I don't remember the actual scores to either of the games, but we had a lot of goals and pitched shutouts in both. Surprisingly, our opponents in the first game probably had as many shots as we did, but we had a number of breakaways and sweet scoring chances and goals. Second game...we dominated. Good passing and control, awesome defense, tight goaltending when needed and great finishes on scores. I believe we had eight different players score goals (including super subs Matt and Miki). Pretty cool. And, what a nice visit from the newest member of EPZ...Ben! Thanks to super fan Jessi too...we miss you on the ice!

Off to the playoffs! Hope we can field a team.

What an awesome day of broomball! I loved it!

First game we had a controlled victory over a strong opponent (we were sparked by a sweet steal, assist, do-it-all goal by Denise).

Second game was an awesome overtime win over our arch nemesis (and quite disliked) opponents in the Broomballers (again, the same team that has bumped us from the tournament the last two years). They controlled most of the game and outshot us, but our defense was so tough and Toddy was unbeatable. We went into the extra period tied at 1-1, but moments before the end of the half, their jerkiest of jerks got a penalty (justice!). They started OT with only three people and Jodi, Denise, Bill and Craig made them pay controlling the ball (not sure they even got a shot off) and Craig knocking in the golden goal. Probably one of our best win in years. And really, how very, very sweet.

Seems like we should have cleaned-up in the third game, but our opponents (who were very nice) were scrappier than we expected (and had played one less game). Toddy stopped a number of shots point blank and our defense did a great job of clearing it out. We ending up notching the game winning goal (a blast by Billy on a feed from Angie) in the final minutes.

Huge props to our amazing subs Jodi, Miki, Kimmy, Brad and Josh. And, huger props to our Angie for bringing those obviously magical chicken sandwiches. What a day! Off to parade next week. Our first showing there in a number of years. Let's keep the fun rolling!

A little indoor broomball. Why not? After a great run last week (just once more, let's point out that we beat the Broomballers!), we found ourselves a Parade playing in the semifinals.

First of all, huge thanks and kudos to Kristen for playing goalie in the biggest games of the year. New position. Bigger goals. Maybe some pressure? She played awesome and stepped-up huge.

Seminfinals. We jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead on a blast by Dan. We went nuts. A huge goal that got us going and allowed us to relax a bit of our pregame nerves. Our opponents tied it. Craig swiped in a sweet backhand to give us the lead. We went nuts. Our opponents tied it. Craig scored a tricky roller in the last five minutes to give us the win. We went nuts.

Finals. Not having any rest between games might have caught us a bit as we gave up a fairly quick 0-3 deficit. Our opponents were physical and played well. Dan blasted one in to make it 1-3 at half. We played more aggressive in the second half, but weren't able to close the margin, losing 2-4 in the championship game.

Throughout both games, I thought we showed a ton of hustle and scrappiness. Defense played amazing...stopping shots, breakaways, passes and cleaning up all the garbage. A great team effort and a great, maybe somewhat unexpected, run from EPZ! I'm sure we all would have liked to have won it, but I didn't see a lot of head hanging afterwards. As we had talked about prior...some bonus games and a great night of broomball. Thanks team. See you in December!

Tournament Bracket