Cardiff Stays Sharp. Leucadia Shuts It Down

The Cardiff Stingrays have emerged as the most consistent team through four weeks of play. In this latest week of the Unify Elite Draft League, the Stingrays showed the Escondido Rhinos that their full squad will need to take a swim if they are to stay alive in the Stingrays’ waters.

The Leucadia Longboarders grinded it out for a narrow victory over the Balboa Pandas. Both of these teams are coming into their game and playing with the grit and tenacity needed to win down the stretch. 

While the Stingrays ran away with it in their week four blowout, they’ll need to stay sharp if they are to outbattle the Pandas in next week’s matchup, as they’ll be hungry for a bounce-back win.  

Gameplay Recap

Escondido Rhinos vs. Cardiff Stingrays

The Rhinos, once again afflicted by a holiday weekend, came into week four short-benched against a streaking Stingrays squad. The result–disastrous for the Rhinos. 

The Rhinos went up early in the first half when Matt Trostad hammered home a rebound from the crease off an opportunistic shot by Zac Casinghino. This was the Rhinos’ only lead of the game, and it was short-lived. The very next play, Stingrays’ Brian Pino received the puck in the high circle and trudged across the crease area, unable to get a shot off as he was draped by a Rhinos’ defenseman, but he was able to slide the puck over to a wide open Wes Langeloh, who fired it home from a tough angle to put the Stingrays on the board. Shortly after, Chad Lewis released a shot from just within the center red line that found its way through multiple layers of players and into the back of the net. Next would be a Stingrays power play, with Jason Effertz making no mistake on a rebound opportunity from the bottom of the left circle, putting the Stingrays up 3-1 with 10:17 left to go in the first half. 

The Rhinos had pockets of momentum, but they had a difficult time getting shot attempts through the Stingrays' defense. This created turnovers that allowed the Stingrays to get on their horses and champion the transition game. The fourth Stingrays goal came off a Rhinos shot attempt that the Stingrays picked up in transition; the puck made its way to Effertz along the right wall near the red line, and he passed the puck rink-wide to a flying Logan Wise who got in on a short breakaway and fired it home top glove on Rhinos goaltender, putting the Stingrays up 4-1. 

The Rhinos got the next goal off a criss-crossing play that had Casinghino leaving a drop pass to Dillon Bilek, who found room and got a clean shot on net that squeezed through the Stingrays’ tendy. It would be the Stingrays who got the final goal of the first half, with Langeloh scoring his second of the game after swatting in a juicy rebound. The first half ended with the Stingrays up 5-2. 

Unfortunately, the Rhinos were hardly prepared to start the second half, unraveling in their defensive zone. At the start of the second half, the Stingrays collected a rebound and gained easy access into the Rhinos’ zone on a three-on-two, which ended with Colton Grover firing a hard wrister from the top of the right circle that beat the Rhinos goaltender far side. Then there was some back-and-forth play, with both teams connecting on stretch passes, but only the Stingrays converted on their opportunity, with Langeloh finding twine on a clear breakaway, potting his third of the game. Still struggling to connect on passes and pick up coverage in their own zone, the Rhinos failed to connect on a breakout pass, turning it over and allowing the Stingrays to cycle and find Logan Wise open at the top of the circles, who fired a shot high glove to make it 8-2 Stingrays. This prompted a Rhinos timeout.

The Rhinos came out of the timeout with a resurgence. Rhinos’ Gabe John received an outlet pass with speed, fired a shot on net, got his own rebound, and deked past the defense and goalie to tuck the puck into the net. Then the Rhinos converted on a textbook breakout play that ended up on Bilek’s stick, who was able to cut into the middle of the rink and rifle one past the Stingrays’ goalie from the top of the circles. This made it an 8-4 Stingrays lead with 10:29 remaining in the second half. But the Stingrays would only stretch their lead from here on out off goals from Grover, Dalles Hesseling, Joe Kubani, and Effertz. 

For bringing great energy to his team, sacrificing a stick in the team win, and getting on the board with a dagger of a wrist shot, Dalles Hesseling was awarded player of the game.  

Final Score

Escondido Rhinos: 4
Cardiff Stingrays: 12

Balboa Pandas vs. Leucadia Longboarders

The Pandas and Longboarders battled through a closely contested matchup. Both teams played well defensively: keeping pucks to the outside; backchecking hard; playing physical; and receiving strong backing from their respective goalies, Wyatt Beaupre for the Longboarders and Tom Holsheimer for the Pandas. 

Neither team was backing down, and all players fought for open space, working hard to create opportunities. Unfortunately, one race for a loose puck resulted in the Longboarders’ Ray Kinsey colliding with the Pandas’ Quincy Maffitt, causing Kinsey to go down and hit his head. Fortunately, he would be okay, but Ray Kinsey did sit out the rest of the game.

Both teams had their chances, and the goalies stood tall to meet the challenge. It was the Pandas who struck first late in the opening half. Nik Olsson of the Pandas gloved down a fluttering puck off a broken play in his defensive zone, then spun with the puck to create space for himself before passing it up the rink to teammate Rylan Farwell, who delivered a sweet sauce pass that connected perfectly with Lars Erickson, who redirected the puck top shelf to light the lamp with just over a minute to go in the first half.

The Longboarders tied up the game off a spectacular individual effort from captain Reed Kinsey. After a confident blocker save from Beaupre, Kinsey got to the loose puck in his own zone and chipped it over the stick of forechecking Panda player, Jimmy Becker (whose forecheck looked strong throughout the game, helping generate numerous opportunities for his team), allowing Kinsey to evade pressure, get into an open area, and carry the puck into the offensive zone. The Pandas defenseman continued backing off, giving Kinsey too much time and space to walk in and shoot an uncontested wrister from the top of the right circle that went post and in to beat the Pandas’ goalie. 

The Longboarders would strike again shortly after off a shot from Anthony Mata from a very similar spot atop the right circle. Mata streamed over the red line and cut across the rink with speed before firing a shot that found the back of the net, putting the Longboarders up 2-1 with 7:46 remaining in the second half.

The Pandas answered back. Pandas’ AJ Wright picked off an errant Longboarder outlet pass and then dangled his way past two Longboarders’ defenders, drawing a tripping penalty that put the Pandas up on the man advantage. The Pandas capitalized on their power play, with Bailey Ridout firing a shot from the high slot that beat the Longboarders’ goalie low blocker.

With things tied 2-2 and time running out in regulation, both teams made some run-and-gun efforts led by their star players. The first was taken by Nik Olsson for the Pandas, who flew into the offensive zone and burbled the puck in his attempt to pull it past several Longboarders defenders. This allowed Reed Kinsey to pick up the loose puck and put in his coast-to-coast effort. Kinsey carried the puck into the Pandas’ zone, and fired a shot on net, then followed up his shot, collected his rebound, and toedragged around the goalie to pot his second of the game. This put the Longboarders up once again, a score of 3-2 with 3:07 remaining in regulation.

The game came down to the wire. The Pandas pulled their goalie to give themselves the extra attacker, but they were unable to find the back of the net, with Wyatt Beaupre keeping cool, calm, and collected in net for the Longboarders.

For his 25-save performance and backstopping the Longboarders to a gritty win over the hard-shooting Pandas, Wyatt Beaupre was awarded the player of the game.  

Final Score

Balboa Pandas: 2
Leucadia Longboarders: 3

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: Build off the week-four victory by carrying forward solid defensive structure, full-lineup tenacity, and clear communication.

Balboa Pandas: Establish a dominating forecheck to take away neutral zone space, generate more scoring opportunities, and find opportunities for your top shooters. 

Cardiff Stingrays: Utilize speed and skill to win the possession game. Continue supporting one another to win puck battles and generate offensive zone cycling.

Escondido Rhinos: Be opportunistic, close down the defensive gaps, and communicate off the rink to get more teammates on the bench and in the zone come game time.