MHC Dish From the Pitch 2014 Week 8 | Page 21

In the second game of the day, Irish Pub was hungry for their first win of the season, but County Clare was not going to lay down and give it to them without a valiant fight. With Irish Pub drawing first blood with a point, County Clare bit back with a goal. Keeping the ball inbounds, Sean Rae Zalewski aimed his shot at goal and the sliotar bounced into the goal to put three points up. After a Ninja foul, Clare's Caleb Hunnicutt hit the ball toward the net, allowing Captain Noah Leydel to put it in the back of the net for another three points. But the second half of the first quarter saw Irish Pub's defense step up. With critical stops and clears by Anna Krajcik and Todd "Scrappy" Witt, Irish Pub didn't allow any more goals in the first. The end of the quarter saw scrambles in front of both goals but because of aggressive defenses, neither yielded scores. The quarter ended with a score of County Clare 3-2 (11), Irish Pub 0-1 (1).

The second quarter began with a puck out by Irish Pub, followed by a point by Ryan Schubert. Clare took possession however, scoring two quick points. With an Irish Pub defense that wouldn't give up, they got the ball to the offensive side and Captain Tim Dombroski scored several points. The back and forth battles continued throughout the quarter and ended with some great blocks by Clare's Lucas Papenfuss and beautiful clears by Irish Pub's Anna Krajcik. The score going into halftime was County Clare 4-4 (16), Irish Pub 0-7 (7).

The Ninja offense wouldn’t give up going into the third quarter and Ryan Schubert took a point, only to have it devastatingly bounce off the upright. With a couple more missed opportunities by the Ninja offense, Clare's Sean Rae Zalewski kicked in another goal, followed by a point by Caleb Hunnicutt to solidify their lead. Irish Pub however answered with a goal and point combo of their own by Captain Tim Dombroski. Clare's offense however answered this fresh Pub onslaught with a goal of their own by Lucas Papenfuss and eventually another kicked in goal by Noah Leydel. As the quarter wound down and another scramble ensued in front of the Irish Pub goal, Pub's Allison Kavanaugh cleared the ball, stopping the Cats from scoring again. The quarter ended with a score of County Clare 7-7 (28), Irish Pub 1-9 (12).

With such a differential in score, it might have seemed like the Ninjas were going to be apathetic of the fourth quarter. However, even in the face of such odds, Irish Pub never gave up. Clare's Dieter Hanamann scored another goal for the Cats. But Pub's offense answered with two points, one by Ryan Schubert, the other by Captain Tim Dombroski, and a goal by John Gilmore. What followed were some missed opportunities by the Ninja offense but a defense that never gave up with spectacular saves by Brian Dake and Anna Krajcik. When the final whistle blew, County Clare had a score of 8-9 (33), Irish Pub 2-12 (18).