By Bishop Foley High School
The Foley Unified Warriors came out strong in the first period against the Jefferson Monroe Bears. The Warriors' James Piec scored the first goal of the game at 10:24 of the first period. Goalie Patrick Gumbleton picked up the solo assist on the play.The Warrior’s Gumbleton made a series of great saves in the period to keep the Warriors out front on the score board.
Then, with only 3:23 left in the opening period, the Bears put in the tying goal to end the period, knotting the score at one goal a piece. The Warriors had two minor penalties assessed against them in the period, one of which was an offsetting minor. The Warriors killed off the only penalty they faced in the period.
The Bears were tagged with three penalties – including an unsportsmanlike penalty with just 19 seconds left in the period. That opened the door for the Warriors in the second period.
The Warriors took advantage of the Bears’ penalty by scoring a power play goal just 11 seconds into the second period to retake the lead in the game. Garrett Schilling lit the lamp for the Warriors on a set-up by Joe Finazzo. It was now 2 to 1 for the Warriors.
It didn’t take long for the Bears to come roaring back -- just 27 seconds to be exact for the Bears to tie the game up again. But it didn’t stop there. In just another 28 seconds, the Bears clawed out a 3 to 2 lead on an even-handed goal. In the first 1:06 of the second period, three goals were scored, and the lead in the game changed hands twice.
The Bears added to their lead at 10:14 in the period to make the score 4-2 in favor of the Bears.
That’s when the penalty bug came back to bite the Warriors. The Warriors took three minor penalties, alternating with two minor penalties to the Bears. While the Warriors have a pretty solid penalty kill, the more opportunities that you give the opposition, the greater the chance is that they will score.
And they did, at the five minute mark, to stretch the Bears lead to 5-2. The Bears killed off both penalties called against them in the period.
Things got chippier as the game progressed. The Warriors still had a chance to get back into the game if they could find the back of the Bears net. It was a fruitless search. The Bears scored their sixth goal of the game even handed with 7:37 left in the third period, and then added their seventh goal on a power play with just 25 seconds left in the game. The final score was the Warriors 2, and the Bears 7.
Penalties were again a factor in the third period. The Warriors were assessed six penalties in the period, plus a game disqualification, to only three penalties for the Bears. It is difficult to win games when you have to play shorthanded. Overall, 60 minutes of penalties were called between the two teams in the game.
