Sharks Season Ends in Defeat to La Quinta Blackhawks

All the pieces seemed to be there for the Sharks to advance to the CIF Championships, but the game slipped away with the Sharks failing to capitalize on too many opportunities. 

The game started with the Blackhawks scoring first and then each team failing to score with a man advantage. After goalie Jack Thompson made one of his several saves, the Sharks managed to tie the game on Emmet Pierson's goal toward the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter started with the Blackhawks scoring first on a 5 meter penalty shot and then again with a man advantage. Jordan Clarke got a goal from the set position on a pass from Pierson to get the Sharks within a goal, but then the Sharks were called for several fouls and found themselves playing a man down too many times. Despite another great save by Thompson, the Blackhawks scored twice more and led 5 to 2 at halftime.

The third quarter started off great for the Sharks as they scored three quick goals to tie the game and really looked to be on a roll. First Jens Cole passed to Pierson driving to the goal and he scored from two meters out. Then Henry Buckley passed to Owen Franz on a quick counter play and he scored. The Sharks countered yet again quickly with Buckley finding Franz again for another goal and the score was tied at 5 to 5 and the Malibu crowd sensed the Sharks were taking over.

After Thompson made another spectacular save and the Sharks failed to score the game changed again and the Blackhawks scored two goals in a row after working the ball inside. The third quarter ended with the Sharks down 7 to 5.

The fourth quarter started with Dane Sartorius taking over in goal and both teams failing to score on several possessions. But the Blackhawks seized the opportunity and scored two quick goals and Jordan Clarke was sent off after getting his third foul call and winning the game became out of reach. After another Blackhawk goal Pierson managed his third goal of the game and the match ended with a score of 10 to 6.

The top ranked Sharks had hoped to earn their third trip to the CIF Championship game.  It looked at times that they could beat a very good La Quinta team, but too many missed shots and failing to score on too many man advantage plays was more then they could make up.

The silver lining to this team is that they look to be very good for the next several seasons to come with a lot of great talent ready to fill in for the departing seniors.