Stefanini’s Hatty Helps Sentinels Sweep Wolves

Last night, the Sentinels and the Wolves went down to the very wire to decide the contest with Indiana coming away with a 4-3 shootout win. The Sents were hoping to give themselves a bit more breathing room today and not have to take another game to extra time.

It was a bit of a slower start for both sides in the first period. Neither team was able to get momentum and hold on to it. The Sentinels once again had trouble staying out of the penalty box with three tripping infractions being called against them in the opening frame.

After the Sentinels had done a good job of blocking shots and taking away shooting lanes, Watertown converted on their final powerplay of the period. Jake Schultz was able to rip a one-timer from the far circle that Cooper Olson got a pad on, but the rebound laid free for Bret Parker and he potted his fifth of the season.

The second period brought out a new look Indiana Sentinels squad. They were faster, more organized, and all around out worked the Watertown Wolves in the middle period. Scoring opened with Ben Stefanini given all day and next week to walk in a rip a wrist shot that Samuel Zgiet got 95% of but could not get all of it as it barely slid over the goal line for Stefanini’s third of the season.

Just 47 seconds later, Noah Hippolyte-Smith started a 2-on-1 with Tucker Kruse and Kruse, driving the net, was able to ricochet Hippolyte-Smith’s pass behind Zgiet for his first in his FPHL career.

Hard work from the Sentinels meant more opportunities on the powerplay. Finally, they started to see results. Ross Bartlett found Aaron Shahin alone in front of the net, and Shahin spun around and beat the goaltender for his fourth of the year, tying a career high in goals.

The Sents were not finished there. Just four seconds into their second powerplay, Alex Arnold hit Ben Stefanini in the slot and Stefanini slipped one under the pads of Zgiet to give the Sents a 4-1 lead and end the evening for Sam Zgiet. It was a 13-shot period for the Sentinels who gave up only 6 shots on net, none of which were particularly dangerous.

Watertown was not deterred, however, and answered back in the third period. Matthew O’Shaugnessy picked up his first of the year on the powerplay with 14:14 to play in the third. That would be the fifth goal on the powerplay for the Wolves on the weekend.

With 5:47 to play, Brendan Hussey off the rush ripped home a shot from the tops of the circles that went bar down over the shoulder of Cooper Olson to bring the score to 4-3.

With the Sents starting to sweat a bit, which opened the door for Thomas Miller to submit his application for “Goal of the Week” in the FPHL. He made a sweet move at the blue line to undress a defender and slid home his third of the year to give the Sentinels a 5-3 lead.

Tying the bow on top was the first ever hat trick in the FPHL of Ben Stefanini and the Sentinels would come away with a weekend sweep of the Watertown Wolves.

While there is still more to work on, it was really good to see the Sentinels get to open up the floodgates a bit and get rewarded for their efforts with a 6-goal performance. They hope to bring that same effort back home next week as they prepare to take on the Topeka Scarecrows.

Next week at the Ham will have a lot to offer outside of some top tier hockey. Friday night is our Military Appreciation Night. All service members will get a special discount on tickets as well as merchandise at the merch booth in the lobby. Saturday night is our “Pack the Ham” night where we look forward to seeing another sell-out crowd. We will also be running a toy drive and having a T-shirt giveaway as well.

Grab your tickets today at indianasentinels.com! If you are unable to come to the games, make sure to tune in on the Sentinels Hockey Network for all of the coverage with the Body Armor Pre-Game Show starting at 7:15 both nights.