Sunday March 9, 2008�(Playoffs Round 2)

 

Blue Outlasts Yams 6-5

 

In a game which had the feel of a heavyweight prize fight, the top seeded MYHA House Bantam Blue (11-3-2) held off a strong fifth seeded Iron Yams (4-9-3) attack to win a second round playoff game 6-5 Sunday evening at Rockville Arena. The Yams scored twice in the first 4:05 on unassisted goals by Reed Kaczmarek and Matt Spivak. But the powerful Blue offense who outshot the Yams 36-19 fought back with four straight goals, two in the first period by Josh Hollander (assist Alexandre Joly) and Max Ivers (assist Dan Godwin), and two in the second period by Ivers (assist Avi Kallmeyer) and Nick Kennedy (assist Godwin). The sparring continued, but the Yams could never narrow the margin past one as Josh Singer’s two slapshot goals, one off a steal from Eric Gausseres in the second period and another fed by Noah Rosenfeld in the third, were answered by a Hollander breakaway in the second and a Kennedy score from Evan Lederberg in the closing period. The Yams landed the final punch, a goal by Spivak after a combination of passes from Kaczmarek and John Klein with 4:28 remaining, but fell short at the final buzzer. Blue goaltender Michel Devynck, aided by a defense led by Nick Mauprivez, needed only 14 saves to seal his second playoff victory, while Zack DeGraba tallied 30 saves in the tough Yams defeat.

 

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Saturday, March 8, 2008�(Playoffs Round 1)

 

Yams Stun the Sting 5-4

 

In the first round of the MYHA House Bantam playoffs, the fifth seeded Iron Yams (4-8-3) rallied from a two-goal second period deficit, using a hat trick and a score in the last 21 seconds to edge the second seeded Sting (8-4-3) 5-4 on a foggy Rockville outdoor rink Saturday morning. The Sting jumped out to a quick lead as Josh Lerner scored, assisted by Zachary Raygor, just 1:12 into the game. But the defensive units, including Sam Greenberg, Eric Gausseres, Kyle Winkler and Matt Spivak for the Yams and Nicholas Oler, Matt Klecker, David Terman and Jonathan Reich for the Sting, kept a lid on the scoring until 4:58 into the second stanza when Matt Scheibel added an unassisted goal. But the Yams responded 11 seconds later with a goal by Diego Plazas assisted by Spivak. That was followed by an 11 minute scoring drought, which turned out to be the calm before the third period storm. Adam Bloom started the period by tying the score at 2, assisted by Greenberg and�Reed Kaczmarek, but Scheibel and Raygor teamed up to regain the lead for the Sting 3-2. Then Kaczmarek caught fire, scoring one goal off a pass from Luke Graves with 7:02 to go to tie, and another unassisted at the 3:27 mark to put the Yams in the lead 4-3. The Sting battled back to tie the game again on a slapshot by Lerner with one minute remaining. However, Kaczmarek completed his hat trick with 21 seconds remaining to clinch the Yams victory. Spivak tallied his second assist on the game winner. Each team had 25 shots on goal, with substitute Yam goalie Alex Parker saving 21 shots to Sting Danny Weiss’ 20 saves.

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Sunday, March 2, 2008 (Week 14)

 

Yams’ Final Heartbreak

 

The MYHA House Bantam Predators (6-7-0-1) held off a third period rally to defeat the Iron Yams (3-8-3) 3-2 in their final regular season game Sunday morning at Rockville Ice Arena. It was the fourth one-goal loss for the Yams who also notched three ties during the year. The Predators scored first on a power play goal by Brian Kaplan, assisted by Sam Foreman with 4:13 to go in the first period. Alex Belman increased the lead on a quick breakaway shot off a feed from Matt Guenzel just 15 seconds into the second period. But in the third period, two Yams defensemen stepped up to tie the game. Sam Greenberg scored a power play goal assisted by Simon Timmerman with 10:58 to go, and Josh Singer, assisted by John Klein, evened the score at the 7:14 mark. But 2:13 later, Foreman pushed a Nicholas Ludwig rebound past Yams goaltender Zack DeGraba (22 saves) for the game winner. Predator net minder Corey Berk had 17 saves in his final win of the season.

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Sunday, February 24, 2008 (Week 13)

 

Yams Outshoot, Outscore and Outlast

 

In a game that was closer than the final score would indicate, the MYHA House Bantam Iron Yams (3-7-3) defeated the Piranhas (3-9-1) Sunday evening at Rockville Ice Arena.�After a stalemate in the first period, the Piranhas scored 54 seconds into period two on a goal by Brandon Blanken off a pass from William Fitzgerald. But the Yams, who outshot the Piranhas 26-13 in the first two periods, could only manage to tie the score on a breakaway by Matt Spivak with 7:53 remaining in the second due in part to outstanding goaltending by Alex Parker on his way to 35 saves. But Yam goalie Zack DeGraba, who had shut out the Fish in their previous two games, had 25 saves of his own. He, along with a defense led by Sam Greenberg and Eric Gausseres, maintained the tie into the second intermission, then preserved a one-goal lead after Kyle Winkler, assisted by Noah Rosenfeld, scored the game winner in the twelfth second of the third stanza. The Yams would add two insurance goals with less than three minutes to go in the game by Spivak (assist Josh Singer on a power play) and John Klein (assist Diego Plazas).

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Sunday, February 17, 2008 (Week 12)

 

Sting Has the Edge Again Over Yams

 

The MYHA House Bantam Sting (7-2-3) needed three unanswered goals in the last 16 ½ minutes of the game to beat the Iron Yams (2-7-3) 4-3 Sunday afternoon at Rockville Ice Arena. It was the Sting’s second victory by that margin since the two teams tied in week two of the season. The Yams held a 3-1 lead 13:36 into the second period on three power play goals by John Klein (assist Noah Miller, 11:56 to go in first period), Matt Spivak (unassisted, 12:42 in the second) and Miller (assist Spivak 10:51) while the Sting had only tallied a short handed goal by Josh Lerner assisted by Andrew Held with 11:39 to go. However, Connor Miller scored off a pass by Held with 1:24 remaining in the second, then Matt Scheibel knocked in a Nicholas Shombert rebound on a power play with 11:58 to go in the third period to tie the game, and Matt Klecker scored the winning goal unassisted with 6:08 left in the game. The Sting outshot the Yams 35-21 in this physical game where the teams combined for 26 penalty minutes. Winning goaltender Danny Weiss had 18 saves while Zack DeGraba had 31 saves in the loss.

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Sunday, February 10, 2008 (Week 11)

 

Spartans Beat the Yams 5-3

 

The MYHA House Bantam Spartans (5-5-1) took a first period lead and never relinquished it on the way to a 5-3 victory over the Iron Yams (2-6-3) early Sunday at Rockville Ice Arena. Matt Spivak began the scoring for the Yams assisted by Sam Greenberg and Noah Rosenfeld just 1:53 into the contest. But the Spartans answered with three first period goals, two by Derek Gritz, assisted by Parker Smith with 9:03 to go and unassisted on a power play with only 42 seconds remaining. Michael Sullivan scored the other goal of the opening stanza on a wrist shot from the blue line, assisted by Jonah Zaleznick at 3:19, also with the Yams shorthanded. The two teams traded goals in the subsequent periods by Chase Smith (assists Gritz and Parker Smith) and Zaleznick (assist Parker Smith) for the Spartans, and Spivak and Reed Kaczmarek, both unassisted for the Yams. Winning goalie Connor Graeves had 21 saves while Zack DeGraba stopped 30 shots in a losing effort.

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Sunday, February 3, 2008 (Week 10)

 

Another Tie

 

The MYHA House Bantam league-leading Blue Team (6-2-2) and fifth place Iron Yams (2-5-3) each watched a two goal lead evaporate and ended with an overtime tie 5-5 on Sunday at Cabin John Ice Rink. The Yams took an early 2-0 lead on goals late in the first period by John Klein, assisted by Sam Greenberg and Noah Rosenfeld with 4:00 to go, and Eric Gausseres unassisted 56 seconds later. But Blue roared back, scoring four unanswered goals in the second period by Avi Kalmeyer (assists Evan Lederberg and Nick Mauprivez, 11:42), Lederberg (assists Max Ivers and Nick Kennedy, 8:11), Kennedy (assist Josh Hollander, 5:30) and Mauprivez (assists Conner Waslsleben and Ben Koring, 2:07 on a power play). However, the Yams would not go away, led by Matt Spivak who scored a hat trick in the third stanza assisted by Josh Singer at the 12:25 mark, Noah Miller on a power play with 2:23 to go, and Rosenfeld on a shorthanded goal with just 38 ticks on the clock to send the game into overtime for the second week in a row. Chris Ortolani put in the lone Blue goal of the period with 10:14 remaining, assisted by Koring and Ivers. In the five minute overtime period, the Blue outshot the Yams 7-0, but goaltender Zack DeGraba (24 saves) stopped everything including a hard slapshot by Kennedy to preserve the tie, the Yams’ third of the season. Blue goalie Michel Devynck tallied 17 saves.

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Sunday, January 27, 2008�(Week 9)

 

Yams Pick Off Predators in OT

 

The MYHA House Bantam Iron Yams (2-5-2) overcame an early one-goal deficit and forced an overtime period to beat the Predators (5-3-0-1) 2-1 at Rockville Ice Arena Sunday evening. The Predators took a 1-0 lead with only 1:23 remaining in the first period as Alex Belman, the league’s leading scorer, scooped up his own rebound and tallied his 17^th goal of the season. The defensive squads led by Sam Greenberg, Kyle Winkler and Sam Wallace for the Yams and Belman, Jacob Berk and Chris Wykoff for the Predators helped keep the second period scoreless, as did Yams goalie Zack DeGraba (23 saves) who stuffed a Brian Kaplan penalty shot midway through the period. But 9:31 into period three, Matt Spivak, who played tough on both ends of the ice the entire game, took the puck the length of the rink and scored the tying goal for the Yams. With the score knotted 1-1 at the end of regulation, the teams took the ice for a five-minute overtime. But just 53 seconds into OT, John Klein grabbed an Adam Bloom rebound and beat goalie Corey Berk (20 saves) for his first goal of the year and the game winner for the Yams.

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Sunday, January 20, 2008�(Week 8)

 

Yams and Piranhas Skate to Scoreless Tie

 

The MYHA House Bantam Iron Yams (1-5-2) and Piranhas (1-6-1) were two teams looking for only their second win of the season, but they played like a championship was on the line last Sunday at Rockville Ice Arena. When the final buzzer sounded on this hard fought game, the score was 0-0. Yams goalie Zack DeGraba tallied his second shut out of the year with 23 saves including an outstanding glove save on an Avi Silvermetz slapshot late in the third period. Piranhas goalie Alex Parker scored his first shutout of the season with 25 saves, including 13 in the third period, many off the stick of Matt Spivak. Both goaltenders were assisted by great defensive play by their teammates including Kyle Winkler, Simon Timmerman, Eric Gausseres, Sam Wallace and Noah Rosenfeld for the Yams, and William Fitzgerald, Aaron Shapiro, Adam Weaver and Brandon Blanken for the Piranhas.

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Sunday, January 13, 2008�(Week 7)

 

Sting Edges Yams 4-3

 

The MYHA House Bantam Sting (4-1-2) topped the Iron Yams (1-5-1) in a physical and emotional contest at Cabin John Ice Rink on Sunday 4-3. Luke Graves, in his first game of the season after recovering from a foot injury, started the Yam scoring with a goal off a Matt Spivak rebound 7:51 into the opening period. But the Sting charged back with three unanswered goals, a breakaway by Connor Miller with 1:13 remaining in the first, a goal by Matt Scheibel from a pass by Miller with 9:01 to go in the second, and an unassisted goal by Josh Lerner with the clock showing 5:43 in the second period. Spivak narrowed the margin to one with an unassisted goal 52 seconds into the final stanza, but the defenses led by Gabe Pearson and Matt Klecker for the Sting and Sam Greenberg and Eric Gausseres for the Yams kept the next 13-plus minutes scoreless. Trailing 3-2 with 1:07 to go and one man short, the Yams pulled goalie Zack DeGraba (14 saves), but Lerner stole the puck, took it the length of the ice and scored what would be the game winner on the open net with 58 seconds left in the contest. Spivak scored a final goal with 19 seconds left, but for the second game in a row, a last minute Yams comeback fell short. Winning goalie Danny Weiss had 19 saves. These two teams skated to a 1-1 tie earlier in the season. They will meet again one more time in Week 12.

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Sunday, December 16, 2007 (Week 6)

 

Spartans Hold Off Last Minute Yam Surge

 

The MYHA House Bantam Spartans (4-1-1) watched a 4-point lead disappear in the final seconds of their game against the Iron Yams (1-4-1) early Sunday, but held on to win 7-5 on a cold, foggy Rockville Arena outdoor rink. The Spartans jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Nick Yarmas off a pass from Jonas Zaleznick 3:33 into the game and Derek Gritz who deflected the puck past Yam goalie Zack DeGraba (39 saves) assisted by Zaleznick and Danny Stern. The teams traded pairs of goals in the second period by Kevin Mattingly (unassisted, 9:35 to go) and Zaleznick (assist Gritz, 5:38) for the Spartans, and Reed Kaczmarek (assist Matt Spivak, 8:47) and Diego Plazas (assist Josh Singer, 2:13) for the Yams. The Spartans then broke the game open with 19 shots on goal in the third period and three goals by Parker Smith (unassisted, 9:20), Zaleznick (assists Yarmas and Michael Sullivan, 5:05) and Yarmas (assist Gritz 1:15), answered by Yam defenseman Sam Wallace with the first goal of his career at the 6:21 mark. However, the Yams on the short end of the 7-3 score, scored two goals in 18 seconds, the first an unassisted shot by Spivak with 54 seconds to go, then a Noah Rosenfeld tally assisted by Singer with 36 ticks left on the clock. But it was not enough as the Spartans held on for their second victory of the year over the Yams. Winning goalie Connor Graeves had 32 saves.

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Sunday, December 9, 2007 (Week 5)

 

“Two Blue” Wins Their Fourth

 

The MYHA House Bantam Blue Team (4-1) used a balanced attack to beat the Iron Yams (1-3-1) 5-1 at Rockville Ice Arena on Sunday. The big gun for the Blue was Josh Hollander who scored a hat trick, producing 1 goal in each period (game winner 11:03 in the first, unassisted; 13:48 in the second, assist Ben Koring; 3:22 in the third, unassisted). The Yams took an early lead with a goal by Reed Kaczmarek off a Josh Singer pass 1:36 into the contest, but Dan Godwin tied it up four minutes later with assists by Connor Wasleleban and Max Ivers. Koring added a Blue goal 9:28 into the second stanza with an assist from Nick Kennedy. Blue goalie Michel Devynck had 14 saves in the game while Yam goalie Zack DeGraba tallied 24 saves.

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Sunday, December 2, 2007 (Week 4)

The Predators (1-3) put on an impressive offensive show on Sunday at Cabin John Ice Rink as they beat the Iron Yams (1-2-1) 6-2 in an MYHA House Bantam contest. It was the Yams that took the lead with 5:11 remaining in the first period on a goal by Noah Rosenfeld off a pass by Diego Plazas. Defenseman Sam Greenburg increased the lead taking the puck the length of the ice on a steal 1:01 into the second period. But it was all Predators the rest of the game, outshooting the Yams 40-13. Most of the damage came in the second period with goals by Brian Kaplan (assists Sam Foreman and Matt Guenzel, 11:21 to go), Alex Belman (assist Daniel Felix-Kim, 6:54), Mark Montgomery (assist Chris Wykoff and Kaplan, 5:54) and Andrew Soncrant (unassisted 4:23). The Predators added two insurance goals near the end of the third stanza by Kaplan off a rebound from Jacob Berk (4:29) and a breakaway by Andrew Sharpe (2:18). Predator goaltender Corey Berk needed only 11 saves behind a strong defensive effort to get the win. Zack DeGraba had 34 saves in the Yams net.

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The MYHA House Bantam Iron Yams (1-1-1) posted their first victory and their first shut out as they defeated Team 1 (0-3) 5-0 at Wheaton Outdoor rink Sunday morning. The defensive squads controlled the scoreless first period, but Matt Spivak who was playing defense, broke the deadlock 2:55 into the second period as he took the puck the length of the ice and scored. But it was Reed Kaczmarek who would shine as he contributed a pure hat trick scoring with 5:05 remaining in the second (assists Noah Rosenfeld and Simon Timmerman), 14:03 in the third (unassisted) and 12:02 (assist Kyle Winkler). Adam Bloom, assisted by Diego Plazas, scored the final goal with :29 remaining in the game. The Yam defenders including Spivak, Winkler, Sam Wallace, Eric Gausseres, and Josh Singer helped goaltender Zack DeGraba (18 saves) blank Team 1. Goalie Alex Parker had 20 saves for Team 1 in the tough loss.

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Sunday, November 11, 2007 (Week 2)

 

Yams and Sting End Deadlocked 1-1

 

In a hard fought battle, the MYHA House Bantam Sting (1-0-1) and Yams (0-1-1) skated to a 1-1 tie at Cabin John Ice Rink Sunday. The Yams took the lead 4:39 into the first period with an unassisted goal by Matt Spivak, his fourth in two games. The lead held until 3:42 remaining in the second period when Connor Miller scored 36 seconds into a Sting power play. The Sting defense led by Jonathan Reich held the Yams to only 12 shots on goal with goaltender Danny Weiss making 11 saves. Yam goalie Zack DeGraba had a busier day with 28 saves including a Sting slapshot with 7 seconds left in the game to preserve the tie. Yam defensemen Josh Singer, Sam Wallace, Sam Greenburg and Kyle Winkler played penalty killers with the help of Reed Kaczmarek and Eric Gausseres as they shut down 10:29 of power plays in the third period alone including 40 seconds of 5 on 3.