In front of the 153rd consecutive sellout at the Budweiser Events Center, with all 5,289 fans clad in orange t-shirts reading “We Fear No Deer”, the Colorado Eagles have taken a 2-0 lead in the Ray Miron President’s Cup Finals with a convincing 6-2 win Sunday evening. Four point nights by Greg Pankewicz (two goals, two assists) and Riley Nelson (four helpers) and three early second period goals put the Eagles in firm control of Game 2 as the series now shifts to Laredo for Games 3, 4 and 5, if necessary.

Game 2 Box Score: Laredo 2 @ Colorado 6
Colorado Leads Series 2-0
For the second straight game Laredo opened the scoring, and appeared to be intent on playing a much more physical style than in the opener. Quality forechecking by James Hiebert got the puck to Igor Pohanka behind the net, who then found Jeff Bes all along cruising in front of Marco Emond for his 14th goal of the post-season just 89 seconds in. Shortly thereafter the Eagles tied it 1-1, with Seth Leonard creating a turnover and feeding a wide open Pankewicz in front of the Laredo net for his 12th of the playoffs. At the 12:02 mark the Eagles gained the lead for good, with Aaron Schneekloth converting on the power play for Colorado. Pankewicz took a hard slap shot from the point that Schneekloth corralled and calmly tucked in to an open net on the backhand to make it 2-1 Eagles.

The game was decided in the first half of the middle frame, with three straight Eagle scores. Seth Leonard made it 2-1, skating from behind the net and finding a gap between Laredo starter Eric Marvin and the post 2:48 in. Pankewicz notched his second of the game minutes later, cashing in on a breakaway with a hard shot high to Marvin’s glove side. Under three minutes later, Schneekloth made it 5-1 with his eighth of the playoffs. Steve Haddon (Colorado) and Neil Clark (Laredo) exchanged goals in the third after the outcome was long decided.

Marco Emond picked up his second straight win for the Eagles with a 29 save outing, while Marvin suffers his second consecutive loss and made 32 saves. The Laredo power play was highly ineffective in Game 2, creating very few quality chances in six opportunities, while the Eagles capitalized once in their four chances.

The Bucks will face a virtual must win situation Thursday at the Laredo Entertainment Center, knowing no team in CHL/WPHL history has ever came back from a 3-0 series deficit. The Colorado victories in games 1 and 2 also ensures that Laredo cannot win their third title in franchise history in front of their home fans, needing to win at least two of three home games to force the series back to Colorado.


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