Bullfrogs Manage to Keep Things in Check
The checking figured to increase dramatically in the second half of the Bullfrogs’ Roller Hockey International game Tuesday night at San Diego.
So, it wasn’t too surprising to see veteran Bullfrog Rick Judson and the Barracuda’s Soren True raising their sticks at each other as they wrestled along the glass behind the Bullfrog goal in the early minutes of the third quarter.
In two victories over the Bullfrogs this season, San Diego did a good job of drawing the Bullfrogs into penalties and fisticuffs, which led to key power-play goals for the Barracudas. The last time the Bullfrogs visited the Sports Arena, Coach Grant Sonier smashed a hockey stick in frustration.
Judson was penalized for roughing and True for high-sticking and apparently neither team learned from it. Bullfrog reserve Mark Stitt and San Diego’s Oleg Yashin were ejected for fighting just before the third quarter ended, but the Bullfrogs still managed to win, 11-7, before an announced crowd of 2,941.
The teams combined for 55 penalty minutes. Mark Desantis and Joe Cook each scored two goals for the Bullfrogs.
The Bullfrogs lead second-place Oklahoma by nine points in the Pacific Division and the two meet at the Pond tonight. A little more than a week ago Oklahoma was only a couple of points back.
After two one-goal losses to third-place San Diego this season, the Bullfrogs were just hoping to head back up the freeway with its lineup intact for the showdown with Oklahoma. The way they did that didn’t have to be pretty.
“We didn’t want to get into a war with them,” Todd Wetzel said. “We just wanted to play a nice little road game and win.”
Wetzel converted a penalty shot with 1 minute 22 seconds left in the third quarter to give the Bullfrogs (14-3-2) a 9-6 lead. The penalty shot was awarded after Yashin was called for instigating the full-on, take- your- jersey- off- and- we’ll- punch- it- out affair with Stitt. Yashin, who had two goals Tuesday, started the game having scored eight goals in his previous two games.
“We took some bad penalties tonight,” San Diego Coach Steve Martinson said. ‘We didn’t need that coming off two losses in a row.”
Desantis gave the Bullfrogs a 10-6 lead with 9:48 left and San Diego (7-9-1) suddenly realized the road to a postseason berth had gotten more difficult. The Barracudas fell 15 points behind the Bullfrogs, and remain six points back of Oklahoma. Only two teams from each division advance to the playoffs.
Desantis evened the score with 3:53 left in the second quarter, and then Judson, off a nice pass from Victor Gervais, put the Bullfrogs in front, 5-4.
Tom Menicci scored his fourth goal of the season shortly after the ensuing faceoff for a 6-4 lead.
The Bullfrogs extended their lead to three goals three times in the third quarter and got an empty-netter from Glenn Stewart, his 19th, with less than a minute to play.