Fire Higher Than Ever

The Keane Fire set a new team record for most points in a season on Monday night when they dramatically defeated the Sunnydale Slayers 10-9. Despite the loss, the Slayers also finished the season with a team record 12 points, and a 6-4 record. However, the Fire spoiled the Slayers chances of finishing in first place overall for the first time in their history.

The game itself was a nip and tuck affair, featuring several lead changes. The game's outcome appeared destined to be a tie, until Fire forward Trevor Murphy knocked home the game-winner with a mere 19 ticks left on the clock. For Murphy, it was his first game-winning goal since the 2001A season.

Kevin Haddad led all Fire goal scorers with 4 goals, while defenseman Jehad Chedrawy added 2 goals and 3 assists. The Slayers were led by Chris Griffin, who had 2 goals and 3 assists. Rob Tyrrell scored three goals for the Slayers to give him a league leading 39 goals for the season -- the ninth best total in league history. Slayer forward Rene Aucoin scored the tenth short-handed goal in league history, while his team was a man down in the third period after incurring a Too Many Men penalty.

The Fire had little time to rest after Monday's historic victory, as they squared off against the Lite-Sabres in a make-up game on Tuesday night. With another win, the Fire would have vaulted over the Sabres into third-place in the standings. But after the teams traded early goals, the Sabres took advantage of a Fire team that started to show the effects of playing back-to-back games. The Sabres went on to outshoot the Fire 16-12 in the first period, in amassing a 4-2 lead. But the game's fate was not sealed until the second period, when the Sabres opened up a 7-2 second intermission lead, led by two Chad Griffin goals. Griffin finished the game with 4 goals in his return to action after missing the first game in his entire career.

The Sabres went on to defeat the Fire 9-4, and move into a tie for second place overall with the Slayers. The game's second star Spiro Bokolas had 2 goals and 3 assists for the Sabres while Kevin Haddad topped all Fire scorers with a goal and an assist. Sabres' goalie Chris McMaster stopped 42 of 46 shots, which equated to a 91.3% save percentage -- the tenth best regular season mark in league history.

But because the Sabres did not win by at least 8 goals, they will have to at least tie the Hackers in their final game if they wish to have a first round bye in the playoffs. With a win against the Hackers, the Sabres will finish in first place for the second straight season. The Hackers need only a tie to secure their seventh regular season title.

With the loss, the Fire will finish in fourth place, and will play their quarterfinal game next week against the ADC Lynx.