Sugar Land Sets Sail… Semi’s Under Way
After Friday’s match between the Beaumont Roughnecks and the Sugar Land Hitchhikers, the HHS Post Season schedule was solidified with Game 1 featuring a rematch between the ‘Hikers and the ‘Necks. Saturday’s precursor ended with the Roughnecks rallying their way to an impressive 7-1 victory. Beaumont looked to have a repeat performance to set themselves in the Semi-Finals.
The Roughnecks jumped on the board first with a quick strike by Brent Stafford. Terry Johnson tagged another goal midway through the period leaving the Hitchhikers scrambling. Robb Delprado added the period third goal for the Roughnecks. Hitchhiker Forward, Clint Blackburn was called for tripping in his attempts to reassemble Sugar Land’s defense. This resulted in Terry Johnson putting the Roughnecks up by a score of four to zero. Lori Cain and Rob Torres assisted in the play.
The second period was much less eventful as Sugar Land’s defense managed to resurrect itself. This didn’t’ prevent Petr Jilek and Gordo Howe from piercing the Hitchhiker armor. Chris Seigler scored Sugar Land’s lone goal early the third, but was quickly met by Beaumont’s Jim Smalley’s goal.
Saturday’s rematch between the Hitchhikers and the Roughnecks in Game 1 of the HHS Playoffs was a sequel to the previous game. Beaumont forward, Brent Stafford, played a huge part in assisting all four goals scored by the ‘Necks in the first period. Rob Torres tacked on the first two in the first two minutes of the game while Gordo Howe contributed another two towards the end. With a four-nothing lead going into the second, things looked bleak for the ‘Hikers. Opportunity seemed to diminish for Sugar Land as Clint Blackburn, Andrew Blackburn, and Chris Seigler found themselves in the penalty box. Brent Stafford took advantage of the several power plays in the period and snuck one passed the goalie. Jim Smalley copied that same routine during the following power play.
The third period went rather slow due to numerous turnovers and no power plays. Sugar Land’s Gabe Presas finished the game with an amazing shot from the blue line to give the Hitchhikers their first score. The game ended with the Roughnecks on top with a 6-1 victory. They will go on to play the Willowbrook Wild in Game 3 of the HHS Playoffs.
Sugar Land’s other team, the Express, had their hands full against the Willowbrook Crush in Game 2. Crush Forward, Dan Peed, opened the game with an unassisted goal. Substitute player, Anthony Moats, added to the score in the sixth minute of the first. Sugar Land’s Matt Lourie kept it close by scoring with help from John Phillips and Kenneth Sutton. Unfortunately for the Express this was quickly met by a counterstrike from Mike Edwards which led to the period closing with the Crush leading three to one.
The Crush kept their foot on the pedal in the second. Mike Edwards kept the momentum going and scored another two goals giving him the hat-trick less than half way through the game. Keys to Willowbrook’s success can be attributed to their ability to stay out of the penalty box. The Express were called on four separate times to the Crush’s zero. The game closed with Anthony Moats scoring twice and Paul Roberts capping off the game with a goal of his own. The Crush win 8-1 and will move on to Game 4 against the Space Invaders.
