VISUALEYES SWEEP THE PEACE FROGS

Team V Advances to EMHL Finals with a 8-5 win against the Peace Frogs in Game 2 of the semi-finals.
Visualeyes will defend their title against Third Street Tap Room beginning on Monday, April 9th at 9:20 PM.

CROWE-VIVIAN SCORES 1G, 1A

Max Bonito opened up the scoring for Visualeyes, beating the Peace Frogs goalie top shelf glove side on a pass from line-mate, Matthew Mesi. Not wanting to be out done by his "MMA" line-mate's, Andy Valint fed blue-liner Jeremiah Crowe-Vivian with a beautiful pass to give Visualeyes a two goal lead. The Frogs answered back, scoring 3 goals in the remaining 4 minutes of the first period to take the lead by one.

Visualeyes re-grouped during the first intermission, and tied the score at 3 when Kevin Rogers buried on the power play from Iron-man Ryan Donnelly and Eric Schottke on the power play. The Toads, refusing to back down, took the lead back from Team V 45 seconds later. Valint took the reigns over for Visualeyes, tying the game at 4 and the rest was history. Matt English-Gunning scored his first of two goals on the night on another power play from Duff Dunnigan.

With a 5-4 lead heading into the third period, Team V realized they needed to buckle down in order to secure their trip to the EMHL finals. Michael Denz buckled that strap with a big goal and an even bigger fist pump to celebrate the 2 goal lead. Team V carried Denz's fist pump into the remaining 12 minutes, getting insurance goals from English-Gunning and Duffy Dunnigan.

"DENZER" NETS GWG FOR TEAM V

Strong play from Matt Baudo between the pipes allowing Visualeyes cruise to the EMHL finals. Baudo also earned his first career playoff assist on English-Gunning's second tally of the game.

"I thought it was a great series for us. The frogs tried to scum it up and slow us down in game 1 and when the going got tough, they weren't willing to answer the bell, as usual. They tried to skate with us in Game 2 and our team depth really showed as the Frogs just couldn't compete for 3 periods. It'll be nice to get a week break and prepare for back to back titles." said Matt English-Gunning.

After the win, Player/Coach/GM/Equipment Manager Drew Leberer-Kasperczyk looked forward to Team V's next task but also thought back on the season. "There are lots of average teams and there’s nothing wrong with that,” said Leberer-Kasperczyk. “Of the 6 teams in the EMHL Classic Division, probably 4 are average. That means they win one, lose one. They’re in the mix. But the next step for us is to be an elite team. We had to make a self-evaluation about what type of team we wanted to be in October, when we lost three straight. We could continue and win a couple, lose a couple. Our we could go after that elite status. If you go after that, then you have to bring a better work ethic, a better intensity every day. Our guys didn’t want to be average. They want to be elite, they want to build a dynasty”

After that rough patch in October, Team V went 15-4 and a great mix of offense and defense played a huge roll in that run. Leading the league in goals for (188) and second in the league in goals against (136), Visualeyes led the EMHL in +/- with +52. Matt Baudo was a huge part of that, stepping up, and playing lights out.

NEWS AND NOTES:

-The EMHL Classic Division Finals are set. Visualeyes will host Third Street Tap Room in a best of 3 series beginning on April 9th at 9:20 PM at Buffalo State Arena. Game 2 is scheduled for Monday, April 16th at 7:20 PM and Game 3 if needed, is April 18th at 9:20 PM. Great Seats are selling fast!

-Team Visualeyes and Third Street Tap Room split their season series 2-2. Each team won in regulation and won in a shoot-out.

-The streak is over. Iron-man Ryan Donnelly will miss his first game of the 2011-2012 season after skating in all 28 previous games. Donnelly was unavailable for comment.