The Vancouver Ravens defeated the New Jersey Storm 18-9 on Sunday afternoon in front of an announced crowd of 6,761 at the Continental Airlines Arena.

Chris Gill (three goals, two assists) and Chris Prat (four goals) led the way offensively for the winners. Dwight Maetche was strong in net for the visitors, stopping 26 of the 33 shots on goal he faced.

The Ravens started off on the wrong foot, taking a penalty for too many men on the floor not even two minutes in; Marc Morley needed just fourteen seconds to convert.

Prat got his first at 3:26 with a nice piece of skill, changing hands on the crease and looking like a natural lefty with his fakes. Darren Reisig got an even better one exactly two minutes later, stripping the ball from an attacker and getting a jump on his man as the ball was rolling over the center line. He shielded the loose ball nicely near the left side boards before gathering it in and heading in on goal, finishing beautifully with a cross hander from his wrong side.

Blake Miller scored on a breakaway off an outlet from Derek General at 6:20, tying the game at two. The initial shot hit the pipe but rebounded off Maetche's back and into the goal. Prat got his second on a bouncer from the slot exactly four minutes later, and soon almost got another, hitting the pipe with three minutes to go.

Cam Bomberry unloaded from the outside to tie it up at 13:07, and Mike Ladouceur got whistled for a hold right off the ensuing draw. Dan Stroup hit the pipe at one end and then Scott Stewart made some magic at the other. Stewart finished onehanded, with a defender draped all over him, after ragging some time off the penalty.

Stewart went to the locker room at the end of the quarter with a nasty cut above the eye, the result of a high stick in the middle of the floor. I've talked before about the problem with the seam created by the current referee mechanics. Chalk up another star's injury to the fact that the league won't have three referees. The Storm led 4-3 at the break and it was a real good game up to that point.

But then things changed. Ginny Capicchioni started the second quarter in goal for New Jersey, becoming the first woman ever to play in an NLL game. Ladouceur got out of the penalty box right before Mike Law shot a bullet in the top corner; Capicchioni barely moved. Bruce Murray got a breakaway but hit the pipe despite a gaping opening. Gill floated a weak change up at her, but even that found the net. That one looked really bad.

Morley tied it up, 5-5, and then Grant Hamilton got on the end of a two-on-one, but rang the pipe just like Murray. These defenders were too excited to be on a break in that situation.

Chad Wittman put another one by her and then came a couple of embarassing plays. Reisig got caught holding and Capicchioni missed the advantage situation on the delay call. When she finally realized it, she took a long time getting to the bench. Next, she threw the ball away on a clear, causing a ten second violation on the power play.

At this point, Capicchioni had credit for two saves, but those were the two pipes and she was beaten badly on both of them. She finally made a real save on a shot that she had to go down low for, then Bobby Horsey took some of the pressure off at the other end. He exploded from behind the goal and got in front to finish, surprising Maetche and a defender at 6:42.

Capicchioni made an easy save on the next shot but gave up a rebound and Gill beat her at 7:14. General came back in the game at 8:17 and for her time in there, she was one goal better than an empty net. It was a brutal outing.

Matt Dwane finished off a three-on-two at 9:07. Hamilton went off at 9:42 for checking from behind and Dwane committed the same foul at 12:01. Vancouver killed off the first penalty without incident and Stewart came back to the Storm bench. The Ravens also killed off the second, with Wittman going one-on-one to score a shorty on the last tick of the advantage. Stewart got one back with thirteen seconds left and Vancouver led 9-7 at the half.

Prat opened the third-quarter scoring at 0:56, skipping one through the five hole from the slot. Law followed eighteen seconds later from the outside after spinning off his man.

Morley went off for charging at 1:32, and Gill converted off a gorgeous feed from Bruce Alexander at 2:58. It was a diagonal from the shooter to the crease, where he dropped down like he was shooting and flipped across without breaking his motion.

The game started going end-to-end but it was losing its intensity. Prat got another goal at 8:41, on a bouncer from the point as the shot clock was winding down. More back-and-forth until Dan Stroup put home a rebound at 11:35 and the game started to look over. Kevin Brunsch went off for checking from behind a minute later but Vancouver killed it with Maetche making an awesome save in close. The Ravens were up a touchdown, 14-7, after three.

Prat went off for roughing at 3:07, but Maetche and the man-down unit came through again. Vancouver tightened up and New Jersey's offense was getting strangled. Law got one from up top at 6:02, giving him a hat trick and rendering New Jersey lifeless.

Paul Talmo went off for an illegal cross check at 10:05, then Gill and Dan Leidl got tied up at 10:37 with Leidl drawing the extra two. Scott Wylie then took over in goal for Maetche, who looked strong in the second half, stopping all ten shots on goal he faced. During the Ravens' power play, Roy Colsey scored a shorty, but Alexander got it right back by connecting from the point with 3:02 to go.

Capicchioni re-entered the game at that point and her first save of this appearance was -- you guessed it -- another pipe. She did make a legitimate save on a pretty hard shot before Reisig got another one by her at 13:39. Another shot nicked her on its way to the back boards as she hugged the post.

Hamilton finished off a two-on-one in the last minute, ending Capicchioni's day on a sour note. Morley completed his hat trick with seventeen seconds left, for the 18-9 final score.

Capicchioni, who officially had seven saves (including the pipes) on thirteen shots, left the arena without talking to reporters. Storm public relations director Dave Popkin released a statement on her behalf: "I worked very hard to get this opportunity. I wish for the team's sake that I played better."

Storm head coach Peter Vipond had more positive words about Capicchioni's play.

"Technically, she's pretty fundamentally sound," he said. "I thought she did well. She got into a little trouble when people got in on her, because she's short and people can shoot over her. But she's a good blocker."

Vancouver clinched a playoff spot with the win, and will play at Colorado next week in the quarterfinal round.

BOX SUMMARY
                                      1  2  3  4     TOT
Vancouver Ravens (9-7)                3  6  5  4  --  18
New Jersey Storm (3-13)               4  3  0  2  --   9

VANCOUVER RAVENS              NEW JERSEY STORM
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
Gill           3 - 2     5    Morley         3 - 0     3
Prat           4 - 0     4    Stewart        2 - 1     3
Law            3 - 1     4    Ca Bomberry    1 - 2     3
Wittman        2 - 2     4    Colsey         1 - 1     2
Alexander      1 - 2     3    O'Keefe        0 - 2     2
Dwane          1 - 2     3    Horsey         1 - 0     1
Sedgwick       0 - 3     3    B Miller       1 - 0     1
Reisig         2 - 0     2    General        0 - 1     1
Hamilton       1 - 0     1    M Ladouceur    0 - 1     1
Stroup         1 - 0     1    Purdie         0 - 1     1
Brunsch        0 - 1     1    Talmo          0 - 1     1
R Williams     0 - 1     1    

Shots on goal           67    Shots on goal           36
Saves made by (GA)      27    Saves made by (GA)      49
   Maetche (7)       26          General (12)      42
   Wylie (2)          1          Capicchioni (6)    7
Penalties                6    Penalties                4
Penalty Minutes         12    Penalty Minutes          8
Power Play Chances       4    Power Play Chances       6
Power Play Goals         2    Power Play Goals         1
   Alexander          1          Morley             1
   Gill               1          
Shorthanded Goals        1    Shorthanded Goals        2
   Wittman            1          Colsey             1
                                 Stewart            1
Loose Balls             83    Loose Balls             69
   Gill              11          Leigh              8
   Maetche           11          Purdie             8
   Stroup             8          Talmo              8
Faceoffs Won            14    Faceoffs Won            17
   Reisig       (11-12)          Purdie       (17-14)
   Law          ( 3- 4)          
   R Williams   ( 0- 1)          

 *** STATS OFFICIAL BY VERIFY WITH NEW JERSEY STORM ***