DAVENPORT, IA – NOVEMBER 20, 1999

 

The  Quad City Ice Eagle Bantam hockey team split a pair of games with the visiting Pekin Flyers at the Quad City Sports Center, but the Eagles won the important one.  In the game that counted in the CIHL standings, Austin Busch scored with 3:25 left to propel the Eagles to a 3-2 win.  The Flyers came back to win the second game, scoring the last five goals in a come-from-behind 5-2 win.

 

In the first game, the two teams battled through a scoreless first period, with the Eagles able to muster only one shot on the Pekin net, while Pekin tested Goalie Brandon Kruse with five shots.  Center Josh Moon opened the scoring with 9:15 left in the second when he broke in around the defense and beat the Pekin netminder with a wrist shot.  Three minutes later, Pekin’s Rowe tied the game at one.  The tie lasted until Moon scored on a blistering breakaway slapshot with 2:57 left, but Pekin’s Ghidina scored in the period’s last minute to tie the game again at two.  The teams battled through a tense, tight-checking third period until Busch roofed a wrist shot from about 15 feet to the left of the Pekin net.  A late penalty on Pekin preserve the one-goal victory.  Kruse kicked out 21 of 23 Pekin shots, while the Eagles were limited to only 12 shots on goal.

 

The victory pushed the Eagles into a tie with Springfield and Pekin, with all three teams now having one loss in the league standings.

 

The second game looked like it might be a repeat as Josh Moon scored on the first shot of the game from just inside the blueline.  The Pekin goalie got a piece of the shot, but couldn’t hold it as it dropped over the line.  The goal marked Moon’s eighth score in the team’s last 4 games.  Moon would score again early in the second period to increase the lead to 2-0, but that was to be it for the Eagle offense.  Flynn scored with 8:31 left in the second to get Pekin on the board, and they tied the game at 6:22.  The Flyers then took command with two goals late in the second period to take a 4-2 lead.  They added their final goal midway through the third period to make the final 5-2.  Again the Eagles were outshot 27-15, as Goalie Brandon Morgan was under heavy pressure throughout the game.

 

The lack of balanced scoring is taking its toll on the Eagles.  During the last four games, all of the scoring has been provided by the first line, with Moon scoring nine goals and linemate Austin Busch the other three.  The Eagles were hampered in the second game by injuries to Tom Parkinson and Jack Hasselbusch.  It was learned after the games that Hasselbusch suffered a broken collarbone and Will Hegwein a broken thumb.  Both are expected to be out about 5 weeks.

 

The split moves the Eagles’ record to 8-2, with a 2-1 slate in the CIHL.  The Eagles will try to improve on last year’s performance in the Thanksgiving tournament when they knocked off a team from Toronto to advance to the finals, but lost a 1-0 thriller in the championship game.