After falling behind after the first 20 minutes following Kalamazoo goals from both Davis Dekorte and Taylor Burden, the Jr. Blues continued the trend as they evened it up after two periods following two goals of their own. Mike Fazio netted his eighth goal of the season on an assist from Brett Skibba -- then Skibba padded his team lead in goals with number 15, as he added the game-tying goal. Mike Fazio and Terry Leabo assisted Fazio on the goal, which was also the games only power-play goal as well.
The contest had a total of just seven power-plays. Kalamazoo capitalized without the help though as they went 0 for 2 for the game; while the Jr. Blues got the goal from Skibba to tie it at two and finished the game 1 for 5.
With the Nelson Center amped up and energized to start the third period tied at two apiece, the 850 faithful Springfield fans certainly made their voices heard; it was probably the loudest that I have heard the Nellie get this season aside from the end of the dramatic win against Topeka last Saturday night that ended with an all-out, every player brawl. Just 2:08 into the start of the third and final period though, Kalamazoo's Patrick Spellacy scored on a nice pass from Luc Boby in what turned out to be game-winning goal.
The goalies for both teams played excellent games. In all reality, neither deserved to be charged with a loss either. Matt Leon saved 25 of 28 Wings' shot attempts, while Marcus Due-Boje converted saves on 27 of the Jr. Blues' 29 shot attempts. Leon fell to 7-9-2 for the season and has now lost a season-high six straight games. On the other side, Due-Boje made his eighth start of the season; and he made it count. He improved his record to 5-3-0 and has allowed just 23 goals on 263 shot attempts (.913 save percentage); and he is now 2-0 against Springfield this season as he defeated them on November 25th when he allowed one goal on 35 shots as they won 2-1 at home.
The Jr. Blues out shot Kalamazoo 29 to 28 for the contest as the K-Wings had just one of the three periods with more shots on goal. Springfield, who was led in shot attempts by Brett Skibba with 5, won the battle 12 to 7 in the second and 11 to 9 in the third; they were out shot 12 to 6 in the opening period of the game.
Following the lost, the Jr. Blues fell to 11-17-2 (24 points) overall on the season, and are now leading Michigan by just three points as they try to get out of the eighth spot in the North division. Also, the team is now under the .500 mark at home inside the Nellie as they are 8-9-1 overall. Springfield will hit the road though next week as they will take on Janesville at 7 pm on both Friday and Saturday nights.
Official Scoring Summary --- From the official website of the NAHL
First-(KAL) Davis Dekorte (Luc Boby, Patrick Spellacy) 15:41; (KAL) Taylor Burden (Cole Pierce, Matt Wurst) 19:30
Second-(SPR) Mike Fazio (Brett Skibba) 9:49; (SPR) Brett Skibba (PP) (Mike Fazio, Terry Leabo) 19:43
Third-(KAL) Patrick Spellacy (Luc Boby) 2:08
Three Stars of the Game --- From the official website of the NAHL
1. Patrick Spellacy (Kalamazoo)
2. Luc Boby (Kalamazoo)
3. Brett Skibba (Springfield
Click here to view the official boxscore from the Nelson Center (NAHL's official website).
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