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Taking Control of the Faceoff Circle
A lot of plays start off at the faceoff circle, and there were certainly many opportunities in this game. Between the St.Louis Scarecrows and the Maine Timber, over 70 faceoffs were taken and the Scarecrows got the better of the Timber winning 57.7% of them. Most interestingly, the Scarecrows first goal came off a huge faceoff win by a defenseman! Early in the first period, St.Louis defenseman Erben Kasius was instructed to take a faceoff against right winger Indigo Trevino. Although Kasius is not too familiar with faceoffs, he was able to win the draw in the offensive zone which allowed his team to apply pressure. After a couple of shots on net, the faceoff win eventually led to a tipped in goal by Sasha Danglechek to give a good start for the Scarecrows. As shown, a huge faceoff win can lead to great opportunities and the Scarecrows certainly battled hard in the circle.

Looking For Their First Win
Entering the game we had two goaltenders looking for their first win of the season. The Timber’s goaltender Olli Saarinen Jr. had a 0-2-0 record with a goals against average of 3.00. The Scarecrows opted to go with their rookie goaltender Richard Majors who had a 0-1-0 record with a goals against average of 5.00. Throughout the game, it was clear that one goalie’s night was a lot harder than the others. Olli Saarinen Jr. had to face 41 shots compared to Majors’ 22 shots. However, this is not to say that Majors did not make some incredible saves such as the one in the second period. After a faceoff win by the Scarecrows won the faceoff following a penalty taken by the Timber, Kayhall took a quick shot on net which had Majors stacking the pads to make the save. The final shot totals reflected the result of the game where the Scarecrows won 4-2. This had rookie goaltender Richard Majors leaving with his first ever SMJHL while Saarinen Jr. continued to look for his first of the season. Regardless, certainly not a bad showing for the two goaltenders as they both had an above .900 save percentage.