After three disappointing losses, the Washington Stealth finally have a little bit to be excited about. They earned their first victory of the 2012 season on Saturday defeating the Buffalo Bandits 11-10 in overtime and perhaps more importantly, the offense finally appeared to wake up, which could bode well for the team as they look to improve on their disappointing start to the season.
Rhys Duch won the game with a goal in overtime, his fourth goal of the contest. Joining Duch with his first multi-goal game of the season was fellow All-Pro Lewis Ratcliff, who scored three goals and dished three assists.
Stealth assistant coach Art Webster, who is handling the coaching duties while head coach Chris Hall recovers from throat cancer treatment, has been talking about needing a better performance from his offensive unit for weeks and he finally got it.
Webster also got a fine performance out of his goalkeeper Tyler Richards. One week after a disappointing outing against the Edmonton Rush, Richards saved 41 of the 51 shots he faced, helping his team finally get into the win column.
There isn’t a whole lot to say when you are 0-3 and there isn’t much more to say when you are 1-3, but this is a big win for the Stealth. It finally gives the team some confidence that it can find a way to win and the offense especially should have gained some confidence. The Stealth have a long way to go to get back to the level that they have been at the past two seasons, but this win was a step in the right direction.
Buffalo, despite its 2-3 record is a good team, one that I expect to be a major player in the Eastern Division playoffs. Going into the Bandits building, with 14,000 strong in the seats and getting a win is not easy to do. The Stealth have a tough game next week at home against the Calgary Roughnecks, a win in that game and we can start talking about the Stealth as an actual contender in this league once again.
Player of the game: Rhys Duch, who else could it be besides “Clutch Duch”, he delivered the game-winner in OT and tallied eight points in the contest, when Duch is at his best like he was on Saturday, the Stealth are tough to beat.
Unsung hero of the game: Tyler Richards, while Duch was scoring all the goals, Richards was busy doing what he does best, stopping shot after shot. With the exception of the game against Edmonton, Richards play at goalkeeper has kept the Stealth in every game that they have played this season. Duch might get the glory on this night, but don’t forget about the goalkeeper.
A new award just for this week: the Welcome Back award — and it goes to Lewis Ratcliff, Stealth fans should be very excited to see Ratcliff get going, Having Duch and Ratcliff on in the same game creates nightmares for the Stealth’s opponents.
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