It was a sweet win for the Eels Elite team as they upended the Tampa Juniors Sunday in front of its home crowd. The Eels Elite team was stunned on Friday after taking a 4-1 lead only to be shellshocked by Tampa as they delivered a jolting loss 6-5. No doubt it was a long ride home and not a pleasant one at that. On Saturday the team re-grouped, and changes were made to the line up to shake things up.
On Sunday we saw an entirely different attitude on the ice. One that stressed our determination, discipline and fortitude. The boys had wandered a bit from their defensive responsibilities, and they were re-set and charged up. They are young and developing and it was good to feel the pain of a loss, and one that their win was right there but was allowed to slip right from their fingers. It was humbling but the loss raised their will to win. They also saw that wanting to win and the will to win was not enough. They had to do the things that make you win.
This was an all-out effort on Sunday, and we were indeed very proud of the guys. Not just the 4 players who scored or the netminder who slammed the door shut. It was the entire team who brought home the win and it was very satisfying.
Scoring was a s follows:
Tampa Bay Juniors 1 at Florida Eels 4 – Status: Final
Sunday, December 4, 2022 – Fort Myers Skatium
Tampa Bay Juniors 1 0 0 – 1
Florida Eels 0 4 0 – 4
1st Period-1, Tampa Bay Juniors, Sheets 11 (Blatt, Johnston-Ferris), 15:01. Penalties-Trussler Tbj (hooking), 15:12; Wilkey Tbj (cross-checking), 17:46.
2nd Period-2, Florida Eels, ClIngerman 7 (Duden, Marchetta), 3:28. 3, Florida Eels, Valpeteris 4 (Di Re, Engles), 9:21. 4, Florida Eels, Berak 2 (ClIngerman, Marchetta), 11:30. 5, Florida Eels, Cermak 8 (Burke, Gagnon), 18:08. Penalties-Corbett Eel (boarding), 15:49.
3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Corbett Eel (roughing), 7:39.
Shots on Goal-Tampa Bay Juniors 12-13-14-39. Florida Eels 12-14-11-37.
Power Play Opportunities-Tampa Bay Juniors 0 / 1; Florida Eels 0 / 3.
Goalies-Tampa Bay Juniors, Bruce 6-4-0-1 (37 shots-33 saves). Florida Eels, Spinella 5-1-0-0 (39 shots-38 saves).
