Sunnydale Slays Hackers; Fire Spreads into First

When the Keane Fire ended their second straight dismal season in 1999B, few could have predicted the incredible turnaround that has happened in 2000A. New team captain Stephen Barriault took a different approach by acquiring grit with Don Abbott and Mike MacDonald. Also, rookie standouts Perry Gillam and Chad Barron have added a new offensive dimension to the team. Abbott attributes his success to his new focus. “Last year I had a bit of a gambling problem”, remarked Abbott, “I used to bet against my team, which probably had something to do with my lack of desire to win.” This year has been a different story for Abbott. “Now I’ve decided to bet on my team. It’s really pushing me to work harder and go that extra mile”.

Last night, Abbott pitched in with 3 goals and 2 assists in a 10-7 Fire victory over the Lite-Sabres. The Fire’s Kevin Haddad led all goal scorers with 6 while the team’s self-proclaimed “punisher”, Mike MacDonald, showed that he has a finesse game too by adding 3 assists. Peter Rinco led the Sabres with 4 of their 7 goals. The Fire kept the pressure on the Sabres constantly, firing 78 shots on Sabres’ goalie, Chris “the Human Bulls-Eye” McMaster.

The Fire victory meant that the LAN Hackers had to defeat the Sunnydale Slayers in the late game to remain in first place. However a deep Sunnydale squad had other intentions. The Slayers brought to the gym two full lines of quality players, whose energy sparked an 11-8 upset of the Hackers. Led by Tim Farrell’s 4 first period goals, the Slayers managed to hang on in the dying moments. With the Slayers up by one with time running out, Slayers’ goaltender Paul Chui stopped perennial scoring leader John Price on a breakaway to preserve the upset. Six different goal-scorers tallied for the well-balanced Slayers team. Price netted 4 for the Hackers while Mike Sasco added a hat trick