Re: Bottom Feeders 2019-20: Timely Results Are For That "Other" Tournament.
As a refresher, the teams traveled to the tournament together. St. Cloud was required to hop a freighter in Thunder Bay. The Algoma Spirit passed through the Detroit River where UAH boarded en route to Hamilton, where they transferred to the Malta flagged bulk carrier Belasitza. Canisius also boarded here. The Belasitza then picked up Vermont while in progress passing Cornwall Island in the St. Lawrence Seaway. They were dropped off in Quebec City to be taken by school bus the 244 miles to Topsham. UAH officials commented that it was a more difficult transit than last year’s NoWinS, prompting a satisfied smile from Miss Thundercat.
The community rink at Topsham had just enough cold weather this week to get an ice surface down, but only at a thickness of 3/8”. Consequently, the ice cracked and broke when more than two players occupied the same space. This meant that almost no defense or checking was possible. NoWinS officials also reminded the teams of the two tournament house rules:
1) No player can play the position he is listed as playing on the school website
2) Players must play with the opposite handed stick blade
Semifinal #1
Vermont complained that they could have just driven the 283 miles to Topsham. They were immediately assessed a pair of double minors for unsportsmanlike conduct. Per the local rules, the Catamounts were given the option of having players eat a serving of tomalley for each minute assessed to avoid the penalties. They declined. With extra room and not as much chance of crowding, UAH scored twice in the ensuing 5x3 and led 2-0. The referees were confused by taconite pellets from the freighter which were falling out of player equipment. After determining that only UAH had been on the Algoma Spirit with taconite aboard, the Chargers were assessed a penalty. They also declined the tomalley, but didn’t surrender a goal and led 2-0 after 1.
In the second period, UAH decided to use the ice conditions to their advantage and try to check as many Vermont players as possible. This resulted in numerous ice fractures and the game slowed to a halt. UVM’s Dallas Comeau found one square foot of unbroken ice in the neutral zone and shot from there, and UAH temporary goalie Levi Wunder got his skate caught in a crack so he couldn’t move to stop it. 2-1 UAH after 2.
In the third, Vermont figured out that by diving face first across the “ice”, they could move around the surface. The Chargers were stuck in huge ice crevasses and couldn’t get to the bench to change. Vermont’s Thomas Beretta did a swan dive across the blue line and slid to the slot, where he dug the puck out from under some shards of ice. He picked it up and tossed it in the air, swinging his stick like a baseball bat and sending a bouncing ground ball past Wunder to tie the game. UAH immediately protested, and were assessed a bench minor. Instead of taking the penalty, Mike Corbett opted to eat two servings of tomalley himself. He soon was projectile vomiting over the backs of his own players on the bench, and they in turn did so too. This led to the local theater troupe providing interpretative replays to try and recreate the incident, creating a massive amount of human sick. Topsham officials attempted to clean up the mess by pouring orange sawdust on it, spilling a large amount onto the “ice”. 2-2 and overtime was needed.
In the OT, the sawdust area in front of the benches became the only area with decent footing, so all ten skaters congregated there. After a scrum, UAH’s Mark Sinclair (playing forward) emerged from the pile and swan dived into the Charger end. He got to his feet and took a shot that beat temporary goalie Nic Hamre, prompting a wild celebration on the UAH bench. But upon inspection, the referees determined that he had not shot an actual puck but a clump of sawdust held together with vomit. No goal.
In the subsequent argument, UVM’s Stefanos Lekkas asked the linesman to drop the puck anyway while the protests were happening. He fired it backhanded into an open goal where Wunder had vacated and Vermont won 3-2, sending UAH to the championship game.
Semifinal #2 recap to follow.
