Scorpions trail Colorado 3-1 after 2 periods


By Eric Maddy
The SCORE


The New Mexico Scorpions march toward the playoffs stalled a bit on the first day of March.

Needing a win to clinch a playoff berth, the Scorpions lost to Colorado 5-2 in Central Hockey League play on Saturday.

Amarillo did its part, losing at Odessa 6-2. Entering the night, any combination of two New Mexico wins and/or Amarillo losses means the Scorpions make the post-season.
 
The Scorpions no doubt had mixed emotions about the Amarillo game, however, since Odessa is one of two teams New Mexico is chasing for first place in the Southwest Division. The Jackalopes came into the night tied with Arizona for first place in the division, with the Scorpions only two points back.

The Sundogs are idle until they play host to Colorado on Monday night.

In addition to continuing to chase first place, New Mexico was seeking a little revenge for what head coach Randy Murphy called an "embarrassing" 6-0 home loss to the defending league champions on Feb. 17. And Scorpions' enforcer Kevin Harvey didn't take long to let the Eagles know that Saturday night wouldn't be easy, at least at first.

After a night where the Scorpions had only seven penalty minutes in a 5-2 win over Arizona, it took exactly eight seconds for Harvey to give new meaning to the term "March Madness." He and his opposing No. 17, Ryan Tucker, exchanged several hard blows with Harvey at a slight disadvantage until he floored (iced?) Tucker with a right cross to the chin that would have made Muhammad Ali proud.

With both brawlers unavailable due to five-minute fighting penalties, New Mexico was the first team to seize the momentum. Chris Robertson's score off a Blair Stayzer pass with 15:03 remaining in the period to give New Mexico the early lead.

But the Eagles, who are in a playoff chase of their own, rallied to tie the game with 8:29 left in the period on a slap shot by Aaron Schneekloth.

Unlike Friday's game, where New Mexico dominated Arizona everyplace but the scoreboard until a three-goal explosion in the third period, the Scorpions found themselves in an even match with the Eagles. New Mexico outshot Arizona 50-27, but was outgunned by Colorado 36-32.

The New Mexico power play, successful twice in three changes against Arizona, was 1 for 5 against Colorado.

The Eagles took command in the second period, as Ed McGrane and Greg Pankewicz scored goals, the latter on a power play with 4:32 left in the period. McGrane and Pankewicz each assisted on the others' goal, with Ryan Tobler also contributing an assist on McGrane's score.

Pankewicz's second goal, again off an assist by McGrane, came just 19 seconds into the final period and quieted the crowd of 4,416 that was hoping to see the Scorpions rally. Craig Macdonald's power play goal with 13:17 left gave the fans some hope, but Colorado goalie Sebastien Laplante was strong the rest of the way.

Pankewicz got his hat trick on an empty-net goal with 52 seconds left.

With the victory, the Eagles moved into a first-place tie with Rocky Mountain with 71 points.

New Mexico returns to action Tuesday at home against Odessa in a situatin similar to what it found itself in before Friday's game -- playing a division leader with a chance to close within two points or fall behind by six. After that game, the Scorpions have only two more home games -- on March 18 against Arizona and March 22 to close the season against Amarillo.

For ticket information on any of the three remaining home games, call 881-PUCK or go to www.ScorpionsHockey.com. League standings and statistics are available at www.CentralHockeyLeague.com.