9-26-09 Manchester McCall
Published: September 26, 2009
JR. STEELIES OFF WITH A BANG
Photo by Gary Ertter / for The Star-News
The Idaho Junior Steelheads started their 11-game McCall home stand with a flourish
Saturday night, defeating the San Diego Gulls in a sixth shoot-out round. Gabe Gollette
(left) celebrates just after making the winning shot against Gulls’ goalie Jason Campbell.
Shoot-Out!
BY KYLA SAWYER
For The Star-News
In a six-round shoot-out and with the crowd on their feet, the Idaho Junior Steelheads captured their first season win, 6-5, over the San Diego Gulls during their inaugural game at Manchester Ice and Event Centre Saturday night. “It was fantastic! Fantastic! said John Barth, McCall business manager for the Steelheads. “Given the fact we were competing with other sporting events on TV that night, to have 500 people come watch these guys – Wow! It’s a big deal for McCall,” Barth said.
The Steelheads are composed of young men aged 16 to 20 with lightning-fast feet, hard hits and excellent skills on the ice. They are also hungry for a chance to make it to the next level either playing for a college or pro hockey team. Right from the start, both teams charged the ice. San Diego scored first, and eight seconds later, Idaho center Luke Hayes answered back with a goal off an assist from Tyson Cox of Boise. Although Idaho did a good job keeping the puck in its zone, both teams would each add another goal. As the teams headed to the locker room at the end of the first period, the Steelheads and San Diego were tied, 2-2. “I didn’t feel the score was indicative of the play, and I thought we deserved a better fate,” head coach John Olver said after the game. “I told the team not to focus on the scoreboard, but to focus on executing our game plan,” Olver said. In the second period, San Diego scored for a 3-2 lead before the Steelies stepped up their game. Idaho’s Nate Stanley of Boise beat the Gulls’ goalie short-side to score unassisted. A minute and a half later, Idaho’s Hayes, who hails from Mission Viejo, Calif., scored his second goal of the night to put the Junior Steelheads ahead, 4-3. Less than 30 seconds into the third period, Idaho’s Gabe Gollette of Orange, Calif., would score on a power play to give the Junior Steelheads a two-goal lead.
A relentless San Diego took advantage of all opportunities to score on a penalty kill. Then with less than a minute to go on the clock, the Gulls pulled their goalie and scored again to make it 5-5 and send the game in to overtime. “We let San Diego back in the game and made it very hard for ourselves,” Olver said. Neither team scored in the overtime, sending the game in to a shoot-out. The crowd at the ice rink gasped and cheered as the teams traded five rounds of either missing both shot or making both shots, forcing another round. In the sixth go-round of the shoot-out, with the Gulls having missed their shot, Gollette skated down the ice, faked far side, and then fired in the winning goal between the San Diego goalie’s legs to capture the Junior Steelheads’ first season win. “I’m proud of the way our team stuck in there; they didn’t give up; they kept fighting,” Olver said. “We had stretches where we played extremely well, and we had some stretches where we made a lot of mistakes.”
The Junior Steelheads will play 10 more home games in McCall, the next double-header against the Phoenix Polar Bears, Nov. 13-14. Steelheads split other two games with Gulls The Idaho Junior Steelheads split its other two games last weekend against the San Diego Gulls. The Steelheads lost a close first match-up against the Gulls, 2-1, on Friday night at Idaho Ice World in Boise. Idaho scored the first goal of the game early in the second period. However San Diego scored a power play goal later in the second period to tie the game, 1-1. The Steelheads’ penalties may have contributed to how close the game was played. Idaho played short-handed for 16 minutes for the entire game. San Diego scored its winning goal in the final seconds of the third period to win, 2-1. Neither team wanted to lose in the final game of their three-game series on Sunday at Idaho Ice World. San Diego scored first, but Idaho came back to score two goals in the second period and take the lead, 2-1. The next 20 minutes were a tug of war. Both teams found the net again and again. At the end of the third, the score was tied 5-5 sending the game into overtime. After a scoreless five minute overtime, the teams went into a shoot-out during the second overtime, just as they did the previous night in McCall. The Steelheads scored once and San Diego scored three times to win 7-5 and get the best of the Junior Steelheads in the three-game series.
