November 23, 2013
The Philadelphia Little Flyers come into their game with the Valley Jr. Warriors with a 9-4-1-1 record.  The Warriors sit at an average 7-7-0-2 record and look to improve to above .500 today.  The Flyers are coming off of a huge win over the New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs, while the warriors look to redeem themselves after losing a close game to the New Jersey Rockets.  The Little Flyers look to increase their winning streak to three games, as the Warriors look to start their own. 
The first period saw its fair share of opportunities for both sides, none of which were capitalized on.  Alec Derks was his usual stellar self, displaying why he is the #1 ranked netminder in the league.  A surprise in this period was the opposing goaltender, Matt Penta.  He comes into this game sporting a subpar 3.51 GAA and an .897 SV%, but he stopped all 14 opportunities had by the Little Flyers, sending this game into the second period, tied, at 0-0.
The second period was a monumental one for the newest Little Flyers forward, Drew Gannon, who netted his first goal as a Flyer in his first game as a member of the team.  The importance of his first goal was only overshadowed by the dramatic fashion in which it was scored as he fired a shot over the glove of Penta and popped the water bottle to give the Little Flyers a 1-0 lead.  On the other side of the rink Alec Derks was just a few seconds away from another perfect period, before he surrendered his first goal courtesy of a beautiful passing play from Drew Wyrrick to Shane Tracy. That goal sent game into the 3rd period tied 1-1. 
The third period was unfortunate for the Little Flyers.  Finding themselves in a 5-on-3 situation the Little Flyers gave up the go ahead goal to Christian Elsborg.  From that point on Matt Penta shut the door and sealed the win for his team. 
Coach Rocky Russo commented after the game. “It’s a tough loss.  We got into some penalty trouble, and they capitalized on it.  Derks played well and Drew Gannon got a nice goal in his first game with us.  All in all not a poor effort, but we definitely missed on some opportunities.”  
The Little Flyers fall to 9-4-1-1 on the season and look forward to facing off against the Boston Bandits tomorrow at 2:00 pm EST.