CHL Colorado Eagles

Vandermeer Leads Gorillas Past Eagles in OT

December 1, 2007 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Colorado Eagles News Release


AMARILLO, Texas - Amarillo's Bill Vandermeer scored four points and two goals -- one to force overtime and one to end it -- to lead the Gorillas over the Eagles, 6-5, in overtime in the first of back-to-back meetings between the teams in Amarillo. The tightly contested game featured a battle of backup goaltenders as Colorado's Ian Keserich went up against Amarillo's Dan Bauer and neither team held a multiple-goal lead at any point.

The Gorillas out-shot the Eagles 23-13 in the first, but Colorado scored three times off those shots and the teams went into the first intermission with a total of six goals between them. Riley Nelson got the scoring spree started at 2:29 with a shot from the left hashes. Greg Pankewicz passed the puck from the left wing boards to Seth Leonard below the goal line who fed the puck to the cutting Nelson. The Gorillas answered at 8:09 when David Nimmo converted a two-on-one, give-and-go with Vandermeer to tie it at one. At 9:08, Fraser Filipic got his second goal in as many nights by crashing the crease and poking in an Ed McGrane rebound. The Eagles' lead lasted only 35 seconds as Austin Sutter backhanded a Vandermeer rebound past Keserich from below the right circle. Amarillo took their first lead of the game at 11:19 when Nate Fornataro scored on the power play; Nimmo fired a pass from the left wing boards to an open Fornataro in the slot. The crazy period's scoring came to an end when Scott Polaski spun and threw a shot from the left circle that made it through a Gorillas defenseman's legs and went five-hole on Bauer with just over a minute left as the teams skated four-on-four.

After six goals were scored in the first, the teams combined for two in the second, but the game remained tied. Aaron Schneekloth put the Eagles up 4-3 with a power play goal at 2:03 when he skated -- uncontested -- from the point to between the circles before snapping a shot past Bauer. The score remained that way until Trevor Socholotuck tied it up again at 17:09. Chris Martini was sent in on a breakaway along the right wing boards and fired a shot from the faceoff circle that snuck through Keserich and fell behind the goaltender; Socholotuck pushed the loose puck into the net.

The teams combined for two goals again in the third as the game went into overtime. Polaski got his second goal of the evening after a great play by defenseman Brad Williamson. Williamson skated the puck into the Gorillas' zone and down low before throwing the puck on net. After Bauer struggled with the initial save, Polaski and Williamson jammed at the puck before Polaski nudged it in. At 14:39, Vandermeer got his third point of the night when he one-timed a Martini pass from below the goal line to force the extra frame.

Vandermeer ended the game just 58 seconds into the overtime period with his second goal in about five minutes. He took control of the puck in the neutral zone, skated it into the Eagles' zone and burst around the defender at the blue line before cutting across the ice and rifling a shot that beat Keserich from the top of the left circle. It was Colorado's third overtime loss of the season.

The two teams meet again tomorrow night at 5:05 MST, as the Eagles will try to improve their 3-5-2 record in Amarillo.

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Central Hockey League Stories from December 1, 2007


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