By: Brent Maranto

Coming into the three-game weekend set with the Idaho Jr. Steelheads the Valencia Flyers knew they would have to take at least one game in order to keep some hope of making the playoffs alive. After a well played three periods in the series finale on Sunday morning, a deflected shot in overtime gave Idaho the season sweep and ended Valencia’s post season aspirations in one fell swoop.

Both teams played well during regulation, as nothing was solved in the opening sixty minutes, sending the contest into overtime. With just under two minutes left David Fegler re-directed a shot by Greg Chapman net which just squeaked by goaltender Taylor Nelson; sending the home crowd into a frenzy. The Flyers were subsequently sent down the long road home with one only point to show for the series.

Taylor Nelson got the nod in net for Valencia on Sunday morning, as the Flyers looked to salvage a game out of a weekend they played exceptionally well during but had nothing to show for it.

The Jr. Steelheads were once again stumped by the Flyers ability to play the neutral-zone trap method of fore-checking and it showed for most of the first period.

Idaho still came out of the gates swinging as they have proved they can do and got on the board first just a couple minutes into the game. Zaid Hussein was able to corral the puck at the bottom of the circle and narrowly beat Nelson for his 15th goal of the season off an assist from Greg Chapman.

Zach Wallace continued his tear in only his fourth game with the Flyers by notching his first career Western States Hockey League goal with 8:12 left in the period.

Wallace took a pass from Harout Keshishian in the slot and sniped a shot past Drew Case to tie the game at one. Thomas Meinhardt also assisted on the rookie’s goal.

The Flyers began to put a few shifts together and put Idaho on their collective heels for the first time all weekend late in the period and drew a few power plays. While playing with the man advantage the Flyers struck to take their first lead of the game, at 2-1.

Captain Cam Noland collected the puck just inside the blue line and moved to his right to open up a shooting lane. His shot had eyes and made its way through traffic and more importantly through Case to find twine with 4:24 before intermission. John Dove and Bryan Fiol notched assists on Noland’s 7th of the campaign.

Idaho ended up coming back with a dagger late in the period, as Patrick Anderson put home a rebound with 1:35 left in the first to tie the game. Mitch Skaggs and Josh Schamber got the assists on a goal that took a little momentum from Valencia.

The stats from the first period are a little deceiving, as Idaho led in shots 13-5 after one, but most of their shots were from poor shooting areas and were tracked the whole way by Nelson. While three of the Flyers five shots were from scoring chance areas. A trend that kept up throughout the weekend was Valencia’s ability to play the body, as they led once more in hits 13-8. The Flyers were also able to keep Idaho’s power play unit of the board, as the talented group went 0-1.

The Flyers controlled play for most, if not all of the second period. Valencia out-shot Idaho for the first time over the weekend in a period, with 12 shots to Idaho’s 10. Idaho was also thwarted twice more with the man advantage, as the Flyers did not allow the Jr. Steelheads to get set up on either power play. When they did get a chance to get set, Nelson was there to make a big save. The Flyers also out-chanced Idaho 3-2 and out-hit the home team 19-13. The second period saw no scoring, but Coach Bill Muckalt was more than impressed by his squad during the second twenty, as they played one of their best periods of the year.

The Flyers came out in the third looking to turn it up and take the final game in Boise. Early on in the third however, Idaho looked like they were ready to run away with it. The Jr. Steelheads came out and quickly tallied five shots on goal in the first four minutes, including a couple of great scoring chances. Nelson and the Flyers’ defense were able to bend but not break and calm the storm. The Flyers only were able to mark three shots for the entire period, but two of those three shots were scoring chances. One of those scoring chances came on a three-on-one rush, as Tyler McGreevy ripped a wrist-shot off the glove of Drew Case and into the net to make it 3-2 Valencia. With 11:54 left in regulation, Art Ketchedjian blocked a shot just inside the Valencia blue line and sprung McGreevy on a rush  the other way, as the Flyers’ center did it himself with the wrist shot from the faceoff dot for his 5th goal of the year.

All looked good for the Flyers as time trickled down until Idaho went on the power play, with Kyle Schwartz off for goaltender interference at the 10:12 mark of the period.

Sure enough if they get enough chances they will strike and Justin Videen continued a good weekend for himself by tallying his 16th of the season. Greg Chapman and Tyson Cox notched the assists on the game-tying goal.

The Flyers had chances to regain the lead but Case made a couple of saves and Jr. Steelheads defenseman Michael Washington made a solid sliding play on a three-on-one opportunity late in the period.

The third period would end with each team getting a point, in a 3-3 tie. Idaho out-shot Valencia 13-3 and led in chances 4-2, with the Flyers leading again in hits 17-15. Idaho was able to strike on the man advantage, while the Flyers drew blank on three regulation chances, a major theme over the three games.

In overtime the teams went back and forth early on, with rushes heading both directions. Stephen Stoll, making his debut as a Jr. Steelhead, had a great chance just about a minute in but Taylor Nelson shut it down. Stoll played big minutes throughout the game and looked to seamlessly become a part of the Jr. Steelheads.

Seconds later the Flyers countered as Todd Graham jumped into the play but was unable to get a shot on goal, as the Idaho back- continued to be strong.

Nelson faced three shots in the overtime period but the most harmless looking of the three ended up finding its way in for the win. Idaho was able to set up an attack and move the puck around, looking for openings. Valencia native Sam Skura slid a pass cross ice to Greg Chapman who took a weak shot. David Fegler skated by the Valencia net at just the right time and was able to deflect the puck with his stick past Nelson to win it for Idaho by a score of 4-3. The assist for Chapman was his third of the game, as an unlikely source played the hero for Idaho in a close one.

Nelson played more than well enough to get a win, but ended up taking the tough overtime loss. The veteran goaltender faced 39 shots, stopping 35 of them. His record now stands at 0-2-2 on the season.

Drew Case, the back-up to Spenser Brown, stopped 17 of 20 for his tenth victory of the season for Idaho.

The Flyers gained a point with the overtime loss but combined with three Phoenix wins and two San Diego wins over the weekend, Valencia’s playoff chances are no longer.

The Flyers had nothing to hang their heads over however, and it showed with the team’s overall spirit. They played one of the best teams in the league tough all weekend and gave them a run for their money. Coach Muckalt was able to roll four lines all weekend and played all three goaltenders against a tough opponent.

The Flyers return home for the last six games of the season, beginning this Friday night against the Arizona RedHawks, continuing Saturday with Bakersfield and concluding Sunday again with Arizona.

The next weekend Fresno visits on Saturday night, sandwiched by a pair with the Phoenix Polar Bears.

Head out to Ice Station Valencia to check it out! If you can’t make it to the rink, be sure to watch the live webcast here on valenciaflyers.net!