With second place at stake in the WSHL, The Flyers traveled to Sacramento to take on the Capital Thunder Jan. 6-8 for three and came away with six points and sole possession of second place. While Coach Marvin was shooting for three wins on the road, he knew it wouldn’t be easy and that the boys would have to earn it.
On Friday night after a 6 hour bus trip, The Flyers started goaltender Taylor Nelson and went on to pick up the win 8-3 outshooting the Thunder 39-18. Andy Monesi recorded a hat trick while Brent McGill and Christian Starr each netted two apiece along with a couple assists each on the night as well. The Thunder went on top 2-1 in the first period and after the first period break, The Flyers seemed to find their legs and outscored The Thunder 7-1 the balance of the contest.
On Saturday, The Flyers had their hands full as Sacramento outshot them 15-8 in the first period. Jackson Winkler kept them in the game giving up only two goals in a period that saw the puck in his end a great deal more than he bargained for. Once again, the Flyers started to balance the attack and outscore their opponent 2-1 in the second period. Winkler saw even more shots (17) that period, but he was in the zone. Finally in the third period, The Flyers opened things up with 4 goals while Winkler allowed only two on 23 shots. When the dust had settled, The Flyers were victorious 7-5 as Winkler saw 55 shots while The Flyers had a total of 36. Andy Jakiel netted two goals in the win while five other players chipped in one apiece. It was one of those down-in-the-trenches battles that builds team character and the team walked away knowing that by not giving up, they earned the “W”.
The final game of the set on Sunday morning was another battle for two periods as Nelson once again was between the pipes. After two periods the sore was 3-2 Flyers as they dominated in the shot category. Newcomer Corey Dinwiddie scored the first goal on a power play and rookie Casey Crumlish got the second one.
In the second period Brian Voogt tallied the first of three goals as the Flyers gave up one and they went into the third period up 3-2. The third period was all Valencia as they scored 7 times including Voogt’s 2nd and 3rd along with Andy Jakiel’s two goals. The total shots for the contest were 49-19 in favor of the Flyers as Nelson went on to pick up his second win of the trip as The Flyers completed the sweep and moved up into 2nd place behind the Polar Bears who are in town for a single game this Friday Night followed by a game on Saturday at home Vs The Sacramento Thunder.