The Stingers began the game against their Midwest
rivals quite slow. Shooting at the Racers net only 7 times to their 15. Cincinnati had
trouble making and controlling passes early on and it didn't help that Indianapolis
checked the Stingers hard to negate their offense. But despite the lack of offense the
Stingers had, Rick Dudley managed to score a goal at 13:06. His shot was taken from about
20 feet back with Locas and Ball in on the assist.
|
© Courtesy of Cincinnati Public Library. |
| Racers goalie Andy Brown blocks a shot from Stingers
Clause Larose. Brown was the last pro goalie to play without a mask. |
In the second period the Stingers went
down 2-1 after two straight Racers goals. The first came from Nick Harbaruk when he scored
at 2:36 in the period with a shorthanded goal. Darryl Maggs followed at 6:45 for the
second Racers goal.
Cincinnati began to kick it in gear during the third
period, holding the Racers to only 4 shots on goal. The Stingers scored at 7:50 in the
period to tie the game up with a long shot by Pierre Guite. As the game progressed deeper
in the final period, all signs were pointing to overtime. That was until Claude Larose
came up with his 27th goal of the season at 19:19.
Bernie MacNeil had passed the puck to him from over the
blue line and Larose skated in on the left wing. Larose slapped the puck from behind the
faceoff circle and the net jumped which allowed the goal to sail right in. The Racers
goaltender Andy Brown, who is the last goal tender in the game to play without a mask,
tried to make a stop but simply couldn't reach the puck. The Stingers bench erupted in
celebration. A celebration that almost cursed the end of the game for them. The clock
still had 43 second remaining and the Racers were not going quietly. The Racers Blair
McDonald took a hard slap shot just before the buzzer but the Stingers goalie Paul
Hoganson batted it over the top of the net to end the game.
The Stingers who were in last place a few days back,
moved up to a second place tie with Cleveland in the standings. |
