AUSTIN, Texas (REUTERS)- Last night at The Pond Hockey Club, the Bros Hockey Club added a second straight victory to their season, doing so with a decisive 8-5 win gainst a Griffins team that fluctuated from docile to gritty. The Blacksweatersnever relinquished a lead, and established early on that they came to win.

Steph “Joker and the Thief” Meyer set the tone early, putting his body in position for a deflection from Eddie “Apple Tree” Valls. Although he let off the throttle a bit in the second half, Meyer’s presence and vision in the neutral zone and on the forecheck led to countless high-quality shot attempts for himself and his teammates. Meyer added a silky smooth forehand/backhand goal to his stat line for the evening. The supererogatory, and at times transcendental, play from Fabian “White Unicorn” Figi proved worthy of the coveted Gonzales Flag. Figi’s performance last night at both ends of the ice was perhaps his finest yet in the Star and Cannon. Figi’s patience with the puck and laser-eye helped him score a hat trick. His backchecking absolutely stifled countless charges from the Griffins. At the end of the game, Pierre McGuire caught up with Figi during the first-star announcement and asked Fabian about his performance. Figi responded, “Well, Pierre, I got a new stick. It took some getting used to, but I really like it. I think we played really well as a team and Sully was awesome in net for us tonight and, yeah, we just played really well and picked up the win.”

The Bros wingmen were constantly buzzing in the ear of Griffin’s goalie, Marc Allen. Valls played his best game as a Bro, assisting on one of Meyer’s goals and assisted on one of Ross “Where Eagles Have Been” Tagtow’s two goals. Valls played a defensively-minded game, and wreaked havoc on the Griffins attempts to break out through the neutral zone. Tagtow continued racking up goals for the Bros. After being slammed into the boards early in the game, Tagtow shook the cobwebs off and quietly put together another multi-goal game. Danno “Dimension” Pranno once again was the team bumble bee, and this time he swarmed the Griffins’ picnic party. Pranno spent most of the evening irritating the Griffins in the neutral zone, stopping board break outs, and dive-bombing the net. He was rewarded with a goal off a pass from Scott “Love Train” Poniewaz. Poniewaz continues to improve, and is hitting his stride at this level of play. Last night, the Love Train demonstrated excellent hockey sense, putting himself in a good position to break up the Griffins’ forecheck, and had a few neutral zone takeaways that led to shot attempts, including the aforementioned assist on Pranno’s goal.

Defensively, the Boys in Black stifled the Griffins. Coming into last night’s game, all three of the Griffins’ previous games had been decided by one goal each. Behind the glove and stacked pads of broalie Steven “Witchcraft” Sullivan, the Griffins’ never had a chance. Although they scored on a penalty shot, the Griffins’ open looks were few and far between. The key to last night’s victory was keeping the puck away from playmaker Kyle McIntosh. Although he had countless opportunities, the Bros defense beat him time and time again at one-on-one. His attempts resulted in takeaways or bad looks. He scored one goal off a rebound. Defensmen Marc “Colossal” Henderson, Roy “Mind’s Eye” St. John, and captain Andrew “Vagabond” Feigenbaum, along with Figi, Meyer, and the rest of the Brochachos bricked Griffins all night. In front of friends and family, Henderson played an excellent game overall on the backcheck and had two great looks on the forecheck. His vision and superb passing prevented odd-man rushes. St. John continues to shine this season, and his confidence with the puck continues to rise; there were several instances last night where St. John was able to skate the puck into the zone to set up shot attempts. Feigenbaum stuffed McIntosh time and time again last night on at least five separate one-on-one battles. The two off-ice friends are definitely becoming a showcase match-up when pitted against one another.

Next Monday, the Bros battle the undefeated SweetHarts at 9:00 pm.

GAME NOTES
-Scott Van Pelt is still recovering from leprocy. Snap into a Slim Jim?

BY THE NUMBERS
3- straight multi-goal games for Tagtow.