Early Game – Ireland vs Slovenia

Hold on to your fedoras folks, the Irish juggernaut comes into this one on a TEN GAME WINNING STREAK. No ties. No losses. In TEN GAMES.

But the lads from Ljubljana were not intimidated. They beat the Leprechauns twice in the regular season and were not planning to lie down against them in Round 3.

Both teams battled fiercely during the first period but Tony Cioffi and Art Senkowski stood on their heads, the only blemish a Bob King goal in the waning minutes. 1-0 for Slovenia after the first period.

The Irish sticks remained dormant for the first half of the second period while Slovenia’s rookie sniper Stephen Davis made it 2-0 followed by teammate Ciro Napolitano making it 3-0 midway through the game.

Ireland’s own son Neil Kelly finally cracked the Slovenian defences at 9:55 of the second period to make it 3-1 and teammate Pat McCormick drifted one over Arty’s shoulder with 6 minutes left to close the gap to 3-2 for Slovenia. But Bob King picked up his second goal of the game in the dying minutes of period two to give the Slovenians a comfortable two goal lead (4-2) going into period three. Ireland fans fidgeting nervously in the stands.

Slovenia circled the wagons in the third while Ireland brought out all its artillery. Finally, Robin Chantaj scored eight minutes in to narrow Slovenia’s lead to 4-3.

The Slovenians locked arms and bore down and kept the Fightin’ Irish away. Many heroic saves by both goalies as this great PCOHL battle entered its final stages. And it looked like a major upset was in hand until Ireland’s sniper and PCOHL point leader Paul Riopelle bulged the twine with two minutes to go and THAT’s how this one would end. TIE GAME. 4-4.

Ireland’s 10-game winning streak is over, but they are still undefeated in 11 and looking very comfortable in 2nd place with a game in hand. Slovenia also glad for the single point to remain tied for 2nd place with a chance to earn their place on Championship day next week against Portugal.

Slovenia’s player of the game goes to their veteran backstop Arty Senkowski while Robin Chantaj wears the green fedora for Ireland.

Late Game – Italy vs Scotland

Scotland comes into this came an unknown quantity after getting spanked by Portugal in Round 1 but then rebounding to take the win last week against Slovenia. Italy, on the other hand, lost their only game handily to Slovenia and goes into this one aware of its importance if they have any hope of Championship Day glory.

Tight checking and strong goaltending marked the first period with Italian D-man Dave Skingley getting the period’s only goal.

Scoreless action for the first half of the second period until Jim Maguire tied things up. But Alan Robb responded a few minutes later with a NIFTY breakaway move to put his Italian squad ahead 2-1. However, this game proved to be a back and forth affair with Mike Kidd tying it up again in the final minute to make it 2-2 after two periods.

Both teams feeling nervous going into the third period with every playoff game a must-win at this point. Sniper Brad Stoll gave the Scots their first lead of the game early on but John Levac tied it up 3-3 with five minutes to go, setting things up for a dramatic ending.

It looked like this one might be the second tie game of the night until Brad Stoll picked up a rebound and his second goal of the night off a Frank Nweisser shot in the final minute to seal this one. An empty-netter by Aggie Falcone ended the game 5-3 for the Scots.

Italy’s Player of the Game goes to goalie Tomi Nieminen who stopped almost every first shot but didn’t receive much rebound support while Scotland’s goalie Stuart Henderson squeezes the bag for the Glaswegians.

Next week the Italians look for their first win against a strong Irish squad while Slovenia looks to move into first place against a playoff-ready Portuguese team. Scotland has the week off.

Don’t forget the EARLIER TIMES for next Friday’s games! 8:15 and 9:30!!