Scorpions capture 7th straight
By Eric Maddy
The SCORE
Happy New Year, indeed.
The New Mexico Scorpions won their seventh straight Central Hockey League game on Friday, including six straight to start 2008.
Despite two late roster changes due to injury, New Mexico defeated first-place Odessa 5-1, scoring two goals within 32 seconds late in the econd period to break open a close game..
Chris Robertson and David Simoes scored on back-to-back shifts late in the second period to extend the Scorpions' lead. The goals were Robertson's second of the night and Simones' first of the season.
Ray Ortiz also scored in the second period for New Mexico, which came into the period with a 1-0 lead on Robertson's first goal of the night. Dominic Osman added a third-peiod goal for the final margin.
With the victory, the Scorpions moved within four points of first place. Arizona defeated Wichita 4-2 to regain the Southwest Division lead with 46 points, followed by Odessa at 45 and New Mexico with 42.
And 3,205 fans seemed to notice that New MexiArico is making a run in the standings. New Mexico's last loss was Dec. 29, a 3-1 decision to last-place Amarillo that culminated a four-game skid. Since dropping back-to-back home games to the Gorillas, New Mexico won at Arizona and against the Sunddogs and Odessa at home before sweeping a three-game road trip at Corpus Christi, Austin and Rio Grande Valley.
New Mexico domiinated play from the outset, getting 15 shots in the opening period and 16 more in the second. By contrast, Odessa managed just 15 total shots, including 11 in the second period.
After taking the early lead, the Scorpions continued to dominate play early in the second period and cashed in at the 16:14 mark. Four New Mexico players crowded around the net and kept banging away at goalie Alexandre Vincent, with Ortiz finally hammering home the goal to give New Mexico a 2-0 lead.
Just when it seemed New Mexico was on the brink of putting the game away, Odessa changed the momentum. After killing off a Scorpions' power play, Odessa narrowed the gap to 2-1 when Kevin Wilson stole the puck and beat Mike Minard to narrow the gap to 2-1.
The two teams were in each others faces several times, befitting of a division rivalry game when the gap in the standings is starting to tighten. A scrum in front of the New Mexico goal resulted in two-minute roughing penalties on Brian Swiniarski of Odessa and New Mexico's Shawn Skiehar, but neither team could capitalize on the 4-on-4 situation.
Shortly after the mutual penalty situation ended, Wilson was whistled for two minutes for interference. And the Scorpions took advantage of the man advantage, with Robertson firing in a slap shots from the right side just inside the blue line with seven seconds left in the penalty. Simoes' goal was about a step closer from the same direction.
Left winger Kevin Harvey and right winger Erik Johnson were placed on the injured list with upper body injuries shortly before the game, forcing New Mexico to scramble its roster. Jay Holliday, who had been cut from the roster when Aaron MacInnis came off the injury list, was quickly re-signed before the game, leaving the Scorpions only one man short on the 18-man roster.
New Mexico looks to continue its hot play tonight against Wichita before embarking on a three-game road trip to Arizona, Odessa and Amarillo. Game time is 7:15 p.m.
Before the game, the New Mexico Ice Holes will play a media team at 4 p.m. to benefit New Mexico Special Olympics. The first 1,500 kids age 14-and-under will recieve a Scorpions Junior jersey courtesy of Peoples Mortgage.
Ticket information is available by calling 821-PUCK or going to the team's web site at www.ScorpionsHockey.com. Complete statistics and standings are available at www.CentralHockeyLeague.com.
STORY WILL BE UPDATED WITH QUOTES.
