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Official Press Release |
Glastonbury, CT April 28, 2005. ZRink - Killingworth Guppies Spring 2005 season.
April 28, 2005 - Thursday night the Gupps face off against the Pepsi Express in the PEPSI CHALLENGE 05!! No fancy table's and signs with Coke and Pepsi were set up this night. Just two teams playing in front of a capacity crowd at the Zrink as the Gupps tried to remain undefeated and the Express tried to stay above .500. Pepsi came out flying and set the tone early as they controlled the play. "They (Pepsi) were really pumped for this game and it showed as they controlled the play early" stated Guppies forward Tim Poulin. Thanks to some strong Goaltending from Joe Linskey the Guppies were able to regroup and jump on the Express....."All Aboard!!" Craig Zito (4-0-4) played well and help the Guppies grab the lead when he walked in alone on Express netminder Ray Arnott and scored his first of the night. About Seven minutes later the Gupps would add to their lead as Craig again beat Arnott. Less then a minute later the Guppies started to pull away as Marc Crayton (1-0-1) buried some garbage in front of the Express net. C. Zito would round out the first Half scoring as he scored the hat trick off of a Dan Pequita (0-2-2) pass.
At the Half the Gupps were in control and Up 4-0 but the Express weren't dead yet. In what many consider and dicey move the Pepsi Expressed loaded up on Caffine for the Second Half. It looked as if they would need more help when Jay Zito (2-1-3) scored his first of the night making it 5-0 Gupps! However, the Caffine fix kicked in as the Express took advantage of a Powerplay to make it 5-1! The Rink seemed to tilt towards the Gupps end for the next few minutes as Pepsi scored again to make it 5-2. The Guppies stopped the bleeding as C. Zito scored his fourth goal of the night. In the final moments the two teams traded goals leading to the Gupps 6th straight victory this season 7-3. Linskey credited Arnott's play in the Express net "Ray looked good out there tonight, He had his hands full all night but he made some great saves". Linskey would face 19 shots, A quiet night compared to last week. "It was great to have some players here tonight, last week was tough" added Linskey.
The Guppies face off next week against the Fighting Saints at 7pm. This is an important game for several reasons but the most important reason is it marks the Guppies 10th Anniversary! It was 10 years ago on May 5th 1995 when the Guppies first took to the Dek tying the Maple Leafs 3-3. To honor the night the team will wear Jerseys from each year of their exsistance. This game is sold out, but it might be worth the price of a scalped ticket.
SIDE NOTES:
- Full Roster: The Guppies were all accounted for Thursday night as they played their first game with a load roster.
- Coca-Cola After their victory against the Pepsi Express; the CEO of Coca-Cola called the Guppies locker room to congradulate the team on their victory.
- Tryout! Linskey played for 5minutes in the Mad Dogs Net following the Gupps game because theor goalie was late. The Dogs play in Puck C, which is where you'll probably find the Gupps next season.
-Overseas: Tim Poulin will not be at the next Guppies game; As he'll be in Israel on a "Meet the Guppies" World Tour.
BOX SCORES:
First Half:
14:46 - Guppies - Goal - C. Zito (Murphy, Kelly)
7:08 - Guppies - Goal - C. Zito (Pequita, J. Zito)
6:47 - Guppies - Goal - Crayton (Murphy, Kelly)
5:00 - Guppies - Goal - C. Zito (Pequita)
Second Half:
18:13 - Guppies - Penalty - C. Zito (Holding)
15:04 - Guppies - Goal - J. Zito (Halle)
12:28 - Guppies - Penalty _ Poulin (Tripping)
11:29 - Express - Goal - Marshall (Flynn) PP
8:11 - Express - Goal - Forman (Lambert)
6:35 - Guppies - Goal - C. Zito (Kelly)
4:01 - Express - Goal - Flynn
2:53 - Guppies - Goal - J. Zito (Halle)
2:47 - Express - Penalty - Walley (Tripping)
Shots on Goal:
Guppies: 38
Express: 19