January 4, 2008

Van Lare leads Tornado to third straight win
by John Tranchina 

Ben Van Lare scored a hat trick to lead the Texas Tornado to a thrilling, come-from-behind 4-3 victory over the Wichita Falls Wildcats Friday night at the Frisco Dr Pepper StarCenter’s DejaBlue Arena. 

It was the Tornado’s third straight win after enduring a nine-game losing streak, and it moved them past Kenai River into fifth place in the South Division with a 10-22-3 record, now just seven points back of Alaska for the final playoff spot.  With 12 more games in a row on home ice through early February, the Tornado are hoping to continue creeping back into contention. 

With efforts like the one they gave Friday night, against a team leading the South Division standings and second overall in the NAHL, they are on the right track.  What made the result even sweeter was that the Tornado had to rally from a 3-1 third period deficit to claim the victory, with Van Lare netting the game-winner with just 4:02 left. 

“I felt like the game was in a little bit of a lull for either team, to be honest with you,” Texas coach Dwight Mullins said.  “I didn’t think that they really stepped up to really take charge to grab it away from us, but I don’t think that in the middle part of the game, we really made a push.  I was hoping we would have probably put forth a better effort in the second period.  But it’s just kind of interesting to see this group grow with any little bit of life and any little bit of confidence.  We seem to continue to make steps forward and that’s real positive.  The energy around here is getting very positive and it’s changing and we want to try to continue that.”  

In addition to Van Lare’s heroics, Gustav Bengtson contributed three assists and Justin Lee two assists, while Troy Puente netted the other goal.  Tommy Callaghan, the reigning South Division Player of the Week after an outstanding performance last weekend, was excellent once again, turning aside 26 shots for his seventh triumph of the season. 

“I think it’s something that being a first-year goalie in the league, he’s kind of made a loop through now,” Mullins said of Callaghan.  “I know he’s a good goalie, I’ve had him in the past, I know what he can do, and I’m excited to now watch him now feed off this stuff and really take this team where he wants it to go.” 

Entering the third period trailing 3-1, the Tornado almost fell behind by three just 40 seconds in.  Luke Salazar stole the puck at the Texas blue line and raced in on a breakaway, but Callaghan made a nice pad save. 

As the third period progressed, the Tornado got better and better, and came close with 10:26 remaining when Blake O’Connor blasted a one-timer from the right face-off circle, but Wichita Falls netminder Mike Jarboe made the save. 

Less than 30 seconds later, Texas broke through and narrowed the deficit to one on Van Lare’s second of the game.  After he and Bengtson won a battle for the puck along the boards behind the Wildcats’ net, Van Lare stepped out to the right side of the net and whipped a backhander along the ice that beat Jarboe between the pads at 10:02.

A minute and a half later, Callaghan was called upon again to keep the Tornado in the game, as he made a nice save on Salazar’s in-close wrist shot off a 2-on-1 break. 

The Tornado then got the equalizer with 5:34 to go in the period, on Puente’s second goal of the season - and second in as many games.  After Lee’s slap shot from the blue line was deflected to the left sideboards, Puente got to the puck first and fired a quick wrist shot that found its way through a screen in front and past Jarboe to make it 3-3. 

But Texas wasn’t finished yet, as just 1:32 later, Van Lare collected his third of the night and team-leading 19^th of the season.  Breaking into the Wichita Falls zone on a 2-on-1 rush, Van Lare threw a quick wrist shot on net from low in the right circle that Jarboe saved, but with Andrew Blazek crashing the net on the right side, the rebound ricocheted off the lone Wildcats defender and back past Jarboe for a sudden Tornado 4-3 lead. 

“He’s a very good player and we brought him here to be just that,” Mullins said of Van Lare, who attended the Dallas Stars’ Development Camp last summer.  “It’s nice to see, he works hard, he’s very committed, he stayed very good through all of the adversity we’ve gone through as well, and for a kid like that, I’m very excited.  It’s good for our hockey team, but I’m happy for him too.  He works really hard in practice and he works hard every night for us and it’s good to be rewarded.” 

Callaghan made a nice stop on Mike Sturdevant’s wrist shot from the blue line with two minutes to go. 

The Tornado almost extended the lead to two with 1:20 left when Bengtson carried into the Wichita Falls zone and from the right corner, fed a slick pass behind Jarboe into the crease, but Blazek, at the left post, had his shot attempt deflected over the net. 

“He’s a dynamic player,” Mullins said of Blazek, skating in his third game for Texas.  “I think him and Bengtson really keep you on your guard.  You look at tonight, it was one turnover and one shift that really kind of snowballed the momentum the other way and I really thought we were going to just put it out of reach by two goals with that last little effort by Bengtson at the end, but that’s what those guys give you.” 

The Wildcats pulled Jarboe for an extra attacker with 55 seconds remaining, but were unable to register any prime scoring opportunities in the time left, despite controlling the puck in the Texas zone most of the time. 

Tied 1-1 going into the second, the Tornado got a lift from Callaghan early in the period.  Just 1:30 into the frame, Callaghan stopped Adam Sponseller’s short side try that had the Wildcat raising his hands thinking he’d just scored, even though the net came off the moorings, and the puck never went in anyway. 

Wichita Falls snatched the lead just over a minute later, as Adam Cardwell deposited his 19^th of the season at the 2:40 mark.  Streaking through the neutral zone, Cardwell received a nice cross-ice pass from Grant Everett and slipped behind the Texas defense and raced in on a breakaway, firing a wrist shot between Callaghan’s pads and in. 

The second period then devolved into lots of rough stuff, with a total of 42 minutes in penalties being called, highlighted by a spirited fight between Blazek and Cardwell.  After a long, drawn-out fight in which Cardwell managed to pull Blazek’s jersey over his face for a few moments, the decision went to Cardwell. 

“I think that’s how they’re structured,” Mullins said of the Wildcats’ initiating the rough stuff.  “They have the one line (Salazar, Cardwell and Everett) that can really hurt you, but then outside of that, they have a bunch of guys that work hard every night, get involved, they’ll hack and whack a little bit and it’s never easy to beat them.  But that’s the way the game should be played, too.”  

The Wildcats pushed their lead to two with 4:13 left in the period on Sean McKenzie’s eighth goal of the season.  After Shawn Jameson’s shot from the blue line was blocked in the high slot, Jeff McNeil slid the puck over to McKenzie alone in the slot and his wrist shot beat Callaghan just inside the post for a 3-1 Wichita Falls advantage. 

The Tornado had a chance to close the gap with about a minute left in the frame, but John Kruse’s scorching wrist shot from the right circle was denied by Jarboe. 

The Tornado got off to a quick start, as Blazek showed why he was brought in from Des Moines of the USHL just over a week ago, slicing through the Wichita Falls defense and breaking in alone on Jarboe 5:15 into the contest.  After faking out Jarboe with a deke to his backhand, Blazek lifted the puck just over the crossbar, with it actually landing on top of the goal. 

Texas then took the early lead as Van Lare connected for his first of the night at 7:54.  Alone in front, Van Lare took a nice pass from Lee along the left sideboards and fired a backhander into the open side of the net for the 1-0 advantage. 

Callaghan then got a little help in keeping the Wildcats off the scoreboard midway through the period as he stopped Skylur Jameson’s shot off a 2-on-1 rush and then Cardwell’s rebound shot.  The puck lay loose in the crease, but Puente swiped it out, and then after it was knocked back into the crease, Sean Roadhouse finally cleared the zone. 

The Wildcats evened the score with just 1:32 remaining in the first period as Sponseller scored his 12^th goal of the season (and eighth against the Tornado!).  Rushing into the Texas zone on a 2-on-1, Sponseller opted to fire a snap shot from the slot that was perfectly placed over Callaghan’s shoulder into the upper corner of the net. 

Sitting out this game and the next three for the Tornado was forward John Bullis, who just turned 21 and because of eligibility issues, must be enrolled full-time in college.  Since the spring semester opens on Jan. 14, he won’t be back in the lineup until after that.   

The Tornado are right back at it Saturday night against the same Wichita Falls squad, facing off at 7:30 pm again at the DejaBlue Arena. 

“I think that our objective right now is just to come out and give ourselves the best chance and come with effort and when we do that, hopefully, we get the outcome,” Mullins said.  “We need to come out and compete, play hard and if we do that, the rest will take care of itself.”

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