By Nathan L. Redd

For the second night in a row, the Louisville Lightning jumped out early, then held off a furious rally to pull out a crucial league victory.  This time around, it was Louisville on the road visiting the Ohio Vortex, who fought from a five-goal deficit to tie it up, only to fall to the Lightning 9-7.  Othaniel Yanez, John Michael Hayden, and Simon Bird led the way with two goals each for the Lightning.

The Louisville Lightning have turned things around after the winter break.  Not only are they winning games, but they are building early leads in the process.  For the second time in as many nights, Louisville jumped ahead and held on for a PASL victory Saturday.

Coming off the big win Friday, Louisville continued their moment against Ohio Saturday night.  It took less than two minutes for John Michael Hayden to put the visitors up 1-0.  A minute and a half later, Simon Bird’s effort found the back of the net to make it 2-0 Lightning.  Othaniel Yanez’s shot less than four minutes in bounced off Vortex goalkeeper Mike Mason and into the back of the net, and Louisville was up by a hat trick in the opening minutes. 

A minute after the third goal, Louisville’s Corey Maret would strike to make it 4-0 less than five minutes into the game.  The Lightning would continue to attack, nursing the big lead, and the Vortex defense would continue to be pressured.  Louisville’s David Horne, returning to the lineup after missing several games due to injury, would test Mason at the eight-minute mark, hitting the crossbar.  The Lightning would strike again moments later, however, as John Michael Hayden would find the back of the net to make it 5-0. 

Ohio would regroup and counter-attack as they looked for opportunities.  The breakthrough would finally come just over eight minutes in, as Andy Lorei would score to make it 5-1.  The Vortex would continue to find chances, and Judson McKinney would set up Jordan Zapotechne to make it 5-2 with just under four minutes remaining in the first period.  The two teams would then go into the first break with Louisville hanging on to a three-goal lead.

Louisville would quickly take back the momentum in the second period, with Othaniel Yanez striking just over a minute in to make it 6-2.  The Lightning would continue to attack, and Ross Hopkins would nearly score moments later for the visitors.  Louisville would be able to dictate the pace and tempo throughout the second period, catching the Vortex defenders on their heels nearing halftime. 

Ohio would put together a fierce run late in the second period, however.  Steve Gillespie would fire a shot at Lightning goalkeeper Frank Peabody that just missed the target as the Vortex would look for chances on goal.  Their attack would force Peabody to make four saves late to preserve the 6-2 lead.  Ohio would find more chances, as Peabody would pick up a blue card at the 6:24 mark, followed by a yellow card to Charlie Campbell.  Ohio would miss the penalty kick, but they would try to capitalize with Louisville playing a man down. 

The Vortex would test the Lightning defense late in the first half, but Louisville would come up big, eventually returning to full strength.  After a number of chances for the home side, the two teams would go into the halftime break with Louisville leading 6-2. 

Looking to get back into the game, Ohio would come out firing to start the third period.  After Peabody would make several impressive saves, Stefan Ostergren would find Ross Ashley less than two minutes in to make it 6-3.  Louisville’s Ryan McDonald would get a blue card for tripping at the six-minute mark, and Ohio would capitalize again, this time on a penalty kick. 

The two teams would battle in the third period, with neither side able to find a clear chance.  That would change with less than a minute remaining in the third quarter, as Andy Lorei would set up Steve Gillespie on a Vortex power play to make it a 6-5 contest.  The two teams would enter the final period with Louisville clinging to a one-goal lead in Canton.

Louisville would look to regain the momentum in the final period, and they would do so when Darren Yeagle found Nick Judah for a rocket from the corner to make it 7-5.  Less than thirty second later, the Vortex would answer after an assist from Stefan Ostergren would find Ronnie Stolz for the goal to make it 7-6.  Just 16 seconds later, Judson McKinney would hit the back of the net to tie things up at 7-7. 

A Lightning power-down due to an accumulation of fouls would give Ohio another great opportunity, but the home side couldn’t capitalize.  With less than three minutes remaining, Louisville’s Ryan McDonald would call a timeout to allow the visitors to regroup.  Once play resumed, Louisville would jump ahead again, this time on a Simon Bird goal off an assist from Othaniel Yanez. 

With Louisville hanging on to a one-goal lead, Ohio would look to test the Lightning defense.  With the clock ticking down under a minute, Ohio would use a sixth attacker to look for an equalizer.  Instead, Ryan McDonald would find a good look with just seconds remaining to make it 9-7 and put the game away. 

The final whistle would sound in Canton with Louisville claiming the 9-7 win over the Ohio Vortex; their second victory in as many nights.  Othaniel Yanez led all Louisville players with three points on the night.  The University of Louisville product would score two goals as well, as did John Michael Hayden and Simon Bird, to lead all Lightning scorers.  Andy Lorei had two goals and three points to lead the Vortex Saturday.  Ohio goalkeeper Mike Mason had 24 saves on the night, while Louisville’s goalkeeping tandem of Frank Peabody and Keith O’Loane combined to save twenty shots.  Louisville outshot Ohio 33-27 on the evening.

The Lightning return to action on Sunday, January 29th.  They’ll travel to Kansas City to take on the Kansas Magic in PASL action.  That game will kickoff at 4:30 PM CST from EPIC Indoor Sports Complex.