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Jr. Blues win 7-4 over Kalamazoo

March 30, 2013 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings News Release


Springfield, IL - Coming into Saturday night's contest, the Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings could do nothing to alter their position as the their third seed in the NAHL North Playoffs. The Springfield Jr. Blues, on the other hand, were fighting for their playoff lives. In order to get in the playoffs, Springfield needed to do what they had failed to do in their previous seven meetings with Kalamazoo: win. Well, that's exactly what they were able to do. Springfield defeated Kalamazoo 7-4, which sets up a meeting between these two clubs in the first round of the playoffs next week.

Knowing that their playoff dreams hung in the balance, the Jr. Blues came out firing. At 5:08, Jack Sloan (8th) scored and put the Jr. K-Wings at an early deficit. The scoring leader for the Jr. Blues, Brett Skibba, recorded an assist on the goal.

Kalamazoo would quickly respond, though, as their leading scorer, Robbie Payne, found the back of the net for the 28th time on the year. Mike Fazio, the former captain of Springfield, notched an assist on the game tying score.

The high scoring first period continued when Ryan Atkinson, who took over as captain after Fazio was traded to the Jr. K-Wings, put the Jr. Blues back on top with his 20th goal of the season. This put the Jr. Blues up by the score of 2-1.

After Springfield got a bench minor for too many men on the ice, Kalamazoo, again, found themselves on the power play. Just like the first time, their leading scorer led the charge. Payne recorded his second goal of the night and 29th of the year at 19:53. At the first intermission, Kalamazoo and Springfield were tied 2-2.

At 7:35, the Jr. K-Wings again found themselves on the power play. Just like their first two opportunities with a man advantage, the Jr. K-Wings were able to get the puck in the back of the net. This time, Mark Esshaki (3rd) recorded the goal and gave the Jr. K-Wings the 3-2 lead.

Exactly one minute later, Christian George (6th) was able to put another goal on the board for Kalamazoo. George found himself alone in the slot, and was able to get the puck past Matt Leon to extend the Kalamazoo lead to 4-2.

The Jr. Blues would not get discouraged by the three consecutive Jr. K-Wing goals, and they were able to cut the two goal deficit to just one at 12:31. Matheson Iacopelli (3rd) corralled a bouncing puck with his glove and fired one that Alex Okicki was unable to stop.

Springfield would not be done scoring. At 16:43, Atkinson scored his second goal of the night and 21st of the year, as he snuck the puck between Okicki and the post for the game tying tally. This would be the last action for Okicki, as he would be replaced by the winning goalie from last night: Marcus Due-Boje.

Unfortunately for the Jr. K-Wings, Due-Boje did not fare much better. Soon after Due-Boje came in the game, the Jr. Blues found themselves on the power play. Terry Leebo (4th) was able to snipe one from the top of the circle and regain the lead for the Jr. Blues.

At the start of the third period, Springfield held a 5-4 lead over Kalamazoo. At 8:04, Springfield extended their advantage after Jeff McFarland used a fancy move to get in front of the Kalamazoo net, and he was able to finish off the play with his 7th goal of the year.

As time expired, Skibba added an empty net goal to make the final score 7-4 in favor of the Springfield Jr. Blues.

The Jr. K-Wings will be back in action next weekend, again against the Jr. Blues, as the 2013 NAHL Playoffs will get underway. Information on the time and dates of the playoff contests will be released this week.

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