All Teams With Even Record After Week Two

Reminiscent of the start to the 2024 season, all four teams end week two with a 1-1 record. 

The Escondido Rhinos and Leucadia Longboarders had a barn burner packed with sweet dangles, dishes, and snipes. There were a combined 17 goals scored between the teams, resulting in a 9-8 victory for Leucadia and treating all fans in attendance to a sporting spectacle. 

The Cardiff Stingrays ended up running away with a convincing 6-2 win against the Balboa Pandas. Despite the physicality from the Pandas, the Stingrays showed impressive control of the game and outmatched the Pandas in offensive zone time at even strength. 

With week two in the books, team identities are starting to take shape, and all groups recognize the commitment needed to pull away with a win.

Gameplay Recap

Escondido Rhinos vs. Leucadia Longboarders

It was Mother’s Day weekend, which had many of the Rhinos players proudly out of the lineup. On the other side, Leucadia players brought their moms and families to the game, giving them a full bench. In the end, this was a battle of attrition, with Leucadia’s strategy ultimately offering the winning hand. 

Despite having only five skaters, the Rhinos played with heart and made the game exciting to the very end, even leading for a good portion of the game. All five Rhinos players in attendance (Pasha Bocharov, Noe Santos, Zac Casinghino, Matt Trostad, and Jake Mata) found their way on the score sheet, with notable performances from captain Pasha Bocharov and Noe Santos. Bocharov, who ended the game with four goals, used his poise and finesse to help settle the play in the back end and exploit gaps in Leucadia’s defense. Santos kept his engine roaring, flying up and down the rink to generate golden opportunities for himself and his teammates. He ended the game with a pair of goals and three assists. 

The Rhinos took advantage of open space and uncontested shooting lanes. The Longboarders showed resilience, but they will want to apply more defensive pressure to reduce the number of grade-A scoring opportunities they allow their opponents in the weeks ahead. 

But in the end, the Rhinos did not have enough juice down the stretch to outbattle Leucadia, who were hungry for a victory after their 3-2 loss the week prior. Leucadia was trailing 5-3 at the end of the first half, but they continued to push and eventually tied the game 5-5 with 13:22 remaining in the second half. They then took the lead a few minutes later and would not find themselves down for the rest of the game (but the Rhinos did tie it up once more). 

The sharp-shooting Rhinos forced Leucadia to run 'em up. To Leucadia's credit, they answered the call. Captain Reed Kinsey kicked off the game’s scoring and ended up with three goals and three assists. Younger brother Ray Kinsey was just as relentless, scoring four goals and tallying one assist. Leucadia also got a goal each from Anthony Mata and Christian Tabone.  

For his mighty five-point performance and helping his team outbattle a short-staffed Rhinos squad, Ray Kinsey was recognized as player of the game.

Final Score

Escondido Rhinos: 8
Leucadia Longboarders: 9

Balboa Pandas vs. Cardiff Stingrays

Full benches for both teams in this matchup. 

The Pandas came out hot, taking the early lead with stellar goals from Josh Morrison and captain Rory Herrman. Morrison took advantage of open space near the Stingrays’ goal line to get off a backhand shot, then got his rebound and fired it home from the top of the crease. A few minutes later, Herrman saw an opening while on the penalty kill; he slipped behind the Stingrays' power-play unit and received a nice dish off the wall from teammate Quincy Maffitt to get a fast-break opportunity, cutting outside-inside and releasing a wicked wrister that beat both the Stingrays’ defenseman and goaltender. 

The Stingrays kept their composure and bounced back to tie the game 2-2 midway through the first half off an opportunistic, near goal line shot from Brian Pino and a power-play wrist shot dagger from Colton Grover. After tying it up, the Stingrays found their game and never looked back. 

The Stingrays had more sustained offensive-zone time than the Pandas, who fell into a more north-south style of play. The Stingrays also collapsed well on the Pandas in the neutral and defensive zones, taking away the middle of the rink and forcing turnovers that led to opportunities in transition. A beautiful example of this was the goal by Chad Lewis that put the Stingrays up 4-2, which came off a Stingrays takeaway near the center red line. 

Brian Pino and Jason Effertz made a dominant pairing for the Stingrays, creating plays off the rush and helping Cardiff sustain offensive zone time. Both Pino and Effertz were part of Stingrays’ highlight-reel fifth goal of the night: Effertz carried the puck over the red line and glided to center, pulling two Pandas toward him and giving time for teammate Evan Medeiros to sweep in behind with speed; Effertz gave a nice backhand dish to Medeiros who was streaking up the left boards, giving Medeiros a two-on-one opportunity with Pino; Medeiros sent a rink-wide pass to Pino who received the puck and then cut across the crease to deke past a sliding Pandas goaltender and roof a backhander bar down for extra sizzle. This was an exclamation mark goal that put the Stingrays up 5-2 with 6:31 remaining in the second half.

Also of note was the Stingrays' penalty kill, which went 2/2 on the night. With his tenacious play and silky mitts, Stingrays' Logan Wise made it difficult for the Pandas to get set up on the power play, and he scored a sweet shorthanded goal to make it 6-2 late in the game. 

For his two-goal performance and for being an integral part of the most dynamic duo on the rink in this matchup, Brian Pino was awarded player of the game.   

Final Score

Balboa Pandas: 2
Cardiff Stingrays: 6 

Looking Ahead: Keys to the Game

Reflecting on week two and looking ahead, these are the key components to giving each respective team an advantage, as analyzed by the Unify Elite Draft League front office.

Leucadia Longboarders: Follow captain Kinsey’s leadership by becoming more communicative as a team on the rink to tighten up defensively as a four-man unit, better challenge the opposing team’s offensive drives, and prevent uncontested shots from high-danger scoring areas.  

Balboa Pandas: Win 50-50 battles and maintain more aggressive forechecking pressure to create opportunities and prevent opposing teams from making easy transitions and controlling play in the neutral zone.

Cardiff Stingrays: Continue building on the puck possession game to create opportunities and odd-man breaks. Be mindful of positioning during transitions to avoid getting caught out of defensive position in case of a turnover.

Escondido Rhinos: Continue to carry the puck into high-danger areas between the circles and get more teammates to show up for the game to have legs down the stretch.