roadhockey.net

Beetle bugs out

Beetle Boy scored seven goals for only the second time in his road hockey career to lead his team to a dramatic 20-18 win in Sunday's game. But it was perhaps the timeliness of those goals that dealt the crippling blow to his feisty opponents.

In the first competitive game since snow and ice buried the courts and caused the cancellation of last week's match, Beetle Boy was as much a pest to harried defenders as the bug for which he's named. Time and again he managed to find the back of the net just as his team seemed destined to squander a lead, including a seeing-eye rapier over Billy Idol's shoulder that broke an 18-18 deadlock late in the game.

"He was el fuego that guy," says Wink, who then sealed the deal by scoring the game-winner. "It just seemed that everything he shot was brilliant."

"He was scoring timely goals," says Bird, who was caught flat-footed when Beetle Boy dashed around him to launch his back-breaker goal. "Normally he doesn't get a lot of goals, that's the shocker, so you normally don't check him all that much."

Even Beetle Boy says he was surprised by his success around the net. "I was hitting the high corners, which is rare for me. I was just happy that whatever was happening seemed to be going my way today."

And what was good for Beetle Boy was especially good for his team. After building an early 7-2 lead and seemingly on their way to an easy romp, his mates' scoring touch suddenly turned to stone and their advantage diminished to one slim goal. It took a pair of quick goals by Beetle Boy to reestablish their momentum, and his side never trailed.

"Momentum is important," says Wink. "There's a real ebb and flow to raod hockey. We were ebbing and then we were flowing, and to get us back to ebbing, we needed Beetle Boy."

"A few times we were up by two goals and they would come back," says Beetle Boy. "Those timely goals just allowed us to regain momentum whenever we seemed to lose it. I seemed to be having some luck today."

"It's tough because we kept coming back and tying, but we could never take the lead," says Bird of his side's frustration. "I don't think anybody expects Beetle Boy to score, so when he scores that many, it hurts."

After two weeks of cold temperatures, snow and ice that resulted in the first weather cancellation of a game in Sunday Morning history, a week of torrential rains cleared the concrete court and warmed the hearts of the roadsters, who were itching for a return to competitive play.
"We have to set the tone for the new year," said Beetle Boy, of his return to the court. "We lost a game to weather, and the other game there was snow and ice on the ground, so it wasn't a good start to 2005. It's nice to have a game where it's good and close."
But the layoff took a toll, as passed skipped past outstretched sticks, shots careened harmlessly into the corners and Billy Idol struggled early between the pipes.
"I think everyone was a little rusty today," said Bird. "There was a lot of sloppy play on everyone's part, a lot of passes went astray and a lot of shots just missed the net."

•••••

Perhaps no other roadster was as rusty as the Living Legend, who's been waylayed by a suspected viral infection for the past three weeks. After participating in the pre-game shoot-around, he pulled himself from the game, his first scratch of the season.

Posted by jaysuburb at January 23, 2005 06:40 PM