Coffman Rocks 2   Cincinnati Moeller Crusaders 4

Game Summary - Dublin Coffman vs. Cincinnati Moeller, Sunday, December 30,2007 - Cincy Gardens

 

                                                                                                                                                            photo by Carol Anderson

1st Period
Coffman headed south for a match-up between the Capital Conference leader, Coffman Rocks, and the Southwest Conference leader, Cincinnati Moeller Crusaders. The Crusaders had won their last 12 and the Rocks have won their last 10 in a row. The showdown between the two teams looked strong in the first 5 minutes as both net minders, Steve Kelczewski and Alex Rogers looked sharp, both stopping point blank shots and both denying a breakaway. The last 3 minutes of the 1st the Crusaders took the edge in play and with 2:38 on the clock Paul Gunza picked off a neutral zone errant pass feeds brother Mark on the wing and Mark Gunza feeds a wide open Collin Kelleher on the left wing, Kelleher gets past a Rocks d-man and dekes Alex Rogers, he beats Rogers high blocker side, Moeller 1-0. Moeller pressures Coffman late in the period, forcing a face-off to the right of Rogers with 5 seconds left on the clock, Nate Han wins the draw clean back to the point and the defenseman's hard shot gets deflected right in front of Rogers by Kyle Bobay and the Rocks are stunned with a late goal, 2-0 Moeller.       Rocks were out shot by the Crusaders in the first period 9-6.

2nd Period
The lift late in the 1st gives the Crusaders the edge in play, and they come out in the 2nd firing on all cylinders. Through the first 4 minutes its all Moeller and Alex Rogers is doing everything he can to keep the game close denying every chance. Rocks find themselves down a man and they get a much need momentum change, Chris Ridgway on the penalty kill strips Jon Korst of the puck at the Moeller blue line and is in alone on a breakaway, the junior forward makes no mistake as he dekes Kelczewski, to his right and slides the puck into an empty net, for Ridgway his 20th of the season and a shorthanded goal, 2-1 Moeller. Rocks overwhelmed with penalties in the middle frame and with 8:06 on the clock Moeller has another man advantage, Paul Ward and Kyle Fitzpatrick are cycling the puck in the left corner and Fitzpatrick spots Kelleher in front, feeds a nice pass and Kelleher deposits his 2nd of the game, on the power play 3-1 Moeller. The penalties continue and the Rocks seem to be running out of gas, but with 1:29 left in the 1st again Ridgway steps up and strips defenseman Korst at the Rocks blue line, Ridgway is off to the races with Andy O'Brien on a 2 on 1, the Moeller dman commits to soon and Ridgway slides a perfect pass to O'Brien, O'Brien is left only to tap in the puck, for his 11th of the season, the 2nd shorthanded goal of the game, 3-2 Moeller after 2 periods.  Rocks were out shot by the Crusaders 12-4.

3rd Period
Thru 2 periods the Rocks have been hampered with penalties and looked a step behind after the long break thru Christmas, but a determined Rocks team showed they may have got off to a slow start in this one but they wouldn't make the game easy. While the Crusaders get several early shots in the period the Rocks manage to start controlling the game. Coffman misses some great chances thru the middle part of the final frame, the top two lines coming inches but just missing the net on several occasions. While the momentum had shifted several calls against the Rocks midway thru the period took away any momentum the Rocks had started to generate. With 4 minutes left to play Nate Han shoots the puck from the blue line that some how sees its way thru some traffic in front of Rogers, the fortunate shot took the wind out of the sails for the Rocks and the game extended Moeller's streak to 13 and ended the Rocks run at 10. Rocks and Crusaders were even on shots with 7-7 in the 3rd and the Crusaders 28-17 overall.

Rocks Highlights:
This could have been a dandy, but the Rocks looked sluggish after a two week layoff, credit to Moeller as they skated well throughout. Rocks will look for redemption later in the season and look to get back on track as they head back to conference play. The Rocks next see action Friday January 4th, against Jerome Celtics, at 8:00 pm, Dublin Chiller. The game is sponsored by Coldwell Bankers High School hockey Game of the Week.

                                                                                                       by Randy Zacharias