Hat's Off to This Kid ! Leo Straube

  When RVC Spartan's coaches found out that their only goalie Brian Albertsen would not make the game on November 24,they looked at each other in dismay.Now What ? When looking for a regular player to volunteer to play goal for 1 game,a couple player's expressed some interest, but none except for Leo Straube came forward with such determination to play the position.I felt right there that we had our man. He came forth like a lion! I can play goal ! I can do it! I have played some goal ! His confidence was so convincing to me that I told George I think Leo is the one. So here we are 5 weeks before his debut, Leo comes to practice every Friday and played goal.Getting tips from both myself and Coach George he went to work. Taking a barrage of shots every week he seemed to improve.I have to say he looked like he had some natural goalie instincts in him already.

        Fast forward to Sunday,November 24 at 5:15 pm facing the Massapequa team.Their he was standing in the net,awaiting the drop of the puck.Not only was Leo making his goalie debut,but he was doing it with 5 player's missing from the lineup including thier leading scorer.To maker matter's worse another player left both his jersey's home.League rules say you can not play unless you have your team jersey,besides the league president was their in attendance.This player missed about 2 1/2 periods of playtime before coming on the ice for the first time.Unfortunatly the league doesn't keep track of shots on goal,but if I had to guess I would say Leo faced about 15-20 shots. The official score sheet say's he allowed 4 goals,but as far as I'm concerned it was only 2.The first goal was waived off because the ref blew the whistle,but after coming together both refs reversed the call and allowed it to stand. The goal was clearly tapped in the net after the whistle blew,a call that I challenged with both refs.The other goal came right as the final buzzer went off,an obvious gift to the losing team.

     Hat's off to this kid! Leo Straube and his surpporting defensive cast Peter Piekarski,Tony Marco,Brett Dougan, and Dylan Ruthering. Great Job! Let's not forget the Spartans offensive units scoring 11 goals,led by Pat Kavanaugh with 3 goals(Hat Trick) and 5 assists and Cameron Dunn 3 goals (Hat Trick). Other scoring by Brendan Daly 2,Shane Douglas 1,Brett Dougan 1, and Tony Marco 1.It was the Spartan's 9th victory of the year and they took no penalties during the game.Both coaches Tony Marco and George Barrett would like to Wish all the players and their families a Happy Thanksgiving!

                                                                    Tony Marco,George Barrett

                                                                     Managers/Coaches-RVC Ice Hockey Club