Flyers gain momentum heading into playoffs with 3-1 win over Ontario

By Matt Robinson/Valencia Flyers Junior A Hockey                                                        3/9/2014 1600 EST

The Flyers may have put some doubt into the minds of their first round playoff opponent Ontario Saturday night with a 3-1 victory. The Flyers, who lost to Ontario just two weeks prior by a score of 8-1, looked like a completely different team, dominating the game from start to finish despite the close score.

The Flyers showed their speed right of the opening faceoff, using it to go on the offensive right away against the more physical Ontario squad. The start paid off as some early pressure and typical grind away crash the net style of the Flyers paid off early as Adam Papayoanou threw a puck towards the Ontario net that Daniel Cepila had trouble handling, allowing 

Jared Waldman to punch home his 10^th goal of the season to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead less than three minutes into the game.

The Flyers would continue to buzz the Ontario net for the remainder of the first period, creating trouble for Cepila and the Avalanche defense and outshooting them 12-2.  However the Flyers could not seem to push a puck across the goal line and the first ended with Valencia leading 1-0.

The second period started out much in the same way as the first with the Flyers going on the offensive early. Ontario would get a few chances though early in the period, testing Flyers goaltender Luke Thompson. Thompson shut the door on two occasions in the period, one on a big glove save off a wide open look by Lubomir Fetkovic and the other on a left leg pad save on a bid by Nikita Salinkov.

The Flyers would help Thompson out midway through the second as red hot Blake Aguilar made it 2-0  after an excellent fore-check by Aguilar, Wil Barnett, and Papayoanou hemmed the Avalanche in their own end. Papayoanou was able to steal a puck inside the Avalanche line, then his pass hit Barnett in the back who was able to locate it and feed Aguilar for a quick shot that caught Cepila off guard, sliding between his legs.

The Flyers would take the 2-0 lead into the second intermission, a situation which had yielded them 19 wins in 20 chance coming into the game.

Near the end of the second some tempers started to flare as these two playoff opponents started to get physical. The physical play resulted in a fight with 49 second remaining between Ben Meadows of Ontario and deadline acquisition Jordan Grywacheski for Valencia. Both threw some big shots, but ultimately the newly bleached blond Grywacheski won the fight, firing up the Flyers bench and the home crowd in the process.

Early in the third power plays were ramped as tempers continued to boil over, giving both teams 5 on 3 opportunities less than 2 minutes into the period. Ontario would capitalize on their 5 on 3 opportunities as Basil Reynolds netted his 6^th of the year after some sustained pressure by Ontario to make it 2-1 Flyers.

The game would remain that way until just over 5 minutes remained in the period. The Aguilar, Papayoanou, Barnett line was able to steal a puck in their own end and build up speed creating a 3 on 2 situation. Papayoanou drove the right wing, then dropped a pass to a wide open Aguilar who then fed a driving Barnett at the left circle. Barnett’s one time bid went through a sprawling Cepila’s legs and hit the left post, but the Flyers number paid off as Aguilar followed it up to tap home his second of the game and 16^th of the season to give the Flyers a 3-1 lead.

Valencia would close out the game with a solid defensive effort, limiting Ontario’s chances through the final five minutes, winning the game 3-1. This was a much needed victory for the young Valencia team, especially after the 8-1 drumming to the hand of Ontario just 2 weeks ago.

Both teams will play next weekend in Ontario in a best of 3 first round series with the winner moving on to the Pacific Division Finals where they will face either Long Beach or Fresno.

Matt Robinson is the Play-by-Play Voice of the Valencia Flyers. In addition, Matt also handles the Valencia Flyers Social Media accounts, produces stories and content for valenciaflyers.net and does Play-by-Play for College of the Canyons Ice Hockey.