Brick Oven skates to 4-1 win over Steep

Teams position for post-season seedings

The regular season for town league hockey is drawing to a close, with the playoffs slated to start on Thursday, February 12, so it’s go time for teams to rally for favorable post-season seedings.
Tuesday night, the Brick Oven took it to heart and may just be gelling as a team when it matters most.
The Brick Oven came into the game tied for last place with their opponent the Last Steep.
How the Last Steep is in last place is beyond me. With a roster that includes Paul Moscatelli, Blake Claflin and Chris Macarack, who are all former men’s comp league standouts, one would think they would be battling for first place. But they’re not, so what does one know?
Still, Moscatelli played several years for the Storm with a head-down, chin-out, in-your-face style that was always appropriate in the Storm games, especially when playing the Pigs. Yet, he sometimes had trouble turning it off in the lesser competitive town league games and I often slighted him for that attitude.
Then, I realized that no one should be slighted for intensity, especially in hockey. If Moscatelli wants to skate hard in town league, then he should. I mean, when you lace ‘em up and step on the ice, be ready to play. In rugby it’s called “white line fever.”
And when one steps off the ice, all should be forgotten, or at least drowned in several ounces of ice cold beer, only to bubble up the next time one steps on the ice.
So when I showed up Tuesday night to watch the Last Steep and the Brick Oven play at Big Mine Ice Arena, it was an opportunity to acknowledge the effort of Moscatelli.
Unfortunately, it appears he has now toned it down for town league and if the Last Steep is going to have a chance in the post-season, they’re going to need the old Moscatelli back.
Not that the entire blame of the Last Steep loss should be hung on the shoulders of Moscatelli. The Brick Oven was definitely looking good with several fledgling town league players leading the charge, and Brick Oven goalie Jay Harris was in the zone.
First and foremost, there was Brick Oven player/owner Dan Loftus. The guy picked up endurance mountain bike racing in a matter of two summers, becoming a consistent top-five finisher. Now it appears he’s finding his mojo on the ice, scoring one goal and assisting on two others as the Brick Oven skated to a 4-1 rout of the Last Steep.
While the Last Steep stumbled through the first period, the Brick Oven maintained pressure on the puck at all times and pushed it through the neutral zone to set up shop in the Last Steep zone.
They closed the first period with a flurry of shots on the Last Steep net, ending with a goal by Molly Frame off a pass from Loftus.
The Last Steep’s slothful play continued in the second period, barring the occasional surges from Claflin, while the Brick Oven continued their full-throttle effort.
Megan Paden led the Brick Oven to its second goal, skating up-ice through the neutral zone to fire a shot. Last Steep goalie Reed Schaub blocked Paden’s attempt as well as the subsequent rebound but the Brick Oven kept on coming with John Wirsing following up on a pass from Loftus to score and help build a 2-0 Brick Oven lead.
Moscatelli showed signs of his old self late in the second period taking the puck up the wing and straight to net to score, pulling the Last Steep back to within one heading into the third period.
The game would ultimately come down to who wanted it more in the third period and, ultimately, it was the Brick Oven.
The back breaker came two minutes into the third period went the Last Steep sent its “A” team—Claflin, Moscatelli and Macarack—on the ice for the entire two minutes of a power play.
They set up in the Brick Oven zone and proceeded to fire at will but Harris turned away each and every shot to hold the Last Steep scoreless.
Thirty seconds after killing the penalty, the Brick Oven scored when Loftus chased down a loose puck to fire it past Schaub and a 3-1 lead.
From then on the game was pretty much over as both Claflin and Moscatelli were hit with penalties, leaving the Last Steep to skate two men down with three minutes left to play.
Brick Oven player Matt Gutter used the expansive ice and two-man advantage to his benefit, hustling for pucks in the corners to keep possession. His work left the puck on Pete Cook’s stick at the point and Cook blasted a shot through traffic that Todd Carroll tipped past Schaub for the final nail in the coffin and the 4-1 Brick Oven win.