Zombies Conquer Sparta!

Cadavers (p1) vs Spartans
Wednesday April 8
Hingham C 10:20

5-0 Win

The Dead in Red showed up for the start of the Winter Season Playoffs ready for action. The Spartans were the opponent for the night, having just played on Sunday. They had beaten the CH Terriers that night and won the opportunity to play against us. The Zombies were well stocked, taking the ice with 12 and adding Stephan before the end of the first to round us out to and even 13. The Spartans looked to be suffering from Second Game of the Week Syndrome and had a thin bench of 8 guys. It might have been 9 but they looked like 8 all night. This clearly played to the Dead’s advantage.

The Zombie Lineup was thus.
Campbell, Valenti, Jeff, and Stephan on D. Chris Fosdick played the first then went up to forward. Nelson, Mike Daley, Pete, Matt Elliot, Matvey, Chuck, Parker, and Douville made up the hard working Oh-Fence for the night. Pete was an unexpected drop in… but he happened to be driving by, with his equipment, on his way back from the imaginary practice/game at Quincy Youth Arena… luckily we had a spot for him, and to his credit he made the most of it.

The game went like this. We pressed, played hard, shifted short, hustled back, fore checked with some success at times, and kept after the Spartans all night. They played the exhausted, back on your heels style of a short benched, second game this week group of guys. They played hard and tried hard the whole game to their credit. They just couldn’t get much going against us. Brian saw a few shots but not many of high quality. I believe he was overheard in the locker room after the game… “I think I only saw 5-6 shots all night…” He wasn’t complaining, and he turned out a nice solid performance standing in there when we needed him.

Mike Daley was all over the place, as you’d expect and was the first Zombie to break the ice. Fed from Nelson Mike would tuck one by the keeper about halfway through the first. Sparta was hard pressed to keep up with Mike when he started wheeling around the zone. Before Stephan showed to relieve Chris at his D position, the tall, lanky forward would make a play. Keeping the puck at the right point, (playing opposite brother Jeff that shift) Chris made a nice move to give himself room then launched a nice slap shot at the net. The Scoresheet has Matvey tipping it into the net, but Chris contends it may have gone in untouched… we’ll have to get a ruling.

Mike Campbell would go to the box for the always interesting “Leg Check” penalty. No shit he “Leg Checked” the guy… have you seen how long Mike’s legs are? Most of the guys we play against only come up to the bottom of his shoulder pads anyway…

The first ended 2-0 Zombies. The Second period would see Mike Daley land another goal, this one from Marc Valenti at the point. Nelson would go off for roughing at some point, but the PK was solid. Pete Capraro would make the most of this evening out with his equipment and would score on a long cycle with Chris assisting. Hmn… this one might be wrong too… did Pete or Chris score this one… we need another ruling. Chime in boys and help the blogger out..? The period was basically the same as the first, with more panting.

The Third would see two more penalties for the Red. Daley for a phantom Slash, and Campbell again for Interference… I wonder why not “Leg Interference”… again the PK and Brian stood strong. Sparta did actually mount a few good chances in this period but nothing worked out. Nelson would cap off scoring unassisted, once again turning in an epic hard work performance that he is so famous for.

Other notable incidents during the game included Kevin Parker walking back to the locker room in his socks to get his crappy old skates, after skating the first in his shinny (and apparently painful) new skates.
Always nice to have “fashionably late” Stephan Wennik. He always drops in out of the blue but turns out a good game every time. Thanks for making the journey down.

Game Stars
3rd Star: Chris Fosdick. 2 goals or 2 assists? Maybe a goal and an assist? Any way you slice it Chris got 2 points, did a great job helping out the D, and then continued to impact the game on offense. Great job.
2nd Star: Another 2 point man. In fact he’s The Man. Nelson. Goal and an assist, and a nightly clinic on how to play hard and will yourself into scoring opportunities. Thanks.
1st Star: Wheelin’ and Dealin’ all night, its got to be Michigan Mike Daley! Mike has another 2 goals to add to his totals. Great hard work all night and results in the net to boot.. Who could ask for more?

That’s the story from here (a week after the game)… unfortunately it doesn’t sound like the Suds fared as well on the next night. The Cadavers next face off against #1 seed the River Rats on Monday 4/13.