Bullfrogs
Charm Vipers, 6-4 
June 13, 1999 - The Anaheim Bullfrogs won a closely-fought
battle on Sunday evening, defeating the vising St. Louis Vipers 6-4 at
the Pond. The Bullfrogs (2-1-1) bounced back from a tough 12-11 shootout
loss in San Jose on Friday, while the Vipers (2-1) lost their first road
game.
It was a night of good goaltending. Rob Laurie responded with a solid 24 saves out of 28 shots, after a nightmarish 9 saves on only 18 shots against the Rhinos. Viper goalie James Jensen, backup goalie on the Bullfrogs 1998 MLRH Championship team, put in an outstanding effort that earned him the game's #3 star, making 40 saves on 46 shots.
Mark Stitt began the scoring for the Bullfrogs with a goal 4 minutes into the first quarter. Both goalies were outstanding the rest of the quarter, and the score remained 1-0.
The Vipers needed only 50 seconds to get on the board in the second quarter when Ben Gorewich scored past a sprawling Laurie. Sean Whyte answered three minutes later to restore the one-goal lead, but Christian Skoryna scored at the 9:43 to tie the game at 2-2, which remained until halftime. The quarter was marked by a couple of fist-flying fights involving Lee Cole and B.J. MacPherson, and both were given minors for roughing with only 15 seconds left in the half.
B.J. MacPherson found revenge by firing a shot past Jensen at the 2:25 mark of the third quarter to regain the lead for the Bullfrogs. When Bob Rapoza scored a little over a minute later, it seemed that the Bullfrogs had the game well in hand with a 4-2 lead. The Vipers would not go down that easy, however, and C.J. Yoder scored only 25 seconds later to pull his team within one. After killing off two tripping penalties and a slashing penalty, St. Louis quickly capitalized on Kevin St. Jacques' holding penalty by scoring the game-tying power play goal only 15 seconds later to knot the score at 4-4, which held through the end of the quarter.
The fourth quarter would be a tight-checking affair, but Hugo Belanger got whistled for hooking only 1:35 in to give St. Louis a critical power play. The Bullfrogs were able to kill it off, however, and "Mr. Roller Hockey" did not wait long to redeem himself. Belanger scored at the 6:42 mark to give the Bullfrogs a 5-4 lead, and then two minutes later assisted on Mark Stitt's second goal of the game to give the Bullfrogs some insurance. The Bullfrogs held on defensively over the last 3:30, while St. Louis surprisingly did not pull Jensen for an extra attacker, and the Bullfrogs had a 6-4 victory when the final horn sounded.
Tony Szabo of the Vipers suited up for St. Louis for the first time this year, but did not see much playing time, if at all. Szabo had been playing locally for Pro Beach Hockey in Huntington Beach. Kevin Kerr of the Bullfrogs is expected to join the team later this month.
Scoring
| StL | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| Ana | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
Ana - Stitt(2G), MacPherson(G,2A), Belanger(G,A), Whyte, Rapoza
StL - Skoryna(2G,A,PPG), Gorewich(G,A), C.J Yoder
Shots
| StL | 9 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 28 |
| Ana | 11 | 13 | 12 | 10 | 46 |
Goaltenders
Ana - Laurie (2-1) 24 saves on 28 shots
StL - Jensen (2-1) 40 saves on 46 shots
Power Play -- Ana 0/5, StL 1/5.
Att -- 4,126.
Scoring by Quarter
1st -- Ana, Stitt (Seibel, MacPherson) 4:05
Penalties -- Ana, MacPherson (slashing) 6:52; Ana, Rapoza (hooking)
10:30
2nd -- StL, Gorewich (Plager) :50; Ana, Whyte (St. Jacques) 3:42;
StL, Skoryna (Gorewich, J. Yoder) 9:43
Penalties -- Ana, Seibel (roughing) 1:22; StL, Cole (roughing)
5:34; StL, ?? (tripping) 10:12; Ana, MacPherson, StL, Cole (roughing-double
minor) 11:45
3rd -- Ana, MacPherson (unassisted) 2:25; Ana, Rapoza (St. Jacques)
3:44; StL, CJ Yoder (Skoryna, Kompon) 4:09; StL, Skoryna PPG (John, Martens)
11:14
Penalties -- StL, J Yoder (tripping) 4:12; StL, Plager (tripping)
7:17; StL, Martens (slashing) 9:21; Ana, St. Jacques (holding) 10:59
4th -- Ana, Belanger (St. Jacques, Seibel) 6:42; Ana, Stitt (Belanger,
MacPherson) 8:30
Penalties -- Belanger (hooking) 1:35