COLUMBUS, GA – “Scorers need to hit, hitters need to score.” That was Columbus Cottonmouths captain Will Barlow’s message to his teammates going into the 2010-2011 President’s Cup Playoffs. So far, the Snakes have heard his message.
Led by Kyle Lundale’s first professional hat trick, the Cottonmouths defeated the Augusta RiverHawks 7-2 Saturday night, sending their best-of-three semifinal series to a decisive game three Sunday in Augusta.
“It was definitely a thrill. It was awesome, but I had to put it in the back of my mind and
Columbus%27 Kyle Lundale had his first career hat trick in game two Saturday night (PHN photo by Stephanie Simpers)
Columbus came out hitting in the first period, taking numerous Augusta players to the ice and wasted no time lighting the lamp. At 4:50 of the first, Lundale took a Daryl Moore pass at the point and blasted a slap shot past RiverHawks net minder Jon Olthuis. Less than four minutes later, Lundale was again set up at the point by Jeff MacPhee and beat Olthuis with a slapper to give the Snakes an early 2-0 lead. Augusta answered quickly when Ryan Olidis netted his second goal of the playoffs. The Cottonmouths went into the first intermission with a 2-1 lead but that was, as it turned out, only the beginning.
Buoyed by the strong first period, Columbus went for the kill in the second. Just over four minutes into the middle period, Orrin Hergott took the puck into the offensive zone, skated to the right side of the net and wristed the puck past Olthuis. Two minutes later, Matt Kinnunen sent Olthuis to the bench when he poked one home. Augusta Coach Brad Ralph opted to pull Olthuis for Peter Skoggard. It was a move the rookie coach hoped would spark his team.
“I’m sure there were a couple goals Jon would like to have back, but at that point I was hoping to jump start our team, but it didn’t work,” he said.
Skoggard didn’t fair much better than his teammate. Less than four minutes after hitting the ice, Sam Bowles followed up a Mitch Wall shot by stuffing home his third goal of the post season. One minute later, Lundale was showered with hats by the Cottonmouths faithful with his third slap shot goal, set up by David Cianfrini and Orrin Hergott.
“It’s always big for someone to step up to the plate in the playoffs,” Barlow said about Lundale’s performance. “During the regular season, you tell the guys to do their job. In the playoffs everyone has to step it up. Tonight it was guys like Lundale, Levi Lind and Mitch Wall.”
Moore would cap a four-point night with an unassisted goal with 5:15 left in the second to make it 7-1. Neil Graham would score the lone goal of the third midway through, assisted by Olidis and Jason Price.
Though the scoring was over, the fireworks were saved for the end. A near brawl broke out when the final buzzer sounded. Kevin Fukala cross checked Kyle Lundale in the face and did his best Jason Heyward impression when he took a swing at Jeff MacPhee. Coach Ralph felt it was a sign of frustration from his squad.
“Tempers boiled over. They did it to us last night. I didn’t want to see that, but that’s hockey,” Ralph said. “It wasn’t my idea to send any message. It was an emotional game for us. Sometimes you have a lot of emotion built up and obviously he couldn’t control it.”
Columbus’ Moore is hopeful that his team can take the momentum gained from the lopsided game two victory into game three.
“It’s a big thing in the playoffs to have a short memory. Last night was a tough one for us. Tonight we came on strong, but tomorrow we have to forget about this game too and focus on tomorrow,” Moore said. “After the shutout last night, to run him (Olthuis) out tonight has got to help us going into tomorrow.”
Meanwhile, Augusta captain and SPHL Most Valuable Player Matt Auffrey said that his team will have to quickly put the loss behind them and get back to doing what made them successful all season.
“We’re in our rink, we have to stay disciplined, I think we got away from that a little bit tonight,” Auffrey said. “Special teams are coming through for both teams. It’s a new ball game. We beat them 3-0 and they beat us 7-2. It doesn’t matter when they drop the puck Sunday.”
Augusta faced a similar winner-take-all game situation in its first round series against Pensacola. Forward Travis Dunstall, who scored twice in game one, said that the memories of a week ago could come in handy.
“We were in the same situation against Pensacola. We just have to regroup,” Dunstall said. “We know they’re going to come out hard tomorrow after a big win tonight. We have to get back to playing how we know we can.”
The Cottonmouths may have to play the deciding game without forward Jesse Cole, who left during the second period with an undisclosed injury. Barlow said while losing Cole would hurt, he expects the team will battle through it.
“Mitch Wall stepped up and played in his place tonight, he’s a lot like Jesse, plus he adds a tough dimension,” Barlow said. “Obviously Jesse’s a huge part of our team, but at the same (time), we may have to work without him. Hopefully he’ll be in the game.”
While the victory was a huge one for his team, Cottonmouths Coach Jerome Bechard knows it was just one win and that it will all be for naught if the Snakes can‘t finish the job in game three.
“It was a great win, the guys were phenomenal. The bottom line is tonight means nothing if we don’t come back with a win tomorrow,” Bechard said. “Our biggest thing is we can’t be too high. Obviously it’s an emotional win, but we have to be level headed. Lundy finally got his start going. We needed somebody to step up. It’s somebody different every night.”
Game Notes: Ian Vigier turned away 23 of 25 shots to earn his seventh career playoff win…After going 0-for-6 on the power play in game one, the Snakes went 2-for-9 Saturday. Augusta followed a 3-for-4 power play night Friday by going 1-for-5 in game two…With a goal and assist Saturday, Cottonmouths veteran Hergott matched his point total for the last 3 playoff seasons combined. Hergott has 2 goals and 2 assists this post season…Game time for the deciding game at the James Brown Arena is set for 7:30 p.m.
Contact the author at lee.marion@prohockeynews.com
