Royals Regal in Victory over Fire

Entering Tuesday nights game against the Keane Fire, the Sunnydale Slayers had already equalled last season's win total of one. It was with hopes of surpassing that total, that spurred the Slayers in Tuesday night's clash.

The Slayers were without last year's scoring champion Shawn Currie, who is currently embroiled in a mid-season contract dispute. The Slayers floored only 3 subs, which was a far cry from the previous week's record setting 6 subs.

The Fire, on the other hand, also had a line-up shakeup. Captain Steve Barriault decided to replace himself in goal with unproven grinder Harvey Snelgrove. Snelgrove, who had never faced a single shot in his entire career, was hoping his aggressive style would serve him better in goal that it has as a forward.

The Slayers started strong, opening a commanding first period lead, repeatedly testing Snelgrove. But it was Snelgrove who surprised all in the second period by actually shutting out the Fire, as the Fire closed the gap.

But the third period belonged to the Slayers, as they cruised to a comfortable 14-9 victory. Leading the way for the Slayers was 4th all-time leading scorer Kenzie Royal, who had 4 goals and 2 assists. Jason Foster and Rob Sasco also added hat tricks for the Slayers, while Kenzie's brother Jason added 2 goals and 2 assists.

Normally defensive minded Fire Forward Mike Sasco led all Fire with 3 goals and 2 assists, while all-time leading Fire scorer Kevin Haddad notched a hat trick.

With the win the Slayers vaulted into a temporary tie for third place with the Keane Chill and the ADC Lynx. The Lynx and Chill will break that tie Thursday night when the two teams square off against each other.

Thursday's late game pits two old rivals against each other as the first place and undefeated Lite-Sabres will get it on with the defending champion LAN Hackers. The first game between these two teams was a war that wasn't decided until late in the third period when the Sabres eked out a hard-fought 14-12 triumph.