Game Six, ?06 – ?07: Tigers Orange 0, the Jets 12 (second game)

Me vs. #12. I’d like to think that in this picture, I was about to make one of the “great saves” that I supposedly had.

Woohoo! We finally got our jerseys! Except that our names haven’t been printed on them yet, so we had to return them at the end of the night. :s At least I finally have a real goalie number! I was #11 at Ohio State, but that’s because I was still playing forward when we got our jerseys. Now i’m #1, baby! Although we were the home team, for some reason we had to wear darks. No idea why.

This is the same team that, the last time we played them, the coach told me I was just peppered with the puck. Well, obviously it happened again. Last night, our entire roster was made up of Orange players, but the Jets play at such a higher skill level, that I don’t even know why we schedule games against them. I checked the WCHL Schedule and they’re scheduled to play our Blue team, which seems more appropriate. Even the ref (who, it turns out, has officiated NHL and IHL games) said that if it weren’t for #12, the teams may have been more evenly matched. He would even tell me when I made good saves.

Anyway, I had a great first period. I think I only let in two goals. By the end of the second period we were down 6 – 0, and I made it my personal mission to keep them at six. Even before the game I was hoping that we’d at least close the gap between our scores compared to last time. But practically all three periods were played in our zone. I saw a lot of action, which is probably why I feel so physically drained today. But even when the puck was in their zone, I’m not sure we had any scoring opportunities, and even if we did, I don’t know if we would have gotten past their goalie. I noticed that they had a different goalie this time, but she’s much more experienced than I am, played in college, and even plays in some of the men’s leagues.

The third period was the worst. I was tired. My team was tired. The Jets scored six more goals in that period alone. Seriously, I almost started crying because I was that frustrated with the unevenness of our abilities. A lot of them were easy shots, too, and most of them went right through my five-hole (between the legs), which to me, is the most embarrassing place for someone to score on you. We were losing so badly that I almost didn’t care.

Afterwards, the coach told me that you learn by getting beat, but I don’t think he meant beat by a team that we can’t even touch. Another thing he’s told me is that forwards win games but goalies lose games. And finally, that the score doesn’t matter–it’s how well (or not well) you played. Coach Tim if you’re reading this (because i know that sometimes you do ), please correct me if I’m wrong or misinterpreted what you said.

So here’s what I learned: first of all, I can’t make any “personal” missions because that doesn’t even make any sense–duh! This is a team sport and I have to rely on my defense(wo)men in particular to protect me and help me out. Second, even though we were thoroughly creamed, I know I played a lot better against them this time than last. Just the few things our White goalie taught me at practice a couple of weeks ago helped tremendously. And, as our friend Henry (Blue team assistant coach and my teammate Rosie’s husband) mentioned to Brian, even though I made a lot of great saves, I probably wouldn’t remember any of them, which is true. I only remember the goals I let in. I mean, how can I not? Then again, if someone could get a shot of me actually making one of these alleged “great saves,” I might actually believe them! And more importantly, remember them.

For the latest game pics, click here.

All right, I’ll leave you all with an action shot. I think I’m actually positioned correctly, too!