Scorpions battling first-place Arizona

By Eric Maddy
The SCORE

On a strange day with a strange interruption, it was the dependable Konrad Reeder who came through inthe clutch.

Reeder's goal with 13:08 left in the game gave New Mexico the lead for good as the Scorpions defeated the Arizona Sundogs 5-2 to move within two points of first place in the Southwest Division of the Central Hockey League.

On a date that happens only once every four years -- Feb. 29 -- something even more unusual happened between the first and second periods Friday night at the Santa Ana Star Center. The game was delayed almost 35 minutes for ice repairs that temporarily made a section unsafe.

Each team scored in the second period, leaving the game knotted at 2-2 entering the final 20 minutes and setting up Reeder's heroics.

"Obviously it's frustrating, but it's for both teams, and both teams had to deal with it," Reeder said of the delay. "It's more frustrating for the fans. They're gettting a great show and then they have to wait through all of that.

"We had a good flow in the first period, then having to wait that long I think was beneficial for them. Bu we though through it and we played well at the end.

"We haven't played for a few days and they played last night, so they were more into it (at first). We got back into it in the third."

Said head coach Randy Murphy: "It was a good response by the guys to stay focused. When a delay happens there is nothing you can do about it. The other team has the same delay. It's a matter of who's ready to play."

Reeder, who came into the game tied for third place in the league in scoring with Brent Cullaton of Rocky Mountain, also had an assist on Craig Robertson's game-tying goal in the second period.

Mitch Stephens' power play goal with 9:43 left and Erik Johnson's second goal of the night 1:40 later accounted for the final margin.

Arizona scored first in both the opening and second periods, only to have the Scorpions come back to tie the game before the period expired. It was only in the third period that New Mexico was able to get the jump on Leap Day.

After one period of play  it was the announced crowd of 5,182 that was jumping as the result of a 1-1 tie on power play goals by each team.

Arizona opened the scoring on a goal from captain Chris Bartolone off a pass from Alex Leavitt with 16:01 left in the period. The man advantage came as the result of a boarding penalty against Kevin Harvey of the Scorpions 27 seconds earlier.

There was a turnabout of what referees deemed unfair play as the referees called Daniel Laperriere for tripping with 13:24 left in the period. New Mexico took a little longer to capitalize but did even the game with 12:01 left in the period on Johnson's goal off passes by Dominic Osman and Stephens.

Much of the period was played at the Arizona end of the ice, but goalie Robert McVicar was up to the task with 18 saves on 19 shots. By contrast, New Mexico's Andrew Martin faced only seven shots in the period, saving six.

The two penalties that led to the power play goals were the only infractions of the period, which Murphy said was a point of emphasis before the game started.

"We know they've got the No. 1 power play in the league. We knew we had to stay focused, stay disciplined," he said. "We knew that (referee Steve) Cruickshank doesn't call a lot of penalties, but if he does call one and they score on it like they did it could be the difference in the game. But luckily for us we were two for three on the power play. We capitalized on our opportunities and did a good job on our five-on-five play, which in my mind is our team's identity."

When play resumed after what was officially a 34:56 delay for ice repairs, Arizona took a 2-1 lead on Karl Sellan's goal with 10:27 left in the period.  But New Mexico responded a second less than four minutes later on Chris Robertson's goal off passes from Konrad Reeder and Craig Macdonald to tie the game.

The Scorpions dominance continued in the second period, with New Mexico maintaining more than a 2-to-1 ratio on shots (38-17). The final margin was 50-27 New Mexico.

Despite the margin, it was still an even game until Reeder's goal triggered the third-period explosion. But Murphy said he was never worried.

"It's called momentum," he said. "Sometimes as a spectator or somebody watching the game you can't sense it, but as a coach I could just feel that we were not going to be denied. We had more energy tonight.

"It could have been rested legs (after a few days off). That could have worked against us, but we did have two full days off, and I think that sort of played into our hands."

The rested legs may also have benefited from a shorter-than-normal break between the second and third periods. To make up for lost time caused by the earlier delay, offcials cut the time off before the last period from 18 minutes to 12, and New Mexico outscorerd Arizona 3-0 in that last period.

The Scorpions entered the night trailing Arizona by four points and Odessa by two in the division race. Odessa defeated Colorado 5-2 to move into a tie for first place with the Sundogs.

New Mexico could make it a three-way tie for first with a home victory over Colorado tonight and an Odessa home loss to Amarillo. Arizona is idle until Monday.

"It's nice -- two points out of first with 11 games left," Reeder said. "We get to play the two teams that we're chasing a few times, so it's something we can still decide. That's always nice."

Added Murphy: "We've been there before. We've just got to take it game by game. Would it have been tougher (had the Scorpions lost)? Yes, definitely. It would have been a missed opportunity, but it wouldn't have been a lock."

Friday's victory made three of four against the Sundogs, including two of three in Arizona last week. Murphy said before he stretch the team would treat that part of the schedule like a playoff series, and now that it's done he was more than pleased with his team.

"In retrospect, you look at (last) Friday night's game, we lost because of a three-minute segment," he said. "We couldn't have expected much more."

The first 1,500 fans who come through the gates for the New Mexico-Colorado contest will get a "rally towel" courtesy of Embry-Riddle University. The "all-you-can-eat weekend" package is also available where fans can get a corner seat and unlimited concessions for $20.

Preceding the games, the New Mexico High School championships will be played beginning at 12:30 p.m. Santa Fe will take on Eldorado in the "Composite Division" made up of players from different schools, while Rio Rancho and Los Alamos will square off at about 2:30 p.m. in the "Pure Division" made up of teams with players who attend only that school.

Fans wishing to attend the high school games need a Scorpions ticket for admission. The ticket booth opens at 10 a.m.

Gates open at 6 p.m. for the Scorpions' game, which will start at 7:15 p.m.

For additional ticket information, call 881-PUCK or go to www.ScorpionsHockey.com. League statistics and standings are available at www.CentralHockeyLeague.com.

The Southwest Division Race

Here was the remaining schedule for the three contending teams in the Southwest Division race after  Friday's play:

1. Arizona, 65 points (11 games, 6 at home)  3/3 at Colorado; 3/4 at Rocky Mountain; 3/6 at Odessa; 3/8 at Amarillo; 3/11 New Mexico; 3/14 Amarillo; 3/15 Amarillo; 3/18 at New Mexico; 3/19 Rocky Mountain; 3/21 Odessa; 3/22 Odessa

1. Odessa, 65 points (11 games, 6 at home)  3/1 Amarillo; 3/4 at New Mexico; 3/6 Arizona; 3/7 at New Mexico; 3/8 at Corpus Christi; 3/11 at Texas; 3/19 Rio Grande Valley; 3/14 Corpus Christi; 3/18 Amarillo; 3/21 at Arizona; 3/22 at Arizona.

3. New Mexico, 63 points (11 games, 4 at home)  3/1 Colorado; 3/4 Odessa; 3/6 at Amarillo; 3/7 at Odessa; 3/11 at Arizona; 3/14 at Colorado; 3/15 at Rocky Mountain; 3/16 at Wichita; 3/18 Arizona; 3/21 at Amarillo; 3/22 Amarillo.