Official Press Release

Pequita's OT Goal Sends Guppies Back to the Finals; 2-1!

Glastonbury, CT May 30, 2006. ZRink - Killingworth Guppies Spring 2006 season.

May 30, 2006 - Tuesday night the Guppies would face off against a team that beat them only a week earlier. In that game the Guppies would out shoot the Ball Smashers but, would lose the game on several defensive lapses. However, for the semifinals game the Guppies had made a commitment to a  "Defense First" style of play. "We really wanted to make sure we had guys back to help Joe tonight" stated Guppies Defenseman Mike Halle. "They have a few guys that can really move the puck and we wanted to shut them down as much as possible". Despite the strong defense, the Smashers had several scoring opportunities which Guppies netminder Joe Linskey was able to handle. "The guys really played well in front of me tonight. I mean, I actually saw Millen back check and that's unheard of" explained Linskey. The Guppies managed some offense in the first half but couldn't find the twine or the net for that matter as many of their shots sailed wide. At the end of the first half the Smashers and Guppies were deadlocked in a defense struggle tied at 0.

In the Second Half, the Guppies started to control the play as their superior off ice conditioning started to become apparent. Just under five minutes into the half the Guppies would attack the Ball Smashers zone. Brian Kelly (0-1-1)would fire a shot wide of the net however Jason Zito (0-1-1) would take the rebound and fire a shot on net. A rebound would kick out about chest high. Marc Crayton (1-0-1) skating through the slot, would bat the rebound out of the air "Gretzky Style" to give the Guppies the one goal lead. "It was probably the best and biggest goal I've ever saw Crayton score" admitted Guppies defenseman Rob Murphy.  Crayton added "I was going to the net and the rebound just flew up at me. To be honest it was just a reaction."  With the Fish up by one their defense became even tighter, as they went into a 1-1-2 forecheck. However, late in the half, Halle was given a questionable tripping call. The Smashers would take advantage of the power play when J. Miller beat Linskey with a shot from the top of the right circle. Both teams played the final five minutes with caution. Zito had several opportunities in the final minutes of the game ringing the post not once but twice. Regulation would come to and end with the team dead locked in a 1-1 tie.

The teams would skate in a five minute Over Time. "We really wanted to end this in OT, we weren't looking to go to a shoot out" stated Crayton in a post game interview. The Guppies were able to do just that when Dan Pequita (1-0-1) skated through the neutral zone and fired a hard low shot that eluded the Smashers net minder to the glove side. GUPPIES WIN, GUPPIES WIN, THE GUPPIES WIN!!!  In a post game interview the Guppies' Tim Poulin was shocked by the final score "A 2-1 score in a roller hockey game? A 2-1 Overtime score in a roller hockey game? That's just unreal!"

In the other Semifinal game the Fire Ants beat the Canadiens in a hard fought game, 9-7. Tickets for the Finals go on sale Thursday morning at 10am at the Zrink box office,  The Country Cloverleaf,  and the Killingworth town library.

SIDE NOTES:

- Guppies had a full roster

- The Guppies return to the finals with Tuesday night's victory. In the 10 season the Gupps have played at the Zrink they have made it to the finals 9 times. The only season the fish missed a trip to the finals? Fall 2005 when Killingworth missed the playoff for the only time in their 11 year history.

- Reports from TSN.ca, Have fueled speculation that former Guppies Defenseman John Carroll will be making a comeback in the Summer 06 season. All calls to both the Guppies and Carroll's agent have gone unanswered.

- The Guppies crowd was actually in force on Tuesday night "They're some Raleigh/Hurricanes type fans out here, you know the ones that show up for only the playoffs" stated  one Guppie's fan

BOX SCORES: