By: Brent Maranto

The Valencia Flyers and Arizona RedHawks met for the fourth time this season on Friday night; but this time the only thing on the line for either team was pride.

Arizona has only four wins to account for on the season and has been out of the playoff race for quite some time. The Flyers on the other hand were only eliminated mathematically from postseason contention last weekend in Idaho and were playing for nothing but pride for the first time all season.

After jumping out to a 4-0 lead to begin the second period, Valencia gave up two quick Arizona goals before turning it up in the third to cruise to a 6-2 victory at Ice Station Valencia.

The Flyers did not overlook a first-year Arizona squad that has not won a game since December 19 at the Showcase Tournament in Las Vegas and proved they play the game just as hard with or without a playoff spot on the line.

Taylor Nelson again got the start in net after a solid showing the previous Sunday in Boise against the Idaho Jr. Steelheads. A depleted Arizona line-up had plenty of new faces, as a handful of the top RedHawks’ players are no longer on the roster due to team-related issues. Brandon Decker started only his third game of the season in between the pipes for the visitors.

Arizona quickly started the game by cutting a rut to the penalty box by taking three minor penalties in the first four minutes of the game.

On the first power play of the evening the Flyers struck for their first goal just 1:24 into regulation. The top power play unit controlled the puck in the Arizona end and worked the puck up top to Cameron Noland. Noland took a long shot that was deflected by Thomas Meinhardt from between the circles and would up beating a screened Brandon Decker. Meinhardt’s 15th goal of the season came off assists from Noland and rookie Zach Wallace.

Just 1:21 later the power play tallied another one as it looked as if the Flyers would run away with it in the first period. Bryan Fiol notched his 19th of the season off an assist from defenseman David Knowles at 17:15 to make it 2-0 before most of the crowd had sat down.

The Flyers quickly went on the power play once more after the Fiol goal but were unable to score, as they wouldn’t find the net for the rest of the period. Arizona’s offense was unable to do much more than just get the puck deep into the Valencia zone during the opening twenty minutes. When they did muster a decent chance Taylor Nelson once again was strong in net.

The Flyers out-shot Arizona 17-8 and out-chanced the eighth place RedHawks 7-2 in the first period. Arizona did however play the body well in the opening period, registering 20 hits to Valencia’s 11.

The second period began eerily similar to the first, as the Flyers once again jumped out to score a pair before the 17 minute mark.

Tyler McGreevy notched his sixth goal of the season 1:06 into the middle stanza to make it 3-0 Valencia. Bryan Fiol’s shot was stopped by Decker but McGreevy was perfectly positioned at the side of the net to bang home the rebound into the wide-open net at even strength.

1:51 later the Flyers struck again to blow the game open at 4-0, again at even strength. The Flyers top line of Meinhardt, Wallace and newest addition James McGuirk were swarming all shift in the Arizona end. Wallace sent a pass cross-ice to McGuirk, whose wrist shot was stopped by Brandon Decker. Meinhardt was waiting on the other side of the downed net minder and was able to dig the puck free and find twine for his second of the night and 16th of the season.

A couple minutes later Arizona would finally get on the board as Chris Gartner notched his sixth of the season on the power play. Danny Fazio, making his RedHawks debut used his speed to get the puck over the Valencia line. Fazio was able to slip around the back of the Flyers’ net and feed Gartner streaking down the slot, who one-timed a shot past Nelson to make it 4-1.

Not even two minutes later Arizona struck again with an unassisted goal, at even strength to make it a game again. Todd Graham led the breakout for the Flyers and sent an ill-advised pass in his own zone that was picked off in stride by Ethan Surber. Surber wasted no time and snapped a wrist shot over the blocker of Nelson to make it 4-2, on his second goal of the season.

Play would settle down for the middle portion of the second period, as neither team took many chances. Arizona picked up play towards the end of the period, and tested Nelson five times in the last three minutes before intermission. Nelson stood strong and helped outlast the onslaught to keep a two-goal lead heading into the third period.

The Flyers again out-shot and out-chanced Arizona in the second period as the gap began to close. Shots were 15-10 and chances went 6-5 in favor of Valencia. Hits after two periods of play evened up at 14 a-piece.

The third period started off slow but the Flyers picked up the pace late and put it away with 12:01 left in regulation.

With Arizona on the power play, Former Fresno Monster and Southern California Titan James McGuirk blocked a shot at the Valencia blue line and broke the other way all alone. The left handed shot winger brought his stick back and blistered a snap-shot under the glove of Decker to make it 5-2 Valencia. The back-breaking short handed goal was McGuirk’s first as a Flyer ands second point of the game.

Just after the goal Arizona’s Noah Segall had a breakaway of his own, one-on-one with Nelson from the Valencia blue line. Nelson out-waited the RedHawks’ forward and made the huge glove save to keep the momentum on the Flyers’ side.

Just a few minutes later, Zach Wallace broke up a two-on-one break for Arizona twice on the same play. As the rookie forward not only puts up points (seven now in his first five games) but plays wise beyond his years. The small plays Valencia made in the third at crucial times deterred Arizona from getting any sort of momentum going.

John Dove padded his team leading goal statistics with just 19 seconds left in regulation to make it 6-2 Valencia. Dove put home an Alex Descheneaux rebound at even strength for his team-leading 22nd goal of the campaign. Bryan Fiol added an assist on the goal, his third point of the night, putting him at a team-leading 36 points for the season.

The Flyers skated off with a win in which they executed in all facets and were able to roll four lines and tire out Arizona’s top defensive pairings, as the RedHawks were unable to get anything going in the third period.

The Flyers once again out-shot and out-chanced Arizona, 10-5 and 4-2 respectively. They also out-hit the opposition for the first time on the night, 12-10. The Flyers finished 2 for 7 on the power play, while Arizona notched one over six chances.

Taylor Nelson notched his first win of the season, stopping 21 of 23 shots. The veteran goaltender now is 1-2-2 on the year.

Brandon Decker stopped 37 of 42 at the other end, and saw his record drop to 0-3-0.

The RedHawks return to Valencia on Sunday for a matinee affair at 10:25 a.m. After a trip down the 405 Freeway to take on Long Beach tonight.

The Flyers faceoff against Bakersfield for the last time this season tonight at 7:45 at Ice Station Valencia. Bring the family out and enjoy some WSHL action!