Tornados lose thrilling game against Colmar in the last minute
Photo by Mike Sinner
24 November 2012
The Tornado Luxembourg visited the Colmar Titans on November 24th in the Patinoire de Colmar, where the home team won 7-6 in an extremely tight game. It was without a doubt one of the toughest and most exciting games of the season, as the underdogs from Luxembourg almost beat the leader in Colmar. It was also a father-son duel, as Tornado Head Coach Vladimir Koutznetsov played against the team of his son Evgueni, who is one of the driving forces in Colmar. After three breathtaking periods, the Titans managed to turn the game around with only 57 seconds remaining.
The visiting team was stronger than their opponent in the first period. Sacha Backes scored the opening goal of the game for the Tornados at 11:15. The guests kept their pace and Marcus Eriksson scored only 54 seconds later on a pass by Emil Folkesson. At the end of the first, the score was 0-2, giving the Tornados the lead.
The home team kept working and managed to cut down the difference on the scoreboard, but still couldn't take over the lead. At 23:25, Patrick Schon scored another goal for the Tornado Luxembourg after being assisted by Pit Sinner. Jonathan Boehrer of the Colmar Titans made it 1-3 at 29:49 on a pass by Maxim Mathieu. 4 minutes after the puck last crossed the goal line, Sacha Backes scored the 1-4 on a pass by Marcus Eriksson. The answer came only 26 seconds later, as Gregory Morin scored for his team. At 36:42, Jonathan Boehrer was given a penalty shot and managed to get it past goaltender Gilles Mangen. At the end of the second, the score was 3-4.
The final reaction of the home team came in the last period, as they managed to take over the lead and win the game. Evgueni Kouznetsov tied it 4-4 at 44:40. Another goal came at 47:56, when Jonathan Boehrer scored for the hosts. Youngster Sacha Backes scored his first hattrick of the season to tie it at 53:08. Only 11 seconds later, Colm Cannon scored another goal. But it didn't take their opponent much time to recover, as Jonathan Boehrer tied the game only 1 minute later. Another goal came at 59:03, when Frédéric Herpin scored for the hosts on an assist by Evgueni Kouznetsov and Jonathan Boehrer. The teams were heading home with a 7-6 score.
"I think we did a good game all the way through, but we took some stupid penalties. We failed to shut down their wide passes which they capitalized on more then once.", said Marcus Eriksson of the Tornado Luxembourg. Gilles Mangen also said: "This was without a doubt one of the best performances and one of the toughest games I've seen so far from our team. We almost beat the unbeaten leader in their own icerink, and this was truly a great team effort. Even though it took them a while to figure out a smart way to beat our defense, it paid off for them in the end as we couldn't figure out a solution quickly enough. We did a good job in Colmar against a strong team and we can without a doubt look forward to next weeks game, as we are getting better every week.".
Jonathan Boehrer of the Colmar Titans was the topscorer of the game with 6 points. Sacha Backes set a new personal season-high with his 3 points scored in this game. With yet another win, the Colmar Titans continue their winning record over the Tornado Luxembourg, as they now won all of these two team's last 3 encounters. The Colmar Titans will play their next game on February 9th against the Tornado Luxembourg, while the Tornado Luxembourg play against the IHC Beaufort 1 on November 26th.
Pictures by Mike Sinner can be found in the gallery.