Pizza Man vs Garcias

In the second game of the night, 3rd seed Garcias defeated 2nd seed Pizza Man 6-3 in their first round, AAA match-up.  Garcias got off to a hot start when Blake Brazil went coast-to-coast on a Justin Martin assist, putting the 1-0 score in the top shelf at 11:25 in the first period.  After a hard scuffle in the crease, Pizza Man’s Patrick Zmuda had the quick reply less than a minute later, for the 1-1 tie unassisted. At 9:15 in the first, Matt Guerts, assisted by Ben Morse and Ryan Ghan, wristed a rocket from the right side of the crease for a 2-1 Garcias lead to close out the early game action.  In the second period, Jay Nielsen ripped it from the left, tying it up 2-2 for Pizza Man, assisted by Justin Frechione. The story from the bench was Garcias drum section, who played that old familiar tune for the next four unanswered goals. Reid McDonald started off the drubbing when he scored on power play at 4:55 in the second, with Martin tallying his second feed of the night, putting Garcias up 3-2.  Pizza Man’s goalie Gary Hanson found himself in some trouble outside the crease, but just as the dust was about to settle, Brazil snuck in his second goal of the night unassisted. Matt Guerts rang the bell for a second time as well for Garcias, with his 5-2 shot ricocheting inside the kitchen cabinet. Ghan went solo for Garcia’s final goal, at 3:47 remaining in the third. Pizza Man put up a fight until the bitter end as they managed one last goal, with :08 remaining, when Brett Siegel, assisted by Matt Daughtery and James Hester, finalized the score, 6-3 Garcias.  Goalie Joey Lindquist had 18 saves off 21 shots for Garcias. Hanson recorded 20 saves off 26 attempts for Pizza Man. Garcias leads the series 1-0.