Gorillas Triumph in the Extra Session
December 1, 2007 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Amarillo Gorillas News Release
Amarillo, TX - The Amarillo Gorillas got their third win of the season on Saturday night, beating the Colorado Eagles in overtime 6-5. The win marked the first back-to-back home wins on the season for the Gorillas, as their last home game was a 5-3 win over the Wichita Thunder. Amarillo moved to 3-11-3 on the year and with 9 points they are in fourth place in the Southwest Division.
Colorado would start the scoring in the contest, as they got a goal from Riley Nelson at 2:29 of the first. Amarillo's David Nimmo would tie the game at 8:09 with his 9th goal of the year, only to have Fraser Filipic put the Eagles back on top with his goal fifty-nine seconds later. The see-saw game would go back again as Amarillo's Austin Sutter got his second goal of the season to even the score at two, and Amarillo would take their first lead of the game off Nate Fornataro's goal at the 11:19 mark, making it 3-2 in favor of the Gorillas. The wide-open action of the first period continued and the final goal of the period would be scored by Scott Polaski of the Eagles to tie the score 3-3 going into the second frame.
In period number two, both teams would tighten up defensively, but Colorado still came away with a quick goal when defenseman Aaron Schneekloth scored just 2:09 into the second to put the Eagles on top 4-3. Both teams would exchange chances, but goaltenders Dan Bauer and Ian Keserich would stand tall keeping the score locked until the 17:09 mark when Trevor Socholotuk got his first goal of the season off a rebound shot by Chris Martini, knotting the teams at 4-4. Usually a defenseman, Socholotuk played forward for the second consecutive night, as the Gorillas were without Jason Chafe once again, and the versatile Socholotuk made the most of his opportunity up front. The teams would skate off the ice tied at 4 after two.
The third period saw the defense continue to tighten, neither team wanting to take any chances or make any costly mistakes. Finally, at 13:25 of the third, Scott Polaski would break the tie with his second goal of the game, putting the Eagles on top 5-4. Amarillo wasted little time in responding however, as Bill Vandermeer, already with two assists on the night, decided to get into the scoring act himself and put a wrist-shot past Keserich to tie the game up at the 14:39 mark. Both teams would have chances for the final five plus minutes, but neither could convert and the game went to overtime, just as it did the last time these two teams played at the Civic Center.
The Gorillas first star of the night Bill Vandermeer would come up with the game winner just :58 into the overtime session, giving him a two goal, two assist performance as he displayed the kind of skill he often exhibited last season en route to leading the team in scoring. Amarillo got their third win of the season and will face the Eagles again tomorrow night at 6:05 PM.
• Discuss this story on the Central Hockey League message board...
Central Hockey League Stories from December 1, 2007
- Rage Lose in New Mexico, 4-2 - Rocky Mountain Rage
- Hats off - Brahmas win 5-2 - Fort Worth Brahmas
- Beaudry, Ice Bats Steal a Shootout - Austin Ice Bats
- Bucks Lose Lead In Third: Fall To Rayz 3-2 - Laredo Bucks
- Rayz beat Bucks 3-2 - Corpus Christi IceRays
- Gorillas Triumph in the Extra Session - Amarillo Gorillas
- Vandermeer Leads Gorillas Past Eagles in OT - Colorado Eagles
- Hounds suffer third straight loss - Youngstown SteelHounds
- Jackalopes rout RiverKings 6-0 - Mississippi RiverKings
- Brassard Scores 500th Point in Win - Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs
- SteelHounds Re-sign Layne Sedevie - Youngstown SteelHounds
- Bucks To Battle Rayz Tonight: Seek Fifth Straight Win - Laredo Bucks
- Today's Match Up - Tulsa Oilers
- Brahmas Win Big 5-1 - Fort Worth Brahmas
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
