Coffman Rocks 8   Gahanna Lincoln Lions 1

Game Summary - Dublin Coffman vs. Gahanna Lincoln Lions, Saturday, February 1, 2008, Chiller Easton

 

                                                                                                                                                            photo by Carol Anderson

1st Period
The Rocks new the task in front of them for the weekend and to meet their goals they would need to start Friday night with the Lions of Gahanna. The task began with a bang, just as the boisterous crowd was settling in too watch the showcase, the Rocks jumped on the board. 42 seconds into the first frame, Anthony Rogers draws a player in the neutral zone and waits just long enough to feed Chris Ridgway the breakaway pass, Ridgway is off to the races and makes no mistake beating starting goaltender, Phil Wellmer, off the far post and in, 1-0 Rocks. Rocks get fired up over the early goal and 2 minutes later are swarming Zacharias, carries the puck from behind his net thru two players and makes a perfect pass to Ridgway, Ridgway tips the puck onto a flying Rogers stick, who walks in alone on Wellmer again and Rogers quick shot cant be handled, beating him low stick side 2-0 Rocks. The lions immediately make a goaltender change and in comes Josh Nemec. Rocks are firing on all cylinders, the passing is opening allot of lanes, and that frees Jimmy Wall for another, end to end rush, Wall is gaining speed as he carries the puck to the Lions blue line, he makes a spectacular move between the two defenseman walks in on Josh Nemec and beats Nemec five hole and the Rocks jump out to a 3-0, 1st period, lead.  Rocks out shot the Lions in the first period 10-7.

2nd Period
Rocks start the middle frame on their 1st power play of the night, the 1st unit goes out and for 2 minutes Nemec is bombarded with shots, the Rocks see their chance to close the door on the Lions and Nemec is as stingy as can be. That display excites the lions who start a physical onslaught on the Rocks for several minutes, the poor decision on their part allows the Rocks their next opportunity halfway thru the frame, As Jared Nagel unloads on a Lions forward, and scoops the puck feeds Rogers is again all alone and he beats Nemec high, 4-0 Rocks. Rocks get two back to back penalties called on them seconds a part, Kyle Tarbutton gets the best chance of the night for Gahanna, but highway robbery does not come close to explaining the save Alex Rogers makes, point blank, top shelf and the cool net minder snags the sure goal.  Wall, Ridgway and Zacharias do a masterful job of killing the 5 on 3 after that point, as time is expiring on the penalties Zacharias steals the puck off of a Lions forward, looks to ice the puck but sees Rogers coming out of the penalty box, Zacharias sends a tape to tape pass and Rogers is gone, he makes no mistake beating Nemec clean and scoring another hat trick on the season, 5-0 Rocks. With 2 minutes to go the Lions take a 2nd penalty, and the Rocks are fired up to close the period strong, Zacharias parks himself in front of the net, Wall gets the puck at the top and blasts the shot, the puck hits something in front and deflects to Ridgway, Ridgway makes the right play and feeds Rogers who has a clear lane to Nemec, beats Nemec short side and Rogers gets his 4th on the power play, 6-0 Rocks, ,Rocks out shot the Lions 9-8.

3rd Period
Rocks make a goaltender change of their own, sending Rogers to an early good nights works shower, and in comes Eberhart, The first 6 minutes is uneventful, as the Rocks have decided to keep the game simple, dumping the puck on every shift after shift, slowing the game right down. The Lions dump the puck deep into the Rocks zone, as the Rocks d-man picks up the puck behind the net, he loses the puck and Steve Resch pokes the puck in front of Eberhart to a wide open Randy Southard, Southard one times the shot and Eberhart gets a piece of the puck but not enough and the Lions are on the board, 6-1 Rocks. For Eberhart that ended a game playing streak of 61 straight shots without surrendering a goal. The Rocks get back to a passing pressure game and Jeff Hoover feeds a beautiful give and go pass to Jordan Edmonds, Edmonds uses Hoover as a decoy as he bares down and Nemec and Edmonds unleashes a snap shot upstairs to put the Rocks up, 7-1. Just 1:20 later Rogers is not quite done for the evening, Zacharias feeds Tyler Anderson at the Gahanna blue line, Anderson carries into the corner stops and places a puck where only Rogers can get to it, Rogers goes to the backhand on a deke and buries the puck upstairs for his 5th of the night, 8-1 Rocks. Rocks out shot the Lions 11-4 in the 3rd and 30-19 overall.

Rocks Highlights:
Rocks looked sharp and determined, to start the weekend, the passing was most noticeable all night. The power play, while only getting two attempts, was simply outstanding. Congrats are in order for the Rocks captain as Anthony Rogers gets his 50th goal of the season, which was his 1st of the game, you do the math, congrats Anthony. Rocks continue league play Saturday, February 2, 2008 vs Olentangy Liberty Patriots, 8:00 pm, Chiller North.

 

                                                                                                                      by Randy Zacharias