Dayton Fangs Women's Ice Hockey

In a game that featured 3 shots on net for the Fangs before any shots were made against Fangs netminder Marianne Graham, the final score (11-1) doesn't do justice to the game. The game began in the offensive end for the Fangs as they looked to take the lead for the first time ever, but the tides quickly changed with a rush by IBAH Team Six towards the Fangs net. Though the first period would continue to have scoring opportunities for the Fangs, they were able to keep the puck out of their own net until more than half way through the first when Team Six decided to throw some crazy guy with a black jersey on the ice (Team Six players were all in white). Blackjersey would score their first two goals and all of a sudden by the end of the first, the Fangs were down 6-0. The Fangs were helped defensively by the return of Julie Goode who has been out since a car accident the evening before the Indy tournament. This was the first IBAH game for Goode, who was paired with Captain Choh for the evening. Also on the blueline was Fang-in-law, Greg Frangioni who is visting his brother and Fangs Coach Ralph, who racked up another penalty in the game, for a short time. Greg and Ralph made the other defensive pairing and like the blue helmet crew, played excellent defense. Up front Amber Kiser got her first start in an IBAH game. Kiser is a new addition to the Fangs. Not only was this her first IBAH game, but her first game, EVER! She did quite well and was all smiles after the game. Once again our scoring offense was put on the board by a male member of the team, a Chris LaPole scored his second goal in IBAH. However, many of the women had scoring opportunities. The Fangs played a strong second and third periods and other than the lapse in the first while Mr. Blackjersey was on the ice, the Fangs played 75 minutes essentially giving up a goal every 6.8 minutes. Considering that the first game averaged a goal every 2.4 minutes that is much improved. But there is certainly more to say for this game. The players really worked well together as a team. Krista Kercher continued her stellar play with several scoring opportunities. Julie Orenstein played correct positioning and fought hard to get the puck out of the defensive end several times. Casie Hall, C.Hall, may have more games in than practices at this point. She has a lot of guts to go out and play so soon and has really been an encouragement to other players on the team. And Kim LaPole, who has now played every position but goalie, is nicely settling in as a Center. Sari Hardyal was our bench crew for the first half of the game but when Shannon Riffle became ill and could not continue, she rushed to the locker room and jumped in to the game. Shannon stuck around for a while taking care of the doors on the bench then moved to the stands to cheer on her teammates. She was joined by her future husband Mr. Smith who is a frequent fan of the Fangs. Andrea Welch also came out to cheer for the Fangs. As always the Fangs appreciate the help given to them by Head Coach Gary Welch, his son Danny (who played sick), Coach Ralph and his brother Greg, and Chris Lapole. The Pack will meet again to faceoff against IBAH Team 1 (aka Team Russo) (Team 1's Charlie Russo the father of Emily Russo, a Fang who is currently on an internship in Florida, who will return to the ice this summer) on Monday at 9:40 p.m.