T-men Lose One, Win One in Weekend's Action

June 29, 2009

The Nanaimo Timbermen went 1-1 this past weekend in two exciting games, one away and one at home. Game one was in Victoria against the first place Shamrocks at Bear Mountain Arena. Victoria opened up scoring fast, with a goal less than 2 minutes in. Recent Nanaimo transplant Myles Kenny then scored for the T-men, less than a minute later, with nice passes from Bobby DeBrone and Graham Palmer. Victoria continued to dominate the period, scoring eight more goals in the first, but not before Scott Ranger scored as an extra attacker, with assists from Mike Morrison and Sterling Mitchell. The final score from the first was 9-2 in favour of the Shamrocks.

The second period started out hopeful, with goals from Cayle Ratcliff and a nice shorthanded goal from Morrison. The T-men held the Shamrocks off to only two goals during the second, both goals coming from the special teams, either shorthanded or on a power play.

The third period was starting to look up for the Timbermen, scoring three more goals to close up the gap between the two teams, at 11-7 in favour of the Shamrocks. Ryan Clark scored one, with assists from Morrison and Palmer, as well another power play goal from Ranger, and a goal from Ryan Campbell, which came as an extra attacker. Unfortunately Victoria scored four more goals to further their lead, and ending the game at 15-7.

Game two was much more exciting and efficient for the T-men, as they won their first home game at Frank Crane Arena on Saturday night. The T-men were up against the Maple Ridge Burrards in an exciting 7 pm start. Nanaimo came out hard, and opened up the scoring with goals from Brad Scott, Graham Palmer, and Ryan Dietterle, and there were assists from Cayle Ratcliff, Andrew Kirkaldy, Scott Ranger, and two from Simon Stocks. Maple Ridge scored a power play goal at 7:26, while Kyle Couling was in the penalty box for a roughing minor, but the T-men picked right back up again, with two more goals from Mike Morrison, his first goal in a very successful night, with an assist from Ryan Campbell, and a goal from Ratcliff on a nice feed from Palmer. Shane Pederson also scored one, with nice passes from Ratcliff and goaltender Matt King, and not too long after, Ratcliff snuck his second of the game past Burrards goalie Ron Schibild, which was nicely unassisted. Maple ridge scored one more in the period, but soon after, Morrison scored his second of the game, with assists from Scott and Campbell. It looked like the Timbermen would go into the second with a 8-3 lead, but with two seconds left in the first, Ranger scored his first of the game on a power play, taking the T-men into the second with a 9-3 lead over the Burrards.

The second period started out on the wrong foot for Nanaimo, as Maple Ridge scored two quick goals to inch themselves a little closer to the T-men. Andrew Kirkaldy then scored a quick one past Schibild, with assists from Palmer and Ranger. Palmer continued his hot streak, with another goal, this time unassisted. The Burrards scored twice more in the second, leading the crowd to believe that the T-men were falling apart, until Mike Morrison scored his third of the game, pumping the crowd up again, and finalizing the second period scoring at 12-8 for the T-men.

The third period again started off wrong for the Timbermen, as Maple Ridge scored two goals to again bring them within two goals of the T-men. Then once again, Mike Morrison came to the rescue, and scored two more goals for the T-men, bringing his point total for the night at five goals, one assist. Maple Ridge managed to sneak in two more goals before Scott Ranger netted his second of the game, with an assist from Ratcliff. Although Maple Ridge scored two more goals after Ranger's, the T-men still managed to clear the floor with their heads held high at the thought of their first victory in Frank Crane Arena. The final score was 15-13 for the Timbermen, with Mike Morrison earning first star of the game, and Cayle Ratcliff earning second star of the game, both with 6 points.

The Timbermen's next game is this Saturday, July 4th, against the Burnaby Lakers at Frank Crane Arena. Faceoff is at 7 pm.