The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Goldberg nets game-tying goal
WOW, what a game. After just one week of play, town league hockey has already ramped up to mid-season form.
Tuesday night’s match-up was a glaring example of that as the Bacchanale and Last Steep battled through three periods of high-paced action, finishing with the bitter taste of a 3-3 tie.
The Last Steep took control of the game in the opening minutes of the first period as Paul Moscatelli scored off a pass from Blake Claflin. Claflin added a second Last Steep strike five minutes later with a wrap-around goal and the game looked to get out of control.
But Bacchanale goalie Dave McGuire found his mojo to deny a Nathan Welch backhand and the Bacchanale turned up the juice for the end of the first period.
McGuire came up with a glove save to deny another backhand attempt early in the second period and the Bacchanale cleared the puck of their zone.
Sneaky Pete Nichols caught the Last Steep defense snoozing and chased the loose puck into the corner.
Clif Dimon crashed the Steep net and Nichols hit him with the pass in the slot for the goal, cutting the Steep lead down to one.
Both McGuire and Last Steep goalie Reed Schaub pulled off numerous saves mid-period as the teams traded off rushes to net.
Claflin found the back of the Bacchanale net one more time in the final minute of the second period to give the Last Steep a 3-1 lead heading into the third period.
But a Last Steep penalty in the waning seconds of the period offered up a Bacchanale power play to open the third period. The Bacchanale set up their power play offense to pepper the Last Steep net with shots. Schaub made the first few saves but a blast from Jay Prentiss from the blue line found a seam to the back of the Last Steep net.
The goaltenders bailed their teams out repeatedly in the third period but another Last Steep penalty gave the Bacchanale the break they needed.
Skating a man up gave the Bacchanale the necessary confidence to attack the Last Steep net in search of the game-tying goal. Mark Goldberg capitalized on the confusion in front of the Last Steep net to poke the puck past Schaub and tie the game 3-3 with three minutes left to play.
The teams closed the game playing four-on-four hockey but neither squad could take advantage of the vast expanse of open ice to score the game winner, leaving the teams with a 3-3 tie.
