Spin 3, Piazons 1
May 19, 2003
Vernon Hills
Going into Monday night, Spin knew that they had a tough opponent in the Piazons at the Glacier. Chuck Jacobson got things going in the first period on a breakaway. Jacobson, who has been stoned on the breakaway all year long, finally buried one between the goalie’s legs giving Spin a 1-0 lead. Larry Zyks scored in the second period, giving Spin a 2-0 lead going into the third period. The entire Spin team brought it up a notch during this game by playing their positions and playing smart hockey. If you saw these guys last year, you would not believe this was the same team. There can’t be enough said about Spin goalie Cory Watrous. Watrous has really sharpened his game in the last couple of months. No doubt, without Watrous in the nets, it would have been a different game.
With about six minutes to go in the third period, the Piazons got a goal, bringing them within one. Spin didn’t let themselves get down. In fact, they played harder and did something they haven’t done all year, and that was getting an insurance goal with about 2 minutes to go. Geoff Boehme fired a shot and Andy Rogers buried the rebound. Rogers later said, “I know have had some problems finishing at the net, but I’ve been working with Ryan Ruskin during practices and he had really helped my game.” That made the score 3-1, and that would be the final.
Guys that you don’t hear about that deserve a lot of credit are the defensemen: Mike Kelly, Greg Bates, Brian Merlot, and Michael Ko. These guys did a hell of a job keeping the net clear for Watrous. If you ask any guys, this was one of the sweetest victories of the year. They have had a lot of problems with the Piazons in the past, and it was nice to finally see that team go down. In fact a couple of the guys didn’t even do the traditional hand shake after the game. Enough said!
Stats
| Goal 1 | Jacobson (9) | Assist 1 | Zyks (6) |
| Goal 2 | Zyks (6) | Unassisted | |
| Goal 3 | Rogers (2 | Assist 1 Assist 2 |
Boehme (3) Babiera (3) |
Penalties
| Jacobson (16) | 2 mins | boarding |
| Jacobson (18) | 2 mins | delay of game |
| Jacobson (20) | 2 mins | tripping |
Players Dressed
Rex Babiera
Greg Bates
Geoff Boehme
Chuck Jacobson
Mike Kelly
Michael Ko
Brian Merlot
Andy Rogers
Ryan Ruskin
Cory Watrous (goalie)
Larry Zyks
Season Stats To-Date
| Name | GP | G | A | Pts | PiM |
| Jacobson, Chuck | 9 | 9 | 4 | 13 | 20 |
| Zyks, Larry | 10 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 22 |
| Boehme, Geoff | 10 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 4 |
| Rogers, Andy | 12 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 12 |
| Delvecchio, Julien | 5 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 2 |
| Ruskin, Ryan | 10 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Bates, Greg | 9 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 12 |
| Kelly, Mike | 9 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Ko, Michael | 8 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| Babiera, Rex | 8 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Merlot, Brian | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Nowak, Joe | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Bachman, Mark | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Blabolil, Randy | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Moore, Chad | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Thompson, Shane | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 14 |
| Halverson, Keith | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Bain, Dan | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Fianshaw, Adam | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Einhorn, Allison | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Watrous, Cory | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bulawa, Jim | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| David, Greg | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Moss, Laura | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bishop, Chris | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fiorella, Mia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fitzgerald, Shawn | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| GP=games played; G=goals; A=assists; Pts=points; PiM=penalties in minutes | |||||
Goaltenders
| Name |
GP
|
G
|
W
|
L
|
T
|
| Delvecchio, Julien |
3
|
6
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
| Halverson, Keith |
6
|
19
|
3
|
3
|
0
|
| Watrous, Cory |
3
|
6
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
| GP=games played; G=goals allowed; W=wins; L=losses; T=ties | |||||