Coffman Rocks 7   Worthington Kilbourne Wolves 3

Game Summary - Dublin Coffman vs. Worthington Wolves, Saturday, January 5,2008 - Chiller North

 

                                                                                                                                                            photo by Carol Anderson

1st Period
The Coffman team seemed to have lost their scoring output in there last two games so Coach Pooley looked to make adjustments to the line-up and re-capture some offense. The changes paid off with immediate impact, 40 seconds into the game Matt Smith dumps the puck into behind the Wolves net, Tyler Anderson races in behind and feeds Chris Ridgway who is all alone in front and Ridgway beats Wolves net minder, John Merrill, glove side, 1-0 Rocks. The early strike sparks the Rocks and they pour on the shots for the next several minutes, with 5:59 left the Rocks are on the power play, 4 on 3, Jimmy Wall sends a puck down to the corner where Anthony Rogers is waiting, Rogers feeds Ridgway just behind the left side of the net, a give and go has Rogers drill a low shot that Merrill stops, Rogers follows up a rebound and deposits the puck over Merrill's shoulder, 2-0 Rocks. 17 seconds later Evan Bowdy has the puck at the right point cuts across the top of the circles, and sees Rogers alone, Rogers one times the pass back to the right hash mark and Chris Ridgway beats Merrill high to the glove side and the Rocks lead 3-0. The first period is a penalty filled affair with some very strange calls to both sides, leaving the Rocks two men down with under a minute to go, Rocks get sloppy late and an errant clearing attempt allows captain Dan Petke to walk in on Alex Rogers all alone, Merrill beats Rogers clean with 4.6 seconds left on the clock, 3-1 Rocks. Rocks out shot the Wolves 12-3.

2nd Period
The period starts off similar to the first with the Rocks all over the Wolves, a Wolves d-man tries to get by Ryan Cohagen just to the right of Merrill, Cohagen strips him off the puck and dekes Merrill, scoring to put the Rocks up 4-1 at 12:51. 2 minutes later Ridgway gets a pass in the neutral zone from Matt Zacharias, Ridgway feeds a streaking Rogers at the blue line and Rogers unleashes a howitzer-like shot that beats Merrill high and the Rocks are rolling again, 5-1 Rocks. For the next several minutes the refs start calling penalties on both sides at a feverish pace, both coaches and players are confused by all the calls and the result ends up making the game a 5 on 3, 4 on 4, 3 on 3 affair. Players are being sent to the showers early and most are confused, why. The Rocks manage to get a 5 on 3 power play that produces again, Jordan Edmonds is on the left corner of the rink deep in the Wolves end, he feeds Jimmy Wall at the point, Wall looks at the net and sends a seeing eye shot that seems to slide past everyone including Merrill and the Rocks extend the lead to 6-1. Rocks get sloppy again with 5 minutes left, a while the Rocks are changing Petke is rushing into the Rocks end, he circles the net and hits Matt Fischer who seems to be covered but Fischer manages to get a soft shot off, that beats Rogers short side and the Rocks lead is cut to 6-2. One minute later the Rocks send a clearing pass around the boards, the soft clear is stopped by Fischer, with nobody available to feed Fischer sends a shot from the blue line that handcuffs Rogers and the lead is cut to 6-3. The final 4 minutes is another penalty box parade with barely enough room to fit players in the box. Rocks out shot the Wolves 13-5.

3rd Period
After starting the period 2 men down and killing off the infractions the Rocks turn up the heat, 3 minutes into the third the Rocks are pouring on shots, Merrill is being barraged. Jimmy Wall takes another slapshot from the blue line that misses the net short side but the puck bounces straight back in front where Andy O'Brien has skated into position, O'Brien one times the strange bounce and Merrill has no chance, 7-3 Rocks. Rocks changed net minders in the 3rd giving Colin Eberhart his chance to close the door, Eberhart does just that for the balance of the game getting a couple of low percentage shots that he handles easily. The balance of the game is score sheet nightmare as the last 9 minutes of the game produces 13 penalties and more ejections, the game ends with few chances but certainly a much more offensive effort from the Rocks as the Roll to win 7-3. Rocks out shot the Wolves 15-7 in the 3rd and 40-15 overall.

Rocks Highlights:
Noticeable changes in the lines, a bigger focus on finishing their checks had Andy O'Brien and Matt Zacharias deliver 24 hits between the two on a night where the Rocks physical side produced 40 hits. The physical play freed some pucks and opened up the scoring chances, a much better effort than recent games. The Rocks next see action Sunday January 6th, against Oxford Talawanda Braves, SWOHSL, at 2:00 pm, Dublin Chiller. 

                                                                                                       by Randy Zacharias