Game 20: Alpha Rococos vs Bravo Champions
Wagner Hat Trick Lifts Alpha Over Top of the Table Bravo in 8-7 Offensive Slugfest Featuring Top Offensive Prospects
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Jimmy Wagner turns to celebrate with Pooks Halloway after taking the lead with his third goal of the game

January 15, 2020 – Quebec City
The prospect tournament standings get a little tighter today, as the Alpha Rococos upset the Bravo Champions in an offensive slugfest. The game started hot, as the Rococos won the opening draw and Edward Williams pressed the Champions’ zone immediately. He found a streaking Jimmy Wagner who left a drop pass for Axel Meszaros and the lamp was lit 8 seconds into the game.



Just like that, the floodgates were already open. Bravo struck back just two and a half minutes later as their high powered offence led by Walter II caught Alpha in a shift change. Walter cleanly handled the three on two presented to him, found Collin Brown in front of the net, and the game was already back to even.



Alpha would jump out after that to a 3-1 lead off goals from Paul Atredies and Wagner, but the tournament's leading scorer Walter II would get hot. Danny White got him his 8th of the tournament with 5 to go, and then his 9th after Alpha had gotten a 4th on the board from Shane Rinne. By the time the horn sounded at the end of the first, 7 goals had been scored, and 5 players had multiple points. Alpha was up though, 4-3.

Intermission adjustments were both very impactful, and not at all impactful. Alpha again scored early, as Wagner deked over the blue line and set up a Thierry Parent to make a beautiful saucer pass that found Pooks Halloway his team leading 7th in these first 5 games. The teams buckled down after that though, and the coaches finally got the teams to clean up the turnovers. A mountain of shots were blocked by Alpha and Not Nictox briefly stood on his head to keep Chris de Siren off the score sheet twice. Bravo eventually would find their way back into the game off a long possession deep in the second period, as an exhausted Rococos line caved and Jack Kanoff found the twine for his 9th, evening up his race with Walter II. Bravo seemed to have all the momentum when the second finally ended, they were still down a goal, but the tides were turning.

It took less than 30 seconds in the third period for those tides to reach shore. Walter II found his 4th point of the game as he hit a streaking Danny White with a stretch pass to tie the game up, and Bravo would take the lead over a downtrodden Alpha team as Bradley Barkov found his first goal of the tournament and became the 15th different player to score for Bravo across their 8 games so far. Halloway and Wagner would not be denied though, and their attitude on the bench trying to motivate their peers paid off as Wagner tied the game at 6 when Halloway forced a turnover with the forecheck and quickly found his new friend to clean up the 2 on 1. Chris de Siren finally got his point soon after, as he fed Rinne his second of the game and Alpha took back the lead, 7-6.

The back and forth offensive slugfest would continue though, and Bravo found more scoring from their third line, as Destro MacGregor set a perfect screen on John Curtis to give us another tie game, 7-7.
More goals would be needed to break this tie, of course, and with 5 and change left in the third, Jimmy Wagner rotated into the empty slot, got the dish from Halloway one last time, ripped his renowned wrist shot past Not Nictox. Slamming the door once and for all.



After 5 more minutes of desperate and scoreless play from both teams, the Rococos completed the tournament sweep of the now 5-3 Champions, tightening up the title race immensely. Alpha moves to 3-2, and control their own destiny moving forward into the second half of the event.

Stars of the Game:
1* - Jimmy Wagner (Alpha), 3G 2A
2* - Walter II (Bravo), 2G 2A
3* - Pooks Halloway (Alpha) , 1G 2A

Goals:
Alpha – Wagner 3 (4, 5, 6), Rinne 2 (3, 4), Meszaros (2), Atredies (4), Halloway (7)
Bravo – Walter II 2 (8, 9), Brown (4), Kanoff (9), White (9), Barkov (1), Telker (8)
Assists:
Alpha – Williams 2 (6, 7, 8), Wagner 2 (7, 8), Halloway 2 (4, 5), Beck (3), Meszaros (1), Pokozov (5), Parent (2), de Siren (2), Antinen (3)
Bravo – Walter II 2 (10, 11), White 2 (9, 10), MacGregor (6), Sulfurgold (5), Telker (6), Vatipaa (4), Demmer (6), Weber (8), Actual (7)