Black Legion 4 vs X-Men 3 (OT)
Scoring Summary:
| Period | Time | Goal | Assists |
| 1 | 5:11 | Derrick Underwood | Charlie Ritchie |
| 1 | 5:53 | Anthony Balic (4) | John Cindric, Ivan Pocrnic |
| 1 | 8:13 | Gary Wachniak | Kyle Marr, Joe Worthington |
| 3 | 6:36 | Dane Lulic (2) | Colin Lowndes, Michael Milkovic |
| 3 | 13:45 | Ivan Pocrnic (2) | Anthony Balic, John Cindric (2) |
| 3 | 14:21 | Derrick Underwood (2) | Joe Worthington (2), Kyle Sturrock |
| OT | 1:31 | Michael Milkovic (2) | Dane Lulic, Anthony Balic (2) |
Penalty Summary:
| Period | Player | Offense | Minutes | Time |
| 1 | Colin Lowndes | Equipment | 2 | 0:00 |
| 1 | Colin Lowndes (2) | Roughing | 2 | 6:40 |
| 1 | Kreso Brzica | Boarding | 2 | 7:41 |
| 2 | Kreso Brzica (2) | Delay of Game | 2 | 4:49 |
| 2 | Michael Milkovic | Roughing | 4 | 4:49 |
| 2 | Kyle Marr | Roughing | 2 | 4:49 |
| 2 | Brian Cikes | Tripping | 2 | 5:43 |
| 2 | Jason Carruthers | Unsportsmanlike Conduct | 2 | 8:02 |
| 3 | Denis Curman | Hooking | 2 | 1:38 |
| 3 | Andrew Kwok | Interference | 2 | 7:51 |
| 3 | Aaron Park | Cross Checking | 4 | 9:29 |
Goalie Summary:
| Number | Player | Mins Played | Shots | Saves |
| 1 | Anthony Cikes | 46 | 36 | 33 |
| 35 | Wayland Young | 46 | 38 | 34 |
Game Write Up Black Legion vs. X-Men
The question leading-up to Monday night’s game against the X-Men was — would the Black Legion repeat the effort they’d put in the week before during the second period against the Bulldogs in a win over the X-Men for a full 60 minutes?
It was clear in the game’s first minute that the answer was maybe. The Black Legion started the game shorthanded because of a bonehead, some might even say selfish move by forward Colin Lowneds stepping onto the ice with out his chin strap on. This was not how the Black Legion wanted to start off the game. But spirits were high and the Black Legion were once again successful in killing off another penalty.
However, hard work doesn’t always guarantee a win.
Despite outplaying the X-Men through most of the game, the Black Legion found themselves in an up hill battle the when they went down 1-0 early in the first period. Gary Wachniak potted an even strength goal at 8:45 of the first period.
“We knew it was going to be tough,” said Dario Kuna. “We had to create more scoring chances than we started off with, and that is exactly what we did.”
Anthony Balic got the Black legion on the board with an even strength goal at 9:50 of the first period.
It didn't slow the Black Legion. They came out in the second period as they’d done in the tail end of the first — with all pistons charging.
The combo of Cindric, Pocrnic and Balic was rolling last night, scoring 2 out of the of the Black Legions 4 goals. Not only did they click on every shift, they did it with style, as both of the goals were destined for the highlight reel. During the game, this combo made an awe-inspiring charge during even strength, drop-passing and screening for each other, but they couldn’t quite get the puck in the net, but that would change.
Nik Brkich started an early rush which found Captain Ivan Pocrnic with the puck against the boards at center, with his back facing the play; Ivan was able to send line mate John Cindric on a 2 on 1 with a Sevardian spin-o-rama blind behind the back pass. With all pistons’s going John Cindric and Anthony Balic blew up the ice, with his John’s great speed, and Anthony’s wonderful touch, Cindric sent a pass through the defensemen’s legs, and the rest was left up to Balic as he undressed the goalie like a girl on prom night.
That grit paid off midway through the frame, when the Line of Colin Lowndes, Dane Lulic and Marko Balenovic put the finishing touches on a goal by Colin mid way through the third period. The goal got the struggling power play on the score sheet — finally — and will surely boost their confidence level up for next game.
However, it was the Black Legion who found themselves killing off penalties for a good chunk of the game once again. From a boarding and a delay of game call for defenseman Kreso Brzica, to a Mike Tyson’s punch out by assistant captain Mike Milkovic, is what caused the Black Legion to kill off their biggest penalty yet. The Black Legion found themselves enjoying a coffee and tea party with 4 men in the box, while the rest of the team battle it out to kill it all off.
If it wasn’t for the great effort of the 3rd line composed of Anthony Drlje, Brian Cikes and Johny Bevacqua, fore checking, back checking, the score could have been much different. This line proves that hard work does pay off.
“Obviously, our penalty killing and power play are going to need to improve,” said speedy forward Anthony Drlje. “We haven’t spent a lot of time working on those two areas and that is a couple of areas that still need some attention.”
After sitting out the Bulldog game due to a game suspension, Ivan Pocrnic stepped up his play against the X-Men; the towering 6’3’’ delivered several solid fore checks and put 4-5 tough shots on goal. His up-tempo play earned him what was thought to be the game winning goal with 1:15 left in the third period. With the hard work of John Cindric deep in the offensive zone, and his ability to make exceptionally quick smooth passes found Ivan beside the goal crease where he roofed the puck on the goalie where Grandpa hides his playboys. This showed Black Legion fans that the team came to play and was not going to settle for a loss that night.
“He’s a very good — very skilled player,” said forward John Bevacqua. “He’s going to be a big part of our team since he moved up to forward, and I’m definitely looking forward to seeing him in the line-up in the future.”
Anthony Cikes was another stand-out for the Black Legion. In his first start to this last start, the veteran goalie proved once again why he is the #1 goalie, with back to back saves during all three periods; this has definitely put him in the running again for man of the match.
“I thought Cikes had a very strong game,” said defensemen Kreso Brzica. “He gave us a chance. He made the saves that he had to make.”
A mental breakdown deep in the Black Legion’s zone with 35 seconds left to play let the X-Men capitalize on this mistake and were able to tie up the game with a quick shot from the slot. With the mental breakdown behind them the Black Legion prepared themselves for overtime. Ivan Pocrnic, John Cindric and Anthony Srdanovic started the overtime, with a glorious chance by Ivan Pocrnic to end the game just seconds into overtime, after leaving X-Men defensemen looking for his jock strap Ivan broke in all alone only to be stopped by the goalie. All this pressure continued when defensemen Mike Milkovic, and forwards Anthony Balic connected with a cross ice pass which sent in “ Milky” all alone with only the goalie to beat, and that is exactly what he did, with a quick move leaving X-Men goalie on his back Mike slotted the game winning goal.
Black Legion face off next with the Kodiaks, Friday Oct 13/06 at 8PM, where they look to continue there winning streak and bring them back to 500.
From the bowels of 8-Rinks, the always well groomed Dan Murphy
Man of the Match
Man of the match goes to Mike Milkovic for his heroic blocked shots to his stand up play in his own end, which led him to score the game winning goal a few minutes into overtime, job well done Milky.
Create a free website at Webs.com
