The first season is over, now the second season begins. The Capitals roar ino the playoffs on a high note after taking all three games over the final weekend against Sugar Land. Topeka will now play Texas in the first round of the South Division Playoffs.
Sugar Land's best hope over the weekend came in game one on Friday when, down by two after Hank Roers and Tre Opack opened up with a couple of quick scores, they evened the score with goals at 10:47 and 11:47. Mike Pedersen restored order for Topeka with a netter to close out the first and the Caps led 3-2. From then on, it was all Topeka. Alex Johanson and Joe Stoneburner split the pipes in the second and Roers combined with Kyle Rimbach for a pauir of scores in the third to win the game 7-2.
Saturday's game was slightly more competitive in the third period, though the result was the same. Topeka held a 2-0 lead in the final frame when Alex Tilman dented the board for Sugar Land with a goal at 3:31. But the Caps would bounce back in a big way, rattling off three goals in just over one minute on the backs of Tre Opack (1) and Hank Roers (2). The offensive explosion was caped off with a Colin O'Connor power play goal at 17:42, sealing the 6-1 victory. James Bohan and Richard Yusa put the Caps ahead in the first, Bohan on even strength at 13:28 and Yusa on the power play at 17:20. The only blemish on Ryan Lund's day in net was the score by Tilman. The defense played outstanding infront of him, limiting the Imps to only three shots in the first and third periods.
In the season capper, the outcome was never truly in doubt. Richard Yusa secured a hat trick with a goal in the first and two in the second while Dylan Wattles, Alex Johanson (2), Tre Opack and Hank Roers padded out the rest of the game with goals for a 9-2 win. Bear Ross finished the game and the season on a particularly high note, scoring his first goal of the season.
The Caps will now travel to Texas' NYTEX Sports Arena to battle the Texas Junior Brahmas in Round One of the South Division Playoffs. Though the Capitals are on the road, they are technically the home team in the series having locked up second place in the division but no ice at home to play on this weekend. The series begins on Friday at 1pm and continues Saturday at 11am and concludes, if necessary, on Sunday at 11am. Fans can catch all of the action streaming live at www.fasthockey.com.