Ruckus rally spoils Tumwater Pioneers home opener
Photo courtesy of Jeff Slakey/KMAS
TUMWATER, WA – The Tumwater Pioneers took an 8-2 lead early in the third quarter but a furious rally the rest of the way for the Marysville Ruckus spoiled the Pioneers home opener as the Pios dropped an 11-9 heartbreaker in front of a packed house at Tumwater Indoor Sports on Saturday night. Kevin Flavin scored five goals for the Pioneers while Victor Navarro scored three times for the Ruckus including the eventual game winner with less than four minutes to play.
The Pioneers started out red-hot in their long awaited home debut. Flavin started the scoring with just over a minute gone in the game. But Marysville answered back quickly when PASL Northwest Division scoring leader Josh Rudnik scored the first of his three goals on the evening, a shorthanded goal following a Ruckus blue card. Flavin rifled a shot home near the 7:00 minute mark to give the Pioneers a 2-1 lead before Phil Buchan tied the game at two to finish off the first period.
Flavin picked up the hat trick early in the second period and the Pioneers were hitting on all cylinders for the next 15 minutes. Kevin Creeley, Matt Stalnik, George Bundy all scored goals and Flavin added another to give the Pioneers a 7-2 lead heading into the break.
Logan Smith got on the board for the Pioneers early in the third period to give them an 8-2 advantage but Marysville would come charging back scoring four straight goals and cutting the lead to 8-6 at the end of the third quarter. Casey Collins, Rudnick, Danny Graham and Navarro each scored a goal in the Ruckus onslaught.
Rudnick opened up the scoring in the fourth period to draw the Ruckus within a goal and Danny Graham tied the game up at eight with eight minutes to play. But Flavin was there again scoring his fifth goal of the game to put the Pioneers up 9-8 with just under seven minutes left. From there on out, it was all Marysville. Buchan tied the game at nine before Navarro scored the game winner with 3:42 remaining and iced it with an insurance goal to give the Ruckus an 11-9 victory over the Pioneers.
With the win, the Ruckus move to 2-2 in the PASL Northwest Division and are bunched up with five other teams all with six points. The Pioneers fall to 0-3 on the season.
The Tumwater Pioneers will look to right the ship next weekend when they play host to the first place and undefeated South Sound Shock, who are coming off of a 7-4 victory over the Kitsap Pumas in Bremerton on Saturday night. First kick at Tumwater Indoor Sports is scheduled for 7:00 PM.
Summary
Tumwater Pioneers (0-3) vs. Marysville Ruckus (2-2) Date: 1/5/13 Location: Tumwater Indoor Sports Goals by period 1 2 3 4 Tot ------------------------------------- Marysville.......... 2 0 4 5 11 Tumwater............ 2 5 1 1 9 SCORING: Marysville Ruckus Victor Navarro....3 Josh Rudnick......3 Phil Buchan.......2 Danny Graham......2 Casey Collins.....1 Tumwater Pioneers: Kevin Flavin......5 Kevin Creeley.....1 Matt Stalnik......1 Logan Smith.......1 George Bundy......1
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