Report authored by Prof, he is a saint.

In a game that was quite the logical opposite of the one preceding it, the offense was wide open, at least on one side of the rink. The game started out quickly enough: a goal scored by dark kn|ght (unassisted) only 0:18 into the match. This goal turned out to be an instance of foreshadowing as to how the remainder of the game would contend. Just over a minute later, dark kn|ght (A: Opto, DeViL->*) scored his second of the game. With 3:21 remaining in the first, dark kn|ght (A: Opto, steppenwolf) was able to complete the hat-trick early, with a goal by Opto (A: Art of Monkey) separating his second and third goals. In a bit of a humorous and unfortunate twist for Under the Influence, they had a great chance to get on the board with time ticking down right at the end of the first period. However, flack's shot narrowly went off the post and came right to Zalt. Time expired before he was able to shoot and score what would have been an easy goal. It was 4-0 for Shake 'n Bake after one.

Under the Influence struck first nearly ninety seconds into the second period on a goal by Randle (A: AvAtAr., flack). However, less than twenty seconds later, dark kn|ght (unassisted) scored his fourth goal of the contest. His fifth (A: Opto, steppenwolf) came another minute later. Action slowed for a few minutes before a couple of penalties, both for shooting the goalie in the crease, took center stage. Kid cudi (4:30) was first for UTI. Before SnB could establish their power play, however, dark kn|ght (4:09) followed suit and got his own seat in the “bat cave.” One minute into the four-on-four play, Shake 'n Bake scored off the stick of Demonic (A: Opto). Under the Influence was able to get one goal from AvAtAr. (A: Zalt, Randle) while on the power play shortly before the penalty was set to expire. The second period graciously ended with SnB up 7-2 on their home ice.

The final period began very similar to the first, with dark kn|ght getting an early scoring chance. However, just barely having his nose inside the crease nullified the would-be goal. He would answer back quickly at 10:05, scoring his sixth goal (A: mastakith--). In a strange turn of events to follow, UTI inexplicably pulled their goalie, allowing dark kn|ght (A: Demonic) to stat pad a little and score an empty netter. With Tortoise entering the cage, dark kn|ght would only score once more at 9:15 (A: Demonic). The final nail in UTI's coffin would come with little time left in the third, Art of Monkey (A: mastakith--) scoring his first after netting much of the contest for Shake 'n Bake.

The story of the game was undoubtedly dark kn|ght's eight goals, which is likely to be at least a MSHL playoff record (some fact-finding might determine it to be the most in any MSHL game by one player). However, the other side of that story is a lack of fortitude by the keepers and defensemen of Under the Influence. Not all can be blamed on the goalkeeping, as a rotation of goalies by UTI were often left on their own accord, trying to deal with SnB's offense all by themselves.

The semi-finals series is now tied at one game a-piece. The third and final match will be played Saturday, March 13th at 5 pm EST. It will be interesting to see how Under the Influence can rebound from this performance to try and pull themselves into the Live-Wire Cup finals. For either team, the finals will see them as likely underdogs against the perennial favorites Admirals or the strong rebound team of Haunt.