Fire Singe Slayers 12-10 for First Victory

Kenzie Royal amassed his highest point total in four and a half years, leading his Keane Fire to their first win of the season over the Sunnydale Slayers Monday night.

Entering the game the Fire had lost five straight and were looking to avoid their 2004A fate – they lost every game that season. The Slayers entered the game with only one win to their credit, but with three of their losses coming by three or fewer goals.

The first 10 minutes of the game featured tight checking and only a single goal by Royal. Royal was then the beneficiary of a beautiful one-handed pass from Jeff Shute, and doubled the Fire’s lead at the 11:30 mark of the first frame. Gian Scalet and Amy Scott replied for the Slayers before a Shute marker made the first intermission score 3-2 for the Fire.

The second period was much more wide-open than the first period, as nearly twice as many goals were scored. And of the nine goals scored in the period, five were tallied by the winless Fire, including two more by Royal and two by hard-shooting defenseman Shawn Currie.

Trailing 9-5 entering the final frame and without their leading goal scorer Rob Tyrrell, the Slayers knew they were going to be in tough. But led by their captain, the Slayers came out flying. In fact it took Scalet less than five seconds to score the Slayers first goal of the period, as he wired a long shot into the Fire goal after Kevin Haddad won the opening face-off cleanly. Scalet and Haddad scored twice more to close the gap to 9-8, and the Fire fans were thinking “here we go again”.

But Currie and defensive partner Mark Thompson were not going to let this one slip away. Currie scored back-to-back goals less than a minute apart, both assisted by Thompson, to restore a three-goal lead. And although two more Slayer goals closed the gap to one with less than two minutes to play, a late goal by Thompson made the final score 12-10 Fire.

Royal finished the game with four goals and three assists and was named the game’s first star. Scalet also notched seven points, albeit in a losing cause, and was declared the second star of the game. Slayer goaltender Mike Burfitt was bombarded for all 45 minutes, and was rewarded with the game’s third star for his 54-save performance.

Notes: Hacker Adam Pettigrew signed a one-game contract with the Slayers, who have been experiencing personnel shortages…Shawn Currie’s five-point total was his highest in nearly three years…Kevin Haddad scored his 300th career goal in the second period, and is now only five goals behind the all-time leader John Price