RIO RANCHO, NM – Every sports related cliché can be yanked out of the closet and offered for the New Mexico Scorpions’ weekend against the best and not so best of the CHL.
Turning point. Make or break. Put their pride on the line.
Whatever your favorite line might be, none can come close to describing the weekend completed by the Scorpions. Resting in the bottom five of the CHL Power Ranking Poll for months the Scorpions may well have saved their season and more than a few jobs with the efforts in the last two games of the weekend.
All of the merriment of the season was lost Friday night as the club blew four tires and the hearts of thse in attendance at the much maligned Santa Ana Star Center. The Rocky Mountain Rage came to town and embarrassed the Scorpions 6-2. The loss was the 9th regulation defeat for the Scorpions this season. In the previous two home seasons the franchise lost 8 games in each. The back breaker in this game was a shorthanded goal scored by the Rage early in the second while on a 3 on 5 penalty kill. New Mexico showed little effort and even less heart in skating against the Rage and former Scorpions netminders Scott Reid.
Andrew Martin. Courtesy of the NM Scorpions
With the loss to the Rage, little could be hoped for as the team was set to battle the Colorado Eagles and the Odessa Jackalopes, both in the top ranks of the Pro Hockey News Power Ranking Poll .
Instead, the Scorpions skated past the Eagles 6-4 in a game in which they held a 5-1 lead through 40 minutes. Christopher Robertson led the way with his second hat trick of the year and his 3rd goal of the night put out the Eagles’ rally flame midway through the third period after Colorado cut the lead to 5-2. Andrew Martin picked up the win for the Scorpions and made 44 saves on the night. Martin earned the win in the face of a blizzard of shots in the third when the Eagles launched 20 shots on goal to try to overcome a lackadaisical effort through 40 minutes of hockey.
Lyon Messier Courtesy of the NM Scorpions
The CHL schedule had the Scorpions returning home for an afternoon tilt against division leading Odessa. Both teams had little left in their legs for this early contest and the slow play through the first two periods was testimony to the futility of the 3 games in 3 days routine prevalent in the lower minors.
The third stanza of the contest was the one period this squad may look back on and realize they saved their season. Tied at 1 through 40 minutes the two teams played fast and with some abandon.
Jamie Herrington Courtesy of the NM Scorpions
New Mexico broke out on top in the first on a short-handed breakaway by Jamie Herrington who broke up a pass at the defensive blueline, beat Odessa goalie Dan McWhinney to the puck and back-handed the puck from near the goal for the quick lead. On the same power play, 50 seconds after the Herrington goal, Odessa tied it on a nifty wrister from the left circle.
In the third, the Scorpions reached down for that extra effort (sports cliché) and played aggressively on tired legs. The effort paid off with about five minutes left in the frame when a wild scramble to WcWhinney’s right left Christopher Robertson with the puck and he smacked it home for the 2-1 lead.
The goal clearly deflated the Jackalopes who had split a home and home series with the Amarillo Gorillas in the previous two days.
Christopher Robertson Courtesy of the NM Scorpions
The final four minutes of the game were played by two clubs waiting for the final horn but not before a series of penalties left the Jacks down two skaters and Aaron MacInnis took advantage with a power play goal into the empty Jacks’ net with five seconds left on the clock.
The 3-1 win gave the Scorpions a rare, home-ice win and even rarer 2-game win streak.
More importantly for the New Mexico franchise was the attendance reported for the Sunday afternoon game, 2756. While many other franchises may scoff, this number was in spite of a televised game between the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles. New Mexico is a hotbed of Cowboy football. Sunday afternoon matches have notoriously drawn few fans in the past so the franchise ought to take some solace in this fact.
Friday night’s debacle aside, the absent fans missed a terrific effort from a tired club that deserves kudos and support. But the real task for the club starts this week: keep the momentum going into the new year and challenge for post season berth.
Contact the author at lou.lafrado@prohockeynews.com.
You must be logged in to post a comment.