For a team that has only lost four times at home this season, it was kind of a bummer to open up our first round playoffs with a whooping from the away team, especially since the series was only a best of three. The Spartans put the Maulers in a do-or-die situation defeating them Friday night by a score of 4-2. Well maybe I should rephrase that. Mackenzie Wood put the Maulers in a do-or-die situation defeating them on Friday by a final score of 4-2. Captain Mac scored a hat trick for the Spartans on Saturday, which was one more goal then the whole Missoula team scored the whole night.
Between a battle of the goalies, no goals were scored in the first but the Spartans took the lead in the second with a goal from Wood which the Maulers responded to just ten minutes later, Chris Leporte netting one of the only goals Missoula would score that night. This was Leporte, a Zoo native's first goal of the season.
The Maulers would grab their only goal of the night less than a minute into the third with an unassisted goal by Tanner Todd, a goal Mac wasn't too happy about. Wood jumped back in and scored an unassisted shorthanded goal on a break away to tie it up and then another to give his team the lead and add a hat trick to his name. Doug Gutierrez finished it off for the Spartans to push his team up a final of 4-2 over the home team.
It was no doubt not only this game but the whole series was a battle of the tendies. Reed Kinsey stopped 49 of Missoula's 51 shots in the victory. while the Spartans had significantly less shots than the Maulers with only 31 and 4 goals. This proved as a wake up goal for goalie Noah Parker and the Maulers who were put on the spot again Saturday with their season on the line.
Between a battle of the goalies, no goals were scored in the first but the Spartans took the lead in the second with a goal from Wood which the Maulers responded to just ten minutes later, Chris Leporte netting one of the only goals Missoula would score that night. This was Leporte, a Zoo native's first goal of the season.
The Maulers would grab their only goal of the night less than a minute into the third with an unassisted goal by Tanner Todd, a goal Mac wasn't too happy about. Wood jumped back in and scored an unassisted shorthanded goal on a break away to tie it up and then another to give his team the lead and add a hat trick to his name. Doug Gutierrez finished it off for the Spartans to push his team up a final of 4-2 over the home team.
It was no doubt not only this game but the whole series was a battle of the tendies. Reed Kinsey stopped 49 of Missoula's 51 shots in the victory. while the Spartans had significantly less shots than the Maulers with only 31 and 4 goals. This proved as a wake up goal for goalie Noah Parker and the Maulers who were put on the spot again Saturday with their season on the line.