MHC Dish From the Pitch 2013 MHC Dish From the Pitch Championship Edition | Page 3
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photo credit: Ellen Burmeister
The All Tool captains led the renewed charge to try and take the fight to the Ninjas but
the Irish Pub defensive was still not having any of it, and after a scrum formed perilously
close to the Ninja’s goal Justin “Pinball” McCauley bounded through the pack to kick the
sliothar clear of the assault. After Pub captain Tony Gaar put one through the uprights on a
free, the Ninjas swarmed and intercepted yet another Legion puck-out and forced it back to
the net where the sliothar trickled past the goal line for three. The Pub pressure was
relentless with Liam Raasch really stepping up with some great blocks on Legion captain Paul
“Tebow” Steinbrecher at midfield, and Ninjas Anna Dombroski and Naomi Gaar working the
box together to create plays up front. Their efforts led to an Irish Pub goal late in the half.
Ronnie Hansen and Christopher Frans showed some great hustle in their efforts to get the
Legion back on the offensive, but as the halftime whistle blew the Legion, without scoring,
found themselves looking at a dominating Irish Pub lead of 3-5 (14).
After a passionate halftime huddle the All Tool Legion took to the pitch knowing that a
comeback at this point of the playoffs would be difficult to say the least. The Irish Pub squad
picked up the offensive attack right where they left off, but All Tool was ready to rally in an
all-or-nothing fight to the end and took charge. Nick “Tater” Ruetz maneuvered through the
Pub defenders and blasted a sliothar to the back of the net for an All Tool goal. Not wasting
any time, Ryan Brown pulled off a great steal from Ninja Teddy Ruetz which led to a Legion
point courtesy of Tebow.
The Ninjas began to rely on short puck-outs to halfback Ryan Schubert who found the
likes of Logan Kittle to avoid the Legion midfielders. Once again on the attack, Ninja Tony
Gaar pointed on the run and his co-captain Tim Dombroski was able to sink a goal for the
Irish Pub. All Tool in turn changed their strategy hoping to show Pub a line-up that would
slow them down as Schmid switched to defense and Ryan Brown