DII Final: Lions King of the Jungle!

Fourth Quarter

Tacoma adds another goal to their amounting lead as they increase their lead 10-6.  Curtis Holcombe gets another point with his assist to Griffin Meister.  Puyallup has struggled to generate offense all game.  Most of their success has come from transition goals, and individual efforts.

Puyallup scores again to shrink the Tacoma lead to 3.  Nicholas Moser assists Kiel Morris to make the score 10 to 7.

Tacoma answers back as Scott Gilson hits Holcombe again for Tacoma’s 11^th goal and extends the margin back to 4.  Matthew Hilger hits Quinn Starkey to add another goal for the Lions who are controlling both transition and possession time.  The score is now 12-7 Tacoma leading.  Match-ups have been key, and Puntel hasn't been the threat in this game they needed him to be.  Man-up opportunities facing pressure from a Man-down Lions defense were not productive.

The streaking defenseman Andy Fuller passes to an open Curtis Holcombe and he sticks his shot off the far pipe.  This is the games final goal as Tacoma takes home the DII title for the 2007 season.  Final score is 13-7.

Congratulations to Scott Gilson the DII Championship ‘Player of the Game’.  Coach Twining offered, "I told these guys they better be crawling off the field when this game was done.  There is no tomorrow."  He reflected on his team, graduating 12 seniors, " I am happy to send our graduates with a big win like this."  He complemented his players and standout Gilson, as a "leader with discipline and the ability to make things happen when he is on the field."  Twining was reflective about the match-up of these two conference rivals, "Puyallup is tenacious.  It is so tough to beat a good team like that as our two previous games showed."  The fact that the Panthers will graduate only one senior definitely bodes well for next season.  Will they be back? Will Tacoma be back?  We will have to wait and see.

Third Quarter

Tacoma scores first in the third quarter, and are now up 7-5.

Curtis Holcombe sticks a goal from five yards out to move the margin to three.  Tacoma now leads 8-5.

With 6:23 left in the game the Puyallup coach John Wherry calls a timeout to get his team organized.

Tacoma is now on a four goal run as Scott Gilson passes to Curtis Holcomb who takes a nice crank shot to the upper right corner and with under four minutes left in the 3^rd, Tacoma leads 9-5.

Puyallup catches a break after some poor play on a man-up opportunity as J.T. Tungsvik bats down the goalie’s clearing pass, and finishes it himself to breathe some life back into his team.

At the end of Three its 9-6 Tacoma.

Groundballs: Puyallup—24 Tacoma—18

Saves: Puyallup—10 Tacoma—9

Second Quarter

Puyallup scores first as an apparent pipe shot is deemed a goal by the official.  This is a controversial goal.  The score is now 4-3 Puyallup

Scott Gilson hits teammate Matt Hilger to tie the game up again at 4 for Tacoma.

Tacoma takes its first lead of the day as Ken Wigboldy finds net on an unassisted tally. 5-4 Tacoma.

Puyallup does not let the lead last long as Tungsvik answers back to tie the game at 5.  This game appears to be a close one, so if you’re reading this and interested, come to Memorial Field and watch a good game.

Tacoma closes scoring for the first half of play as Holcombe moves the ball to Chris Wigboldy who puts it past Steedman for their 6^th goal.  The score at half is 6-5 Tacoma.

Groundballs: Puyallup—14 Tacoma—11

Saves: Puyallup—2 Tacoma—11