Scorpions look to clinch 2nd in division


By Eric Maddy
The SCORE

Ray Ortiz and Ross McCain may have shared the “unsung hero” award from the New Mexico Scorpions’ coaching staff, but fans are singing both their praises tonight.

Ortiz’s goal with 50.8 seconds off a McCain pass gave the Scorpions a 5-4 victory over Amarillo in the final Central Hockey League regular season game of the season. With it comes a No. 3 seed in the Western Conference playoffs and second place in the Southwest Division.

The Scorpions will travel to Arizona for the first two games of a best-of-seven series Friday and Saturday nights. Games 3-5 will be at the Santa Ana Star Center on Wednesday, April 2; Friday, April 4 and Friday, April 5, if necessary.

For much of Saturday’s game, however, the Scorpions appeared headed for a possible fourth-place conference finish, an extra playoff series, little time off and an unfavorable postseason matchup. New Mexico trailed 4-3 entering the final period, but rallied on Craig Macdonald’s second goal of the night and Ortiz’s game winner to earn the victory.

The Scorpions took a 1-0 lead after one period, using a 5-on-3 penalty situation for the only goal of the period, a slap shot blast by Aaron MacInnis off passes from Vladimir Hartinger and Macdonald.

The goal ended a strange sequence of events which started when New Mexico’s Dominic Osman was whistled for tripping with 15:24 left in the period, only to have Amarillo follow up with back-to-back penalties on Shaun Arvai for slashing at 14:47 and Nate Fornataro for hooking at 13:22.

There were only nine seconds left on Arvai’s penalty when MacInnis blasted a high rising just above Amarillo goalie Dan McWhinney for the early lead.

Amarillo, playing only for pride, stormed back with two goals in the second period to take the lead on their division rivals. Bill Vandermeer's goal off passes from Austin Sutter and Marcus Reszka just 3:42 into the period tied the game, and the Gorillas went ahead on a Sutter goal with the assists going to to Vandermeer and David Nimmo.

Back came New Mexico to tie the game 62 seconds later on Macdonald's first goal with the assists to Konrad Reeder and Vladmir Hartinger. The same trio traded positions on a power play goal with 2:35 left in the period, with Reeder getting the goal and Macdonald and Hartinger the assists.

With momentum seemingly on their side, the Scorpions gave away the lead in the final 1:22. Chris Lipsett's power play goal, with the assist coming from Arvai, tied the game, and Jason Chafe banged home a rebound with three seconds left in the period to give the Gorillas the one-goal edge. Brett McConnachie and Chad Grisdale earned assists on the play.

Macdonold tied the game just 3:24 into the period, slamming home a rebound off a blocked Reeder shot to even the game. Robertson also earned an assist on the play.

Finishing third in the conference, as opposed to fourth, has all kinds of advantages for New Mexico:

•Avoiding a play-in series with fifth-place Austin.

•Time off while the play-in series takes place to rest the bumps and bruises that have accumulated over the regular season.

•A match-up with division champion Arizona, whom the Scorpions have a 6-4-2 series advantage this season, including a 3-3 record at Arizona.

•Avoiding a potential series with conference champion Laredo until the finals.

The Scorpions moved into position on Friday night, scoring four goals in the third period of Friday night’s road game to put away Amarillo 6-1. Arizona, meanwhile, helped out the Scorpions by beating Odessa 7-4 in the first of two games in the Valley of the Sun to end the regular season schedule, then beat the Jackalopes 5-3 on Saturday night as well.

Odessa entered the weekend with a one-point lead on the Scorpions in the battle for the third seed.

NOTES: Other postseason awards included Rookie of the Year, Dominic Osman; Defenseman of the Year, Hartinger; Leading Scorer and Most Valuable Player, Reeder. Osman finished the season third in the league in scoring among rookies with 47 points; Hartinger led the CHL among defenseman with 63 points and Reeder appeared likely to finish third in the league with 108 points, including 41 goals.

Ticket prices for the playoffs are on sale and will remain the same price as the regular season. Two-for-one tickets will be offered for all playoff games scheduled Sundays through Thursdays. Call 881-PUCK or go to the team\s web site, www.ScorpionsHockey.com, for more information.

Final league standings and more playoff information is available at the league’s web site, www.CentralHockeyLeague.com.

STORY WILL BE UPDATED WITH QUOTES.