Team DC Run Ends in Quarterfinals
The speed of the Illinois team caught Team DC off guard in the first half of Monday’s America’s Showcase St. Louis quarterfinals, but DC rebounded with a dominating opening eight minutes in the third period that had Illinois nervous and on the ropes. In the end, though, it wasn’t quite enough as Illinois weathered the storm and pulled away for a 7-2 victory to advance to the semifinals.
Trailing 4-0 and being badly outshot after two periods, Team DC was all over Illinois to start the third, recording the period’s first six shots on goal and finally getting a break when Ryan Olson (Team Maryland/DeMatha) rifled a shot over the goal and off the glass that rebounded off of netminder Brennan Nein and into the net.
Daniel Pimenov (Jr. Flyers) followed that up less than two minutes later with a gritty power-play goal that resulted with him being cross-checked into the goalie to make it 4-2 7:21 into the final frame.
Christian Halbig (Team Maryland/DeMatha) just missed on one of his numerous chances moments later or things could have been much different. Illinois managed to regroup and score the next two goals at 10:32 and 12:34, both after questionable missed calls, en route to the 7-2 decision.
Ben Algatt (Howard Huskies/Calvert Hall) got the start in goal and stopped several 1-on-1 and odd-man breaks to keep DC in the game until the third-period rally. He was credited with just 24 saves, but the actual total approached 40.
“Ben did a great job giving us a chance to stay in the game until our guys started figuring things out and following the plan in the third period,” head coach Joe Vonakis said. “Everyone bought in during the intermission and came out ready to play and executing properly in the third period. The results showed. We played some of our best hockey of the tournament in the first half of that period and were able to put a scare into them. I think after the fifth goal we kind of just ran out of steam.”
With the loss, Team DC completed its best showing in recent memory with a 3-1 record after going unbeaten in pool play to win the Pool B “Freedom” Division. DC went 3-1 two years ago, but did not advance to the playoff round. Last year’s team was 2-2 with a consolation win over an A Pool opponent. Illinois was the second overall seed out of the A Pool after going 3-0 to capture the “Stripes” Division. Pittsburgh, the eventual champion, was the top overall seed as a result of its superior goal differential.
“Every year we want to improve and take a step forward,” Vonakis said. “Last year our pool-play showing was disappointing, but the victory over an A Pool team was a positive for the program. This year, to win our pool, advance to the quarterfinals and give one of the top teams a scare in the third period is a tribute to our players’ never giving up and the evaluation team that helped us put together this group. I can’t thank my assistants, Ben Hammock and Mike Urgo, as well as our player personnel evaluator Jim Candleana and the other college and junior coaches who helped us assemble this group enough. This was our deepest team in recent memory, and they never stopped competing on the ice. Off the ice, Team DC did the DMV region proud with how the players carried themselves throughout the event in St. Louis – on and off the ice. I would like to thank the players for that as well. It was a fun group to coach.”
Unfortunately, the statistics often seem to be incorrect in these types of tournaments, but to the best of our knowledge, Luke Leydig (DeMatha) should have led the way overall with two goals and two assists, while Jack Massey (Team Maryland/Gonzaga) was the top goal-scorer with three. Pimenov added a pair of tallies for DC, while
had a goal and two assists. Seven other Team DC players should have been credited with at least two points in what proved to be a balanced attack.
“We probably should have finished more chances as a team throughout the tournament,” Vonakis said, “and I think Illinois’ speed caught us a bit by surprise today. But we achieved our goals on the ice and represented our area very well both on and off the ice. It was a pleasure to be part of the team, and we look forward to continuing to build on our success next year.”
