ANN ARBOR– Hunkered down in a pitched battle, fighting to a stalemate, and with several players captured, Ashley’s Ruination looked to be in a trouble as they fought against the Depot Town Stags Tuesday night. Tied at 1-1 after the first period, a bevy of penalties decimated the front lines. “We were dead,” said forward Devin Collingridge.
Lopez, Juback, and Woods manage to charge in, not score or assist on any of the goals, and still claim victory in Ruination’s 4-1 win over Depot Town.
Call in the cavalry.
A scoreless second period showed the team they could hold on, but not forever. Ricky Winowiecki– battling food poisoning and hostile referees– was forced to sit most of the third period and watch helplessly as the team fought bravely but futilely. “What should I do?” asked Shawn Lopez upon hearing the news of the team’s plight.
Call in the cavalry.
Lopez, defenseman Mark Woods, and winger Al Juback charged in without a word and without contributing statistically in any way, except where it counts the most– handing water bottles to tired skaters and letting them rest between shifts.
“I’m proud to say that we came, we saw, we let the guys rest so they could conquer,” said Woods.
Soon after their arrival, a rejuvenated Brian LeFevre added to Collingridge’s first period goal short-handed to give Ruination the lead. Six minutes later and properly rested, Jason Spence added another, and Matt Schaefer took a break-away pass from John Vella to cap off the scoring, giving Ashley’s a 4-1 win and a ticket to the finals.
Woods expressed hope that he might accidentally get credited with an assist or two in the championship series, where the team will face the Black Bears agin. “With a little luck, I might make it onto the Ashley’s Bud Light Lime B-League team,” he said.