Mom Jeans

Dawning the Alliance uniform was a symbol of incompetency when the games finally matter. We were dubbed the Turtles not after a game of futility but after a series of habitual collapses. Failure was more than a trend based on a small sample size but an inevitable conclusion to every attempt at a trophy.

The expected question after a tournament was not "how did you do?" but rather "how did you lose?"

What a great feeling that the Alliance finally had a good answer to that question. Eat that Bobcat!

For the first time, there wasn't going to be a replayed video of a botched play that symbolizes the defeat. There wasn't going to be thoughts like"what if?" or "if only..."

That heart wrenching pit in your stomach on the long ride home would be replaced with a surprised feeling of elation and enthusiasm. Despite a weekend full of hockey, an actual zeal to play again would already burn inside you.

Well, most of us anyway. Most wouldn't be "hockey'd out". I shouldn't speak for everyone.

Nevertheless, a winning outcome was far from a forgone conclusion. It was never a certainty. And the reality of that fact became evident in our semifinal game. The semifinals was a round we never advanced through. It was the first major hurdle. It would be the first time we could do something no team before us had done. And the team we had to beat in order to fulfill that accomplishment was fantastic.

Heart in my throat

I would argue that this team was the best team we played. They were a fast team, with solid goal tending and excellent defense. But what impressed me the most about them was their board play. They, despite their relatively small size, were extremely strong with the body. The were able to move the immovable objects know as JB, Nick and Griff. Their body positioning was borderline remarkable. But maybe I only feel this way because I remember getting beat by them a couple times. They were gritty and perhaps the only team we played that seemed to put any focus on defensive responsibilities. That's why this could have gone either way.

A Deficit to Overcome

The scoring started with a sweat goal by JB and from there the opposition went to work. There first goal came on a blind pass thrown up the middle that found the stick of their man at the point. He shot the ball and it squeaked by Darrin. Kind of weak goal. Should we blame the disintegrated pads?

Their second goal was kind of unfortunate, sort of a bad break (for us). After the ball trickled down the right side of the rink, Nick did a quick flip pass to Eric. After Eric knocked the pass down (notice in the video that he didn't grab the ball; Progress!) he turned around to start a transition. But, Eric slipped creating somewhat of a two on one. A botched and broken play that turned into a goal and 2-1 deficit.

Two unbelievable shots

Dale would have cleaned up in this game. Backhanded shots was the scouting report on this goalie. After several rushes and long shots came up empty, the Alliance came through with not one but two seeing eye backhanders.

The first came from Brett and the other came from Jared.

 It was basically a replay of the same play. A defenseman baring down, taking away any possible shot on a forehand, something they did the entire game. This forced an unfavorable backhanded shot. And somehow it worked. Twice. Both found the top corner of the net. The goalie had no chance. Awesome shots

But do you want to know the best part about taking the lead? Not only did we add to it, we never looked back.

But what's even greater is that we rebounded to score those two goals even after disappointment, a missed opportunity. After Griff drew a penalty, JB was given the penalty shot, an opportunity one player on the bench said of: "we need this."

And we didn't get it.

Overcoming adversity, an Alliance first.

Pile On

The fourth goal was scored by Jared. After he intercepted a pass up the middle (ok, it hit him on the pads.) Jared shot the ball and scored on his own rebound. 4-2 Alliance. This goal was huge not only because it gave us a buffer zone but it made the opposition pull their goalie, a move that always has Brett licking his chops. Brett of course scored an empty netter. Sealing the deal on an eventual 5-3 Victory. Why can't I get chances like that?

The Road Ahead: The Finals