Braves Win Two and Tie One in Weekend Action
Talawanda 6 St. Brebeuf (Indianapolis) 4
The Talawanda Braves visited the St. Brebeuf Braves in Indianapolis on Friday Night. The Indy Braves came out flying scoring on their first two shots on goal on their way to building a comfortable 3-0 lead late in the second period. But the Braves of Ohio scored with a minute remaining in the second and then again with just six seconds left to stage an eventful final period. Ben Hoover scored the first Talawanda goal, receiving a long accurate pass from Chris Osborne, and wiring a shot home. Zach Phillips scored moments later, hammering in his own rebound. Hoover tied up matters 30 seconds into the third converting hard work by linemates Phillips and Osborne. The Indy Braves came up off the mat and took the 4-3 lead at the five minute mark but Phillips tied it again with just 6 minutes to go. The senior sniper ripped it high and hard with Braden Park and Hoover assisting. Patrick Gray made the comeback complete with a spectacular go ahead goal at 11:45 with Jim Alexander assisting. Phillips scored the clincher with the enemy net empty and the Talawanda Braves left with an exciting 6-4 win. Goalie Dan Atkin overcame a rough start but finished strong with 21 saves.
Talawanda 10 Springboro 0
The Braves returned to league action facing off at Springboro on Saturday night. The offense capitalized six times on the power play enroute to a 10-0 league win. Talawanda out shot Springboro 30-6 in a game mercifully called at five minutes of the third and the Braves ahead 10-0. Defensemen Matt Finch, Braden Park and Erik Humfleet all scored twice and Ben Eckhoff joined his defense partners with one. Ben Hoover scored twice, assisted five times and Chris Osborne scored the other goal. Zach Phillips contributed four assists, joining Eckhoff with three and Park, Humfleet, and Ryan Marks each with one. Dan Atkin and David Yeakle faced only six shots in the Talawanda net, in posting the shutout.
Talawanda 5 Centerville 5
The Braves never had a lead in this game, but showed great grit in coming back five times at the Goggin Sunday afternoon. Jim Alexander tied the game at 1-1 with a re-direct of a Pat Gray pass at 3:43. Zach Phillips tied the game at 2-2 with an unassisted tally at 8:47. Braden Park, one timed a Ben Hoover pass for a power play score at 3:17 of the second, with Erik Humfleet also assisting. The Braves trailed 4-3 heading into the third period. Hoover, from Chris Osborne and Phillips tied things at 4-4 at the two minute mark of the third. Centerville took the 5-4 lead with less than five minutes to play and another Brave comeback would have to be engineered quick. With a minute left to play, Talawanda pulled their goalie in favor of an extra attacker. Gray and Hoover created havoc around the Elks’ net and Phillips was able to snare the tying goal with only 46 seconds to play. The slight edge in shots (31-30) for the Elks was indicative of the closeness of this contest.