulholland held strong in goal for his team. Dylan wasted no time in the third period completing the hat trick and it was of course another second chance opportunity. He was able to chop Finn Cupp’s rebound into the net, putting the Chargers up by two with 11:54 remaining. Carroll extended the lead to three after a loose puck in the crease found its way to AJ Baldwin as the Chargers continued to feast in the home plate area around the net. Davis would add his second of the game for Leo that made it 5-3 but with just 3:13 to go a tall task was in front of the Lions. Despite having the puck in the Carroll end with around two minutes to go, the Lions kept Mulholland in the net instead of pulling him for the extra attacker. Carroll would go on to regain possession and kill some time in the Leo end but a late penalty to Baldwin gave Leo another shot of life. After taking a timeout the Lions would pull Mulholland to go 6-on-4. Leo controlled the puck for much of the remaining time but weren’t able to put any pressure on Carson Carteaux and eventually Dylan fired at the empty Leo net and scored, making it a four goal night for him in what ended as a 6-3 Carroll victory.
Homestead 5, Vipers 3
Following the close loss last week to Leo the Vipers appeared to be on the back foot to start the game as Homestead dominated the shots category in the first period, racing out to a 10-2 lead in that department but Ben Marques was strong in goal for the Vipers and kept a donut on the board for Homestead. Meanwhile his teammates rewarded his strong play with a pair of goal at the other end of the ice, scoring on their only two shots on the period. Connor Gould came out of his net to stop a puck behind the goal where he left it for Cameron Hurley. Racing onto the scene was Jackson Bertels who was able to force a turnover and stuff the puck in at the side of the goal before anyone on Homestead had a real chance to stop it. Next up to bat for the Vipers was Robert Gross. Gross started from his own end and despite some decent defense from Homestead he was still able to get a shot off which caught Gould a little off guard and it slipped past him into the net. After that point it was all Homestead on the scoresheet. The Spartans rattled off five straight goals and by the time the Vipers scored again the game was out of reach.
The run was started by Gavin Elkins who would go on to score a hat trick, our second of the night across the two games. Elkins’ first goal was a silky snipe over the shoulder of Marques after the puck appeared to nick Marques’ helmet. Landyn Szobody scored next after easily intercepting a pass from John Goodine. That goal came with 3:44 to play in the second period and was the last goal before the intermission. Coming into the third period it was still anyone’s game. Elkins would provide his second goal of the night as the go-ahead goal. Mitchell Richison cleared the puck out of the Homestead zone and it would’ve been icing had Elkins not been hustling down the ice. He was able to get to the puck in time to negate the icing call and he even had enough room to spare to cut to the net front where he slid the puck through Marques’s legs for the goal. 40 seconds later Chris Adasczik made it a two goal lead for Sparty after ripping a shot off the post and in. Elkins’ hat trick goal came on the power play and grew the Homestead lead to three with 6:15 to play. Elkins caught a pass from Aiden Byler in the right circle and was patient before letting the shot fly past Marques on the near side and that felt like the dagger for the Vipers. John Speer was able to get one back for the Vipers to make it 5-3 but they were unable to muster the Herculean comeback that would’ve been needed in the last 3:51, considering the way the game had been going to that point. Time would wind down without any more goals, giving Homestead their second win of the season as they outshot the Vipers by 20, with a final tally of 34-14.
Week 12 Predictions
Last Week: 1-1
This Season: 17-5
Perfect Scores: 2/22
Leo 3, Homestead 2
Homestead continues to show improvement but Leo ends up getting it done, fueled by wanting to get some revenge from their loss to Homestead the last time around.
Carroll 5, Vipers 3
The Vipers keep up their trend of providing the Chargers their toughest test but in the end Carroll’s offense is still too much for them to handle
