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| © FGCU Hockey Team 2007. This is an official Florida Gulf Coast University Hockey Team webpage. The FGCU Hockey Team is a proud member of the American Collegiate Hockey Association. 20301 Grande Oaks Boulevard, Suite #118, Box #26, Estero, Florida, 33928 E-mail Address: hockey@eagle.fgcu.edu Website Development: eMCee Productions |
| South Jersey Raptors Face Cold Reception in Florida FGCU Outlasts Junior 'A' Affiliate! January 28, 2007 After the disappointing split with Kennesaw last weekend, the FGCU Eagles were anxious to play against the South Jersey Raptors. The Raptors are a Junior "A" team that plays out of the American East Hockey League and are a great source for prospective players. The Raptors were anxious to prove their worth against the talented Eagles team and the resulting weekend series was interesting, to say the least. Friday night, the Eagles scored early and often. By the end of the first period, the score was 3-1 in favor of FGCU, with Allan Penney, Mike Sellitto, and Mike Lendino all contributing to the scoreboard. The Raptors managed to get one past goalie Andrew Kobrin thanks in part to a scramble in front of the net. The second period belonged once again to FGCU as the Eagles added three more goals to the scoreboard and only allowed one. This time, Matt Maida and Kevin Olsen earned tallies, along with Allan Penney to send the game into the final period with the Eagles up 6-2. The Raptors were determined to make a game out of it in the third period and came out looking to chip away at the four goal deficit. Only Justin Moore was able to score for the Eagles as South Jersey surged late in the period with four unanswered goals to pull within one. In the dying seconds of the game, the Raptors were pressuring for the tieing goal, but could not beat Kobrin and the Eagles held on to win the first game by a score of 7-6. |
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| Mike Selitto capatilizes on a great pass from Brett Galbraith to score his 8th goal of the year. |
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| Freshman Alex Flax rushes the puck into the South Jersey zone.. |
| Tyler Mackereth has become a force to be reckoned with on the Eagle's blueline. |
| Cape Coral native Kevin Olsen dangles Raptors defenseman during an offensive atteck. |
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| Andrew Kobrin backstopped the Eagles to a 7-6 victory on Saturday night with 18 saves. |
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| Alex Flax takes on a South Jersey Raptor 1 on 1 during the Friday night contest. |
| Canadian forward Brett Galbraith is pictured above on the back check. |
| Mike Sellitto takes his man out of the play with a clean open ice hit. |
| Saturday night the Raptors came out much stronger and amassed an early lead, but the Eagles engineered one of their greatest comebacks yet this season. The coaching staff opted to start rookie netminder Nick Fernandez to give the rookie some experience between the pipes. Fernandez would earn his third win of the season in as many starts. The Raptors overwhelmed Fernandez early and buried two early goals in the first ten minutes of the game. Justin Moore, would put FGCU on the board with a goal near the end of the period to send the teams to the first intermission with the score 2-1 in favor of the Raptors. South Jersey would add to their lead in the second period scoring three quick unanswered goals to go up 4-1. With just three minutes left in the second period, Tyler Mackereth snuck in off the point on the power play and bulged the twine thanks to a great feed from Allan Penney. FGCU would head into the locker room down by two goals trailing by a score of 4-2. In the final frame of the contest, FGCU proved their worth with an inspiration comeback. Justin Moore scored his second goal of the night early to pull the Eagles within one, but the Raptors restored their two goal cushion with a quick retaliatory goal. FGCU refused to surrender the game and with less than ten minutes left went to work on the Raptors goaltender. In the last eight minutes of the game, the Eagles scored four unanswered goals by way of Tanner Bacik (2), Mike Sellitto, and Allan Penney and would hand the Raptors a shocking 7-5 loss. After the winning goal was scored by Allan Penney, the capacity crowd on hand at Germain Arena erupted and the Raptors seemed to be stunned. With only thirty five seconds remaining Tanner Bacik put the icing on the cake with the insurance goal for the Eagles to propel FGCU to the 7-5 victory. Immediately after the goal, the Raptors cleared the bench looking to avenge the imminent loss by fighting. At one point there were five different fights happening simultaneously as Eagle fans soaked up the action. The refs and security guards quickly ended the game and restored order. While the game was overshadowed by the circus at the end of the game, it was a strong weekend series for the Eagles as they prepare to take on the North Carolina State Wolfpack next weekend in Raleigh, North Carolina. |