We
defeated a strong Tufts team today 11-10 in OT.
We knew they would be tough, and they did not disappoint us. The first quarter ended 2-2 with both teams
getting some good opportunities. The 2nd
Q was all Tufts as they outscored us 4-1.
Their excellent Junior Attackman Bryan Griffin did most of the damage in
the 1st 1/2, scoring 4 of their 6 goals.
Ed Brown was doing a good job on him, he is
just very good at shooting with no angle, tucking the ball in the net with a quick
release. He definitely had us on the
ropes, 4 goals in one half by an attackman is enough to shake up the best of
defenses. The only goal in the second
quarter was a big one for us, as Andrew Giordano exhibited the kind of
confidence and aggressiveness that we needed but were not exhibiting in the
half. Gio was
off ball and got into a good spot, demanded the ball and stuck his shot. Their second quarter blitz definitely had us
on our heels. There was not a lot of
yelling and screaming at halftime, just urging the team to get off their heels
and take the game to Tufts. Te team
responded in the 3rd Q, outscoring Tufts 6-1, taking over on face offs, ground
balls, and confidence. Much of the
resurgence was led by Dave Leach, who was finally looking healthy after missing
3 games before
The
4th Q saw Tufs outscore us, as we had some good
opportunities that were denied by the Tufts goalie. They pecked away and got 2 huge goals late by
their top middie, who I think is one of the better
offensive players in the league. They
took the 10-9 lead into the last minute of the game. We had several excellent opportunities again
late in the 4th as we had a sense of urgency to get the tying goal. One of the best opportunities saw Saraceni with a great opportunity only to "ping"
the inside pipe. It looked as if it
might have been our last great opportunity.
We were able to ride hard and get the ball back, though, and Saraceni found himself again
closing on the goalie. He had Foster
open on the weak side but chose to shoot himself and scored the tying goal. We
had a great opportunity to score again in the last 44 seconds, but Howe was
again denied. I think he was shooting to good spots, but the unorthodox goalie
had his number.
We
opened the OT with Gio winning the face off and
creating a fast break opportunity, only to see Howe denied by the goalie. We retained possession, though, but an
attempted feed was deflected, Tufts cleared the ball and called a time out when
they crossed the midline. We had a nice
defensive possession with Krieger making 2 saves. We garnered possession, and called a time out
with 20+ seconds remaining in the OT. Of
course we spent the OT mapping out a couple of play opportunities only to have
them come out in a zone. We had prepared
well for the zone, we quickly got into our zone
pattern, made a couple quick passes, leading to Charley Howe with the ball on
the low, right hand pipe. After having
been stuffed on numerous opportunities earlier in the game, Howe snuck one
through the "5 hole" for the victory. I told the team it was a great example of not
quitting or losing faith in yourself, and if he had
hung his head due to earlier mistakes he would not have won the game for
us.
Up
next is Bowdoin on Saturday at Bowdoin, so it does not get easier.