IJS 4 Game Sweep vs. Fresno this last Weekend!!!
Published: February 18, 2010
Junior Steelheads sweep Fresno, look ahead to WSHL playoffs
BY KYLA SAWYER
For The Star-News
An entire season came down to last weekend as the Idaho Junior Steelheads swept a four-games series against arch-rival and number-one ranked Fresno Monsters.
With the four-game win, Idaho (38-5-0-3OTL) is now just two points behind the Monsters in the race to win the Western Division of the Western States Hockey League.
“I don’t think any of us expected this to happen; it’s given our team a lot of confidence, and we now believe we can beat any team in this league,” head coach John Olver said.
The Junior Steelheads have three games left to play against the San Diego Gulls this weekend in San Diego to finish out the 52-game WSHL regular season.
“We control our own destiny, but we have to win our final games against Gulls to win our division,” Olver said.
If Idaho wins all three games, the Junior Steelheads would be seeded first against fourth-ranked San Diego for round one of the WSHL playoffs to be played Friday, Feb. 26, in McCall and Feb. 27-28 in Boise, Olver said.
Should the Junior Steelies lose any games this weekend, they would take second place in the Western Division and most likely play the Phoenix Polar Bears in Idaho.
IDAHO 2, FRESNO 1
Idaho brought Fresno’s 11-game winning streak to an end with a 2-1 win before a crowd of about 450 in attendance at Manchester Ice and Event Centre on Friday night.
Both teams were evenly matched and after a scoreless first period, Fresno jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a goal in the second period.
Idaho struggled to find the back of the net until the third period when Nate Stanley stole the puck away from the Monsters at mid ice, skated in and scored between the Fresno goalie’s legs to tie the game 1-1.
With 38 seconds left on the clock, Idaho’s Patrick Anderson tapped in a goal to give the Junior Steelheads the 2-1 victory.
IDAHO 6, FRESNO 5 – OT
It was standing room only as an estimated 750 ticket holders watched the Junior Steelies hand Fresno a 6-5 second-straight loss in overtime for game two of the series in McCall.
Again, Fresno scored first to lead 2-0 through the start of the second period. Idaho’s David Fegler scored on a power-play to make it 2-1 headed into the final period.
The Monsters and Junior Steelheads went almost goal-for-goal as both teams battled to take control of the game.
Idaho’s Victor Karlsson scored with three minutes, 37 seconds left and gave the Junior Steelies a 5-4 lead. Seconds later, the Monsters scored to tie it 5-5 and sent the game into overtime.
With less than 90 seconds left on the clock, Idaho’s Justin Videen took the puck wide and threw it hard at the net to score before an electrified crowd in McCall.
IDAHO 6, FRESNO 3
The Monsters started out strong with a 2-0 lead in the first period for game three on St. Valentine’s Day in front of about 500 hockey lovers in McCall.
The Junior Steelies deep bench scored three goals in the second period and turned a tied game in Idaho’s favor, as center Marshall Weber sailed one into the Fresno net early in the second period to give Idaho a 3-2 lead.
“Zaid (Hussein) threw it to me and then I threw it on net – there was a rebound and it seemed like I was the only one there and I just put it in; it felt really good to finally know we were up a goal,” Weber said.
The Junior Steelheads added three more goals to easily outscore Fresno 6-3.
IDAHO 3, FRESNO 2 – OT
This time Idaho gained a 2-0 lead over Fresno at the end of the first period for the final game at Qwest Arena in Boise with more than 2,200 in attendance.
BY KYLA SAWYER
For The Star-News
An entire season came down to last weekend as the Idaho Junior Steelheads swept a four-games series against arch-rival and number-one ranked Fresno Monsters.
With the four-game win, Idaho (38-5-0-3OTL) is now just two points behind the Monsters in the race to win the Western Division of the Western States Hockey League.
“I don’t think any of us expected this to happen; it’s given our team a lot of confidence, and we now believe we can beat any team in this league,” head coach John Olver said.
The Junior Steelheads have three games left to play against the San Diego Gulls this weekend in San Diego to finish out the 52-game WSHL regular season.
“We control our own destiny, but we have to win our final games against Gulls to win our division,” Olver said.
If Idaho wins all three games, the Junior Steelheads would be seeded first against fourth-ranked San Diego for round one of the WSHL playoffs to be played Friday, Feb. 26, in McCall and Feb. 27-28 in Boise, Olver said.
Should the Junior Steelies lose any games this weekend, they would take second place in the Western Division and most likely play the Phoenix Polar Bears in Idaho.
IDAHO 2, FRESNO 1
Idaho brought Fresno’s 11-game winning streak to an end with a 2-1 win before a crowd of about 450 in attendance at Manchester Ice and Event Centre on Friday night.
Both teams were evenly matched and after a scoreless first period, Fresno jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a goal in the second period.
Idaho struggled to find the back of the net until the third period when Nate Stanley stole the puck away from the Monsters at mid ice, skated in and scored between the Fresno goalie’s legs to tie the game 1-1.
With 38 seconds left on the clock, Idaho’s Patrick Anderson tapped in a goal to give the Junior Steelheads the 2-1 victory.
IDAHO 6, FRESNO 5 – OT
It was standing room only as an estimated 750 ticket holders watched the Junior Steelies hand Fresno a 6-5 second-straight loss in overtime for game two of the series in McCall.
Again, Fresno scored first to lead 2-0 through the start of the second period. Idaho’s David Fegler scored on a power-play to make it 2-1 headed into the final period.
The Monsters and Junior Steelheads went almost goal-for-goal as both teams battled to take control of the game.
Idaho’s Victor Karlsson scored with three minutes, 37 seconds left and gave the Junior Steelies a 5-4 lead. Seconds later, the Monsters scored to tie it 5-5 and sent the game into overtime.
With less than 90 seconds left on the clock, Idaho’s Justin Videen took the puck wide and threw it hard at the net to score before an electrified crowd in McCall.
IDAHO 6, FRESNO 3
The Monsters started out strong with a 2-0 lead in the first period for game three on St. Valentine’s Day in front of about 500 hockey lovers in McCall.
The Junior Steelies deep bench scored three goals in the second period and turned a tied game in Idaho’s favor, as center Marshall Weber sailed one into the Fresno net early in the second period to give Idaho a 3-2 lead.
“Zaid (Hussein) threw it to me and then I threw it on net – there was a rebound and it seemed like I was the only one there and I just put it in; it felt really good to finally know we were up a goal,” Weber said.
The Junior Steelheads added three more goals to easily outscore Fresno 6-3.
IDAHO 3, FRESNO 2 – OT
This time Idaho gained a 2-0 lead over Fresno at the end of the first period for the final game at Qwest Arena in Boise with more than 2,200 in attendance.
Fresno scored in the second period and again in the third to tie it up 2-2. With seconds left to go, Idaho’s Videen appeared to have scored the winning goal, but the net was knocked off its moorings by a Fresno player and ruled no goal.
Less than 30 seconds into overtime, Gabe Gollette scored off an assist from Stanley and Karlsson and Idaho clinched victory 3-2 to sweep the four-game series over Fresno.
Less than 30 seconds into overtime, Gabe Gollette scored off an assist from Stanley and Karlsson and Idaho clinched victory 3-2 to sweep the four-game series over Fresno.
Photo by Matt Moehr/The Star-News
Idaho Junior Steelhead David Fegler takes a backhand shot during Sunday night’s game against the Fresno Monsters at Manchester Ice and Event Centre in McCall.
