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EHL: Little Flyers down Team Maryland, 4-2, for first win

By Tim Riday, 10/07/20, 5:15PM EDT

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Luke Headman helped the Little Flyers EHL team to a 4-2 win Tuesday.


BOX SCORE

Third time’s a charm.

After dropping back-to-back one-goal games to open the season, the Little Flyers EHL team pieced together a solid all-around effort and picked up its first win of the 2020-2021 campaign.

Kyle Patton, Luke Headman, Ryan Clear and Robbie Seewagen all scored and Ryan Goodliffe made 23 saves to help PLF down Team Maryland, 4-2, at Ice World on Tuesday afternoon.

“Felt great,” Clear said. “The boys really put the work in today. Everyone gave their all and it felt good to play strong and to get in the win column.”

Jake Frankenfield and Seewagen helped get things going for the Little Flyers early in the first period. Seewagen made a nice pass along the blue line to Frankenfield, who fired a quick shot from the point on goal. Patton was right there to deposit a juicy rebound to give his team a 1-0 advantage at 6:48.

Philadelphia continued to put the pressure on. Luke Headman made it a 2-0 game at 10:15 after some tremendous forechecking by his line. Clear broke up an attempted Team Maryland zone exit and dumped the puck deep. Elliott Schonn then forced a turnover at the faceoff circle and Headman retrieved the puck. A pass to the slot landed on Dylan Sangmeister’s blade but his backhanded shot just missed wide. Schon was right there, however, and wrapped around the net before finding Headman back door for a tap-in.

The second period brought some sloppy hockey. The frame was dominated by a series of icing calls, pucks out of play and quite a few offsides calls for both teams. All the stoppages broke up the pace but the Little Flyers weren’t without their opportunities.

Frankenfield hit a post while on the power play with 13 minutes and change to go. Tyler Marvil and Schon also had high-percentage chances but were denied by Team Maryland netminder Bobby McCloskey. 

Goodliffe matched his opponent with a big post-to-post pad save that led to Philadelphia's third goal of the afternoon. While evened up at 4-on-4, Clear picked up the rebound in PLF’s defensive zone and broke the puck up ice to Dante Gattone. Gattone made a slick move entering Team Maryland’s end, pulled a defender towards him and made a nice cross-ice dish back to Clear for a one-time goal at 11:16.

With time winding down in Marvil and Nick Graziano’s coincidental minors, Goodliffe made another big stop that Ryan Houle gathered. Houle then found a streaking Marvil out of the box with a long-distance pass but Marvil was robbed on the breakaway after a failed backhanded deke.

Scott MeGraw almost made it a 4-0 game but his wrister ringed off the crossbar with five minutes remaining in the second. Goodliffe was called on one more time before the buzzer, denying Team Maryland on a breakaway with just seconds to go.

The third period brought a shift in momentum. A fluke bounce off a faceoff led to a Halen Cookston goal to make it 3-1. Then a bad pinch cost the Little Flyers on Evan Donnelly’s 2-on-1 goal for Team Maryland.

Philadelphia recovered from Team Maryland’s late surge and closed out the final frame strong. With just 47 seconds remaining, Josh Wilkins dug out a loose puck along the boards and fed a streaking Seewagen for his second goal of the season to make it a 4-2 final.

“It was a big bounce-back win,” Clear said. “We need to come out and play the same way with the same energy moving forward. We’ll be ready to go. Friday is just as important to get two more points before we play our first game at home.”

Loose pucks
The Little Flyers outshot Team Maryland 7-4 in the first period and 17-11 in the second. They were outshot 10-6 in the third. … Philadelphia went 0 for 3 on the power play but successfully killed its only two penalties of the day. … Seewagen has two goals and three assists during his three-game point streak. … The Little Flyers will conclude their four-game road trip when they take on the New Jersey 87s at Revolution Ice Gardens on Friday, Oct. 9. Puck drop is scheduled for 1 p.m.