'TIOGA TERROR' COMBINE FOR 6 POINTS IN WIN OVER COZUMEL

Visualeyes has struggled all season with Elmwood Cozumel, dropping the first two meetings earlier in the season, but on Monday evening, Team V showed the EMHL why they're #1 in the league.

A solid team effort, from the net out, gave Visualeyes a 5-3 win, their first win over Cozumel this season. Visualeyes' 1-2 punch of Eric Schottke and Duffy Dunnigan each scored 2 goals and had an assist, coming up big in the victory. The "Tioga Terror" started off the scoring early when Schottke found Dunnigan for his 17th of the season. Cozumel answered right back when big bad Brian Valint tipped in his first goal of the year past Matt Baudo to tie the game.

"Big Veasy" and "Dusty" chase down Coz

Dunnigan scored his second of the night just 2 minutes after Cozumel tied the game on a beautiful Alexander Ovechkin'esque one-timer from grizzled veteran Matthew English-Gunning. As the tempo of the game increased so did the intensity. With 4 minutes to go in the first, Matt Baudo made an incredible stop on a Cozumel 2 on 1. Baudo stopped the intial shot and made a glove save on the rebound but the puck slipped out into the slot leaving a wide open net for Cozumel. Andy Leberer-Kasperczyk had no choice but to stand in the paint and make a save with his right shin sending Visualeyes' bench and crowd into a frenzy.

Team V took that energy into the second, Mike Denz scoring 14 seconds into the period after a crafty deke from Schottke. After going up 3-1, Visualeyes sat back, took some pressure off of Cozumel, and gave up the two goal lead, facing a tie game with only the third period to play.

With the game tied at 3 goals aside, both teams had excellent chances to take the lead, but it wasn't until halfway through the period that EMHL leading scorer, Eric Schottke scored the game winner from iron-man Ryan Donnelly and Matt Gunning. Visualeyes speed continued to dominate the third period and drew 3 penalties in the remaining minutes as Cozumel just could not keep up with the speed. Schottke added his 25th of the season from the other half of the Tioga Terror and ensured the win. Baudo shut the door on Cozumel in the third, stopping all 12 shots.

Jerry Crowe-Vivian had an opportunity to score when Cozumel pulled their goalie on an empty net with 35 seconds to go, but decided to fire the puck into the corner instead. After the game, Crowe-Vivian was asked why he didn't score on the open net and he replied, "Empty net goals are for h&@^'s".

Veteran D-man Matt English-Gunning recorded a play-maker in the win over Cozumel and was happy with his team's play. "We’re just firing on all cylinders right now. Great chemistry, great leadership, great goaltending. Bonito's hair looks great, I could go on and on. But it’s a long season so we cant get too high on our horse right now. And I'd personally like to thank Team V management for loaning me to SUNY Geneseo alumni association this weekend. It will be nice to get back on the ice with former Team V star, Dan Brown."

One of the budding stars of the EMHL, and half of the Tioga Terror put things into perspective after the game. "Things are really clicking these days for Team V. From Baudo, to all the D-men, all the way up to the forwards. When you have players making plays, putting their bodies on the line like "Lebs". It really makes you want to fight that much harder"

NEWS AND NOTES:

-Monday's win gave Visualeyes a 6 point cushion ahead of Cozumel for first place in the EMHL.