12U AA

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Bulldogs Roar to a "Wild" Win...

Alliance – 4, Houston Wild – 3: Coaches, Sports Announcers and Columnists talk about a term called the “Wounded Tiger Team”, referring to a team picking up the slack for an injured teammate or teammates. The Bulldogs were down with 2 key players injured and 1 who had just returned playing in the game to ROAR TO VICTORY over the leagues first place team Houston Wild by a score of 4-3.

The Bulldogs came out and played physically tough against the much larger sized team and it paid off on a late first period goal with a hard shot from the mid slot that resulted in a rebound, a second shot by the second forward in the zone for another rebound that was blazed to the net by the last forward in the zone hustling to the low left slot for a goal and a 1-0 first period lead. On a late second period Power Play the Bulldogs scored again on great passing down the ice and a low slot shot, rebound and slam the puck home in the net for a 2-0 lead to end the second period.

The Wild came back and scored 2 quick third period goals to tie the game at 2-2. With 4 minutes remaining the Bulldogs took the lead again on a steal by the Center at the blue line who skated in and made a move one the goalie to hit the top shelf for his second goal of the game and a 3-2 lead. The Wild pulled their goalie and tried to score but the Bulldogs denied the 6on 5 advantage and even got an ice length shot that was scooped out of the crease just as it was about to go in the goal by a hard charging Wild player to give them a chance, that resulted in a late goal to tie the game with less than a minute to play.

Immediately after the goal the Wild committed 2 penalties as a result of their exasperation from the physical defense of the Bulldogs. The 5 on 3 power extended into the 5 minute overtime but did not result in a goal. The remainder of the OT was dominated by defense resulting in only 2 contested shots each team. The Wild had the first shot in the shootout and the shot dribbled in.

The first Bulldogs shooter made an amazing move and nailed the back of the net for a Goal. The second Wild shooter was denied by the Alliance Netminder. The second Bulldogs shoot out shooter did his best Jussi Jokinen imitation an nailed home what turnout to be the Game Winner, as the Dogs netminder turned away the final Wild shooter for a 4-3 VICTORY.

The Bulldogs proved that if they play hard as a team, have multiple assists on each goal, get second shots off rebounds and pass the puck they can beat the leagues first place team. Keep this up and believe you can win as a team and the great results will continue…the future looks bright for the Bulldogs.

GO BULLDOGS !!!

Saturday, December 8, 2007

'Dogs Dropped by Penguins...

DJHA AA – 6, Alliance – 0: DJHA AA scored first on an early power play that was the only goal scored in the first period. The Penn’s scored a “shorty” for the only goal of the second period. The Penn’s scored 4 more third period goals to end the game in a 0-6 “shutout” loss for the Bulldogs. The Penn’s out shot Alliance 32-9 for the game.

Sunday, December 2, 2007

1st Period Dooms PeeWee AA...

Attack '96AAA – 7, Alliance – 1: The Texas Attack 96AAA scored 4 first period goals to end the first period up 4-0 over the Dogs. The first goal of the second period was scored by the Attack for a 5-0 lead. The Bulldogs stormed back on a fantastic pass from the left wing to the center in the mid slot who slammed home a perfect goal…unfortunately it was the Bulldogs only goal of the game that ended in a 1-7 loss.

Saturday, December 1, 2007

12U AA Falls Twice in Houston...

Houston Wild – 7, Alliance – 0: In a game dominated by the Houston Wild, the Dogs were shutout in a 0-7 loss.

DJHA Minor – 6, Alliance – 2: The first period ended in a scoreless tie in this NTXHL contest against the DJHA Minor Penguins. The Dogs scored the games first goal of the second period on a great pass and shot to take a 1-0 lead. The Penn’s scored the games next 2 goals on power plays to take a 2-1 lead to end the second period. The third period featured 4 Penn’s goals and 1 more Alliance goal on a point shot, rebound and one timer from the left mid slot to end the scoring in a 2-6 loss.

Saturday, November 24, 2007

PeeWee AA "Rounds Up" the Weekend With a Shutout Win...

Alliance – 3, DJHA 96 – 0: The Bulldogs didn’t let the disappointment of the earlier loss in the day get them down when they took on the DJHA Minor Penguins in the final game of the Fall Round Up. Instead, they continued to play a strong team game and netted one goal in each period. On the defensive end, the Dogs didn’t give the Penguins many scoring chances and when the Penguins did get a chance, the Bulldog goalie was there to turn them away for the first Bulldog shut out of the season and a nice ending to the tournament.

Yorba Linda Blackhawks – 4, Alliance – 3: The Bulldogs continued the strong team play from the day before when they took on the Yorba Linda Blackhawks. Despite their strong play, it was the Blackhawks who struck first to claim a 1-0 lead after one period. The Bulldogs didn’t back down and scored twice in the first three minutes of the second period to go ahead 2-1.

The lead didn’t last long as the Blackhawks scored midway through the period to tie the score at 2 after two periods. The Bulldogs opened the third period a little shaky and the Blackhawks took advantage to score two goals to go ahead 4-2. The Dogs then settled down and scored with 7 minutes remaining to cut the lead to one. The Dogs continued to play hard, but they couldn’t get the tying goal and the Blackhawks escaped with a 4-3 win.

Friday, November 23, 2007

Bulldogs Start Weekend With 2 Tough Ones...

Colorado Springs Jr. Tigers – 6, Alliance – 2: The second game of the day found the Bulldogs squaring off against the Colorado Springs AA Jr. Tigers from Colorado Springs . The Bulldogs came out playing a strong team game and scored quickly to take a 1-0 lead. The Jr. Tigers came back and scored two minutes later to tie the game at one. The Dogs continued their strong team play and converted on a 5-on-3 power play to regain the lead.

However, the Jr. Tigers again scored a couple minutes later to tie the game at two after one period. In the second period, the teams went toe to toe, but it was the Jr. Tigers who scored the second period’s only goal to claim a 3-2 lead after two periods. In the third period, things went downhill for the Bulldogs as the Tigers scored three unanswered goals to claim the 6-2 win.

Stars Selects – 4, Alliance – 0: The Bulldogs took to the ice against Stars Selects '95AA in the first game of the Fall Roundup. The Dogs played the Stars even throughout the first period until two Stars goals in the final three minutes left the Dogs in a 0-2 hole after one period. The Stars added a power play goal on the first shift of the second period to increase their lead to 3-0. That’s the way the score would stay until the Stars scored a 5-on-3 power play goal with less then two minutes remaining for the final score.

Monday, November 19, 2007

12UAA Wins Shootout Battle of PeeWees...

Alliance - 3, Alliance Prep – 2 (SO): The Bulldogs took on their younger brothers for the second time this season. The young Dogs skated hard trying to avenge the loss earlier, while the big Dogs didn’t play with much energy and found themselves continually short handed. That didn’t matter early on, when a Bulldog winger intercepted a D-to-D pass and scored on a breakaway for a shorthanded goal and a 1-0 big Dog lead after one.

In the second period, though, playing shorthanded caught up with the big Dogs as the young Dogs scored twice on the powerplay to take a 2-1 lead after two. In the third period, the big Dogs benefited from strong individual play when a winger took the puck, fought through two defenders, and scored to knot the game a two with just under six minutes remaining. Neither team could score in the remaining regulation time or in overtime, so it went to a shootout. The first shooter scored for the big Dogs and the goalie stopped all three young Dog shooters to gain the win.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

'Dogs Fall Late in Back & Forth Wild One...

Texas Attack 96AAA – 6, Alliance – 5: The story of this game was the Dogs dug themselves a hole and although they were able to catch up, they could never pull ahead. About 5 minutes into the game, the Attack scored twice in 45 seconds to take a 2-0 lead. The Dogs scored late in the period to cut the lead to 2-1. Early in the second the Dogs scored again to tie the game. The Attack scored less than two minutes later to regain the lead at 3-2. The Dogs scored a few minutes later to knot the game at 3, but the Attack scored again just 30 seconds later to retake the lead.

They added another goal five minutes later for a 5-3 lead and things were looking bleak for the Dogs. A Bulldog goal with 45 seconds left in the period cut the difference to 5-4 after two periods. A minute and a half into the third, the Dogs scored again to tie the game at 5. Unfortunately for the Dogs, a penalty with 1:41 remaining proved to be their undoing as the Attack converted on the power play with 46 seconds remaining in the game to claim a 6-5 win.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

12UAA Drops Tight One...

Houston Hitmen AA - 4, Alliance – 2: In many ways, this game mirrored the match-up between these two teams in the first tournament of the season, except the final score. Like before, the Hitmen built a 2-0 lead. Like before, the Bulldogs scored to cut the lead to one only to see the Hitmen score to increase the lead to 3-1 after two. Like before, the Bulldogs scored to cut the lead to 3-2. Unlike before, it was the Hitmen who scored the next goal. Instead of ending regulation tied at 3, the Hitmen skated away with a 4-2 win.

DJHA AA - 9, Alliance - 1: The first period ended in a 0-0 tie in a fierce defensive period, showing the Dogs can play well against any team. The second period featured 6 DJHA AA Penguin goals, until the Bulldogs broke through.

On some great passing from the Dogs right wing to the point, a slap shot was tipped by the right wing into the top of the net to end the period with Alliance trailing the Pens 1-6. The Pens scored three more goals in the third to end the game in a 1-9 loss for the Bulldogs

The Bulldogs next game is Sunday November 11^th at 11:15 vs. Team Houston at Valley Ranch.

Dallas Hawks AA - 3, Alliance - 2 (OT): The Bulldogs came out flying against the Dallas Hawks AA and scored with 1 minute left in the first period on a pass from the left side behind the goal line from the center to the right wing in the low right slot for a shot, rebound and slam to the back of the net for a 1-0 lead at the end of the first period.

Midway through the second period the Hawks scored to even the score at 1-1. The Dogs once again were fired up in the last minute of the period and stormed in deep, as the right wing passed it to the point for a hard shot that was deflected in by the right wing for a 2-1 lead at the end of two periods of play.

The third period featured strong play from both teams in a defensive battle. With two minutes to play in the game the Hawks capitalized on a turnover and a 2 on 1 break to tie the game at 2-2. The Dogs began the overtime on the penalty kill and received another unfortunate penalty to give the Hawks a 5 on 3 advantage. The Hawks scored on a point shot that was tipped in the low slot for the winning goal. The Bulldogs may have lost the game 2-3 but clearly played a strong game and look forward to a bright future.

KC Stars Select - 3, Alliance - 2: The first period of Game 4 of the Chicago Cup featured back and forth fierce play until the Kansas City Stars scored first with 50 seconds remaining in the period for a 1-0 lead over the Bulldogs. 17 seconds later the Dogs stormed back with a tenacious goal from traffic around the net, several shots, rebounds and a goal to tie the score at 1-1 to end the first period. The Stars scored the first goal of the second period on a power play to lead 2-1.

The Bulldogs scored with 2 minutes left in the period on a 4 on 3 power play on a blazing attack by the two forwards, a blistering shot by the center for a fat rebound that was ripped to the net by the Dogs Defenseman to tie the score at 2-2 at the end of the first 2 periods. The third period featured two teams playing exciting tournament hockey. Unfortunately the Stars scored the games final goal with 3 minutes remaining on a late change and a 3 on 1 break to end the scoring as a 2-3 loss. The Stars out shot the Bulldogs 29-19 for the game.

Orland Park Vikings PW1 - 12, Alliance - 0: The Vikings scored 11 even strength goals and 1 power play goal to defeat the Dogs in Game 3 of the Chicago Cup. The Vikings out shot the Bulldogs 51-9 for the game.

Des Moines Jr. Bucs - 6, Alliance - 1: The Dogs scored the first goal 25 seconds into Game 2 of the Chicago Cup on a wide backhand shot, juicy rebound and a slap to the back of the net for a 1-0 LEAD to start the game. Unfortunately the rest of the game was dominated by the Bucks as they scored 4 even strength goals and 2 power play goals to end the game in a 1-6 loss for the Dogs. The Bulldogs were out shot 14-30 for the game.

KC Stars Select - 4, Alliance - 1: The Kansas City Stars scored a power play goal with 1:26 left in the first period on a pass from behind the goal to the low right slot 1 timer for a 1-0 lead at the end of the first period of Game 1 of the Chicago Cup. The Stars scored 2 even strength goals in the second to lead 3-0 through two periods of play. The Stars scored their final goal 20 seconds into the third period for a 4-0 lead. The Bulldogs scored a goal with 3 minutes remaining in the game on a steal and pass by the left wing to the center who skated in and roofed a top shelf goal. The Bulldogs were out shot 14-19 in the 1-4 loss in the tournaments first game.

Stars Select '95AA - 5, Alliance - 2: The Stars Selects 95AA scored the first goal 6 minutes into the game on a power play for a 1 goal lead. The first period ended 0-1 with the Dogs trailing the Stars. The Stars scored 2 more power play goals and 1 even strength goal in the second period. The score at the end of 2 periods of play showed the Dogs down by 4 goals.

Two minutes into the 3 rd period the Bulldogs scored on great passing from the Center to the Right Wing to the Right Defenseman for a hard shot and rebound that was pounded into the net by the Center for a goal to awaken the Dogs. Two minutes later the Dogs scored again on a power play from a wide wrap around shot by the Center, a juicy rebound pounced on and blazed on net by the Left Wing resulting in another juicy rebound that was blasted into the net by the Right Wing to make it a close game at 2-4. The rest of the game the Bulldogs battled for the puck and relentlessly attacked the Stars netminder yet could not generate any more goals. With about 2 minutes to play the Stars scored the games final goal to result in a 2-5 loss for the Dogs.

Ice Jets '95AA - 13, Alliance - 1: The Bulldogs played a strong team in the Ice Jets 95AA and came up on the wrong end of the 1-13 final score loss in the Bulldog's second league game of the season. The Ice Jets came out flying, and tallied six goals in the first period to take a commanding lead which would not be threatened the rest of the day. The Bulldogs ruined the Ice Jet's shutout bid with a nice goal in the second period. The Bulldog NTXHL mark drops to 1-1-0 headed into their third game of the season on Sunday against the Stars Select '95AA.

Alliance 12UAA - 3, Alliance 12U Prep - 1: Both teams used the first period to wake up from the early start as the score after one was 0-0. The Prep Team received an early second period penalty that put the AA team on the early power play. Unfortunately the Prep Team caught the AA napping and stole a puck in the neutral zone and shot on goal from the blueline that bounced off the AA netminder to the AA defenseman and accidentally into the net for a Prep. “SHORTY” and a 0-1 deficit for the AA.

That goal woke the sleeping giant AA who scored quickly on a 4 on 4 even strength by a steal in the neutral zone by the AA Center, 2 quick moves around the Prep Defenders and a top shelf backhand goal to even the score at 1-1. With 5 minutes remaining the AA scored again on another 4 on 4 even strength by yet another neutral zone steal by the AA Defenseman who broke away, shot in the mid slot, followed his shot and poked in the rebound for a goal to go up 2-1.

Two minutes later “It was Deja’vu all Over Again” when the AA team scored on another 4 on 4 even strength by a steal in the defensive zone by the Center who skated past the Prep Defenders and in for a tap in goal and a 3-1 lead. The second period ended with the AA ahead 3-1 over the Prep. Team.

The third period was filled with penalties and back and forth play yet the score ended in a 3-1 VICTORY for the ALLIANCE PEEWEE AA in their first NTXHL Game of the Season.

The AA managed 18 shots to 12 for the Prep., and the AA netminder saved 11 of 12 shots for a 92% save percentage.

Next NTXHL GAME 2 Saturday October 20^th, 7:30 p.m. at Valley Ranch Rink 2 vs. the Ice Jets 95AA.

'Dogs End Shootout Strong...

Alliance - 4, Houston Hitmen AA - 3 (SO): What a game…the Bulldogs saved the best for last!!! The Houston Hitmen AA scored the games first 2 goals. Midway through the second period the Bulldogs jump started the offense and never looked back.

The Left Wing stole a puck in the neutral zone and deeked past a defender with the help of a fierce check by the Center, and blistered a wrister past the right shoulder of the Hitmen goalie, despite being smothered by two Hitmen defenders to close the score to 1-2. The Hitmen scored their last goal to end the second period up 3-1. The Dogs showed their true character by refusing to lose, and scored their second goal with three minutes left in the third period on a rebound and sweet backhand top shelf goal for a 2-3 score.

With 28 seconds to play, the Dogs pulled their goalie, and the 6 Dogs pounced on the puck and slammed home the 3^rd rebound into the net to tie the score at 3-3. In the shootout, the Alliance Net minder stood on his head and denied the Hitmen any sniff of the net. In the 5^th round of sudden death shootout, the Dogs shooter pulled the goalie left and swerved to his right and snapped the puck into the net for the GAME WINNER and a 4-3 VICTORY.

Bulldogs Drop Game 3...

Ice Jets 95AA - 6, Alliance - 1: The Ice Jets 95AA scored the games first 3 goals for a 3-0 lead until the Bulldogs scored 4 minutes into the second period on a wrister by the Left Wing from the high left boards that soared over the Jets net minders left shoulder for a top shelf goal to cut the score to 1-3. The Jets scored the games next 3 goals to end the game in a 1-6 loss for the Bulldogs.

Saturday, September 1, 2007

"Show Me" State Falcons Do Just That...

Chesterfield - 8, Alliance - 3: The game began with the Bulldogs scoring first on tenacious play around the net and a poke in of a rebound in front of the Chesterfield (Missouri) Major Falcons net minder for a 1-0 lead. The next 6 goals of the game were scored by the Falcons for a 6-1 lead over the Dogs.

A late second period power play goal by the Bulldogs on a slap shot from the right wing that resulted in juicy rebound for the center to slap home from the low slot to end the second period scoring with the Bulldogs trailing 2-6. The Falcons scored two quick goals to start the third period and take an 8-2 lead.

The Bulldogs played up to their nickname and never gave up, fighting hard through the end and scoring a late goal on several shots and rebounds around the Falcons goalie that resulted in a goal to end the scoring in a 3-8 loss.

PeeWee AA Falls to Hosts...

Stars Selects 95AA - 3, Alliance - 2: The Bulldogs played a hard fought game and came on with a flurry of shots to end the game but lost 2-3 to the Stars Selects 95AA team. The Stars opened the scoring after 10 minutes of play in the first period with a pass from behind the goal line to the left wing in the low slot for a one timer.

The Stars scored 2 more goals in the second for a 3-0 lead, one even strength and one on a 5 on 3 power play. The Bulldogs scored their first goal 5 minutes into the second period with a slick steal by the Center and a blazing wrister that scorched the back of the net for the Dogs first goal of the season.

The third period was dominated by Alliance who scored in the first 4 minutes of the period on a neutral zone pass from the Defenseman to the Right Wing who deeked past a defender with a nice cross crease pass to the Left Wing for the one timer to draw the score to 2-3. The Dogs were blessed with a late 5 on 3 power play but the Stars goalie turned back the Dogs shot to end the game in a 2-3 loss for the Bulldogs in their first game action of the season.