Blizzard hockey: Alexandria picks up back-to-back victories over Aberdeen
Wins help Alexandria tie a franchise recordBy: Eric Morken, Alexandria Echo Press
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Alexandria Blizzard head coach Doc DelCastillo sounded as happy as he has all season when talking about his team after finding a way to win back-to-back games in Aberdeen that were decided in shootouts this past weekend.
The Blizzard rallied from 2-0, 3-1 and 4-2 deficits on Saturday night to wrap up the weekend with a 5-4 win after taking the opener 4-3 on Friday. It wasn’t just that his team won, but how it won that had the coach so excited.
“That was a battle,” DelCastillo said of the win on Saturday. “We faced a lot of adversity that night. We were down throughout most of the game. We had some guys injured. [Charlie] Aus got kicked out of the game after a hit from behind. We just found a way to gut it out. It was a character win, and it’s fun when you see that happen with your team.”
With the win, Alexandria tied a franchise record with its seventh straight victory. The Blizzard did it in unusual fashion, scoring the tying goal shorthanded with a player who was just added to the roster. Adian Cavallini had a memorable first weekend with the organization after being acquired from the Langley Rivermen out of the British Columbia Hockey League last week.
Cavallini gave his new team all the momentum with the shorthanded goal that tied the game at four apiece 8:09 into the third. The Blizzard took that into the shootout, where Justin Moody and Seth Ronsberg both scored. That was plenty of support for Jacob Meyers, who turned aside all four Aberdeen shots to secure his 18th win of the season.
“I’m proud of the team because it seems like every night it’s a different player,” DelCastillo said. “We find different ways for us to win hockey games. We don’t just rely on one guy or one line. We just find ways to win hockey games, and I’m extremely proud of our guys for doing that.”
The opening game of the weekend series came down to the final shot as Nick D’Avolio got one past the Wings’ Frederick Leisner to secure the win. Dylan Zink and Ronsberg also scored in the shootout before Meyers turned aside Paul Prescott and Justin Parizek to give his team a shot.
Meyers continues to give Alexandria a chance to win every single night. Aberdeen sent 90 shots at him over the weekend. The Minnetonka native turned aside 83 of those. He’s accounted for every win in the Blizzard’s current seven-game winning streak.
“Jacob’s playing extremely well, and we’re playing good team defense,” DelCastillo said. “I think everything is kind of built on that. We’re also getting pretty good scoring depth…we feel very confident as far as our depth and all four lines being able to score.”
The Blizzard had a chance to set a franchise record for consecutive wins last night, Thursday, in the first of two games at the Runestone Community Center against Minot this week. The Minotauros will be back at the RCC tonight before a loaded Bismarck team comes to town on Saturday night for a battle of the top two teams in the Central Division.
“They’re a good team, and our fans know that’s a pretty big rivalry,” DelCastillo said. “It’s nice to come home, but we can’t take anything for granted the whole weekend. I think our team has a tremendous amount of confidence, but we got to come out and work hard and be ready to go.”
GAME SUMMARY
ALEXANDRIA 1 2 1 0 1 – 5
ABERDEEN 2 2 0 0 0 – 4
SHOTS – Alexandria – 14, 13, 14, 5, 1 – 47; Aberdeen – 11, 18, 16, 5 – 50; Power plays – Alexandria – 2-8; Aberdeen – 1-10
SCORING – FIRST PERIOD – Aberdeen – Wes Judnick (Paul Prescott), 5:16; Aberdeen – Steve Obarzanek (Kevin Becker, Cullen Hurley), 11:35; Alexandria – Casey Purpur (Nick D’Avolio), 11:48
SECOND PERIOD – Aberdeen – Cory Ward (Mack Ohnsted), 3:52; Alexandria – Seth Ronsberg (PPG) (Dylan Zink, Tucker Coborn), 10:20; Aberdeen – Steve Obarzanek (PPG) (Mike Parnell), 12:07; Alexandria – Justin Moody (PPG) (Michael Mooney, Thomas Williams), 18:57
THIRD PERIOD – Alexandria – Aidan Cavallini (Shorthanded) (Vadim Gyesbreghs), 8:09
OVERTIME – No scoring
SHOOTOUT – Alexandria – Dylan Zink – no; Justin Moody – goal; Seth Ronsberg – goal; Aberdeen – Kevin Becker – no; Steve Obarzanek – no; Cory Ward – no; Justin Parizek – no
GOALTENDING – Alexandria – Meyers – W, 46 saves, 50 shots; Aberdeen – Leisner – L, 42 saves, 46 shots
PENALTIES – Alexandria – 40 minutes on 11 infractions; Aberdeen – 16 minutes on eight infractions
ALEXANDRIA 2 0 1 0 1 – 4
ABERDEEN 1 1 1 0 0 – 3
SHOTS – Alexandria – 12, 11, 9, 4, 1 – 37; Aberdeen – 10, 7, 18, 5, 0 – 40; Power plays – Alexandria – 0-3; Aberdeen – 0-4
SCORING – FIRST PERIOD – Alexandria – Thomas Williams (Ronsberg), 6:43; Alexandria – Gage Torrel (Aidan Cavallini, Grant Eichstadt), 12:18; Aberdeen – Cory Ward (Mack Ohnsted, Alex Brooks), 19:17
SECOND PERIOD – Aberdeen – Paul Prescott (Jayce Paulseth, Kevin Becker), 2:24
THIRD PERIOD – Aberdeen – Mack Ohnsted (Paul Prescott), 8:48; Alexandria – Gage Torrel (Dylan Zink, Aidan Cavallini), 14:14
OVERTIME – No scoring
SHOOTOUT – Alexandria – Zink – goal; Aus – no; Torrel – no; Ronsberg – goal; D’Avolio – goal; Aberdeen – Kevin Becker – goal; Steve Obarzanek – no; Cory Ward – goal; Paul Prescott – no; Justin Parizek – no
GOALTENDING – Alexandria – Meyers – W, 37 saves, 40 shots; Aberdeen – Leisner – L, 33 saves, 36 shots
PENALTIES – Alexandria – 15 minutes on six infractions; Aberdeen – 13 minutes on five infractions
Follow #AlexMN @EchoPress Sports Reporter Eric Morken on Twitter at @echo_sports.
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Tags: alexandria sports, sports, blizzard, hockey, nahl
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