Coffman Rocks 5   Olentangy Liberty Patriots 3

Game Summary - Dublin Coffman vs. Olentangy Patriots, Saturday, February 1, 2008, Chiller North

 

                                                                                                                                                            photo by Carol Anderson

1st Period
The Rocks traveled for their 2nd last game of the regular season and for the first time faced this years new entry to the league, Olentangy Liberty Patriots. The Patriots have celebrated many successes in their inaugural year of the CHC, challenging the Celtics for the Blue Division, 7 wins in conference play, a commitment from players too play High School hockey, a more than boisterous crowd supporting their beloved Patriots and finally celebrate their Senior night with their only Senior, Captain Patrick Kouskouris. Kouskouris well deserving of all the highlight announcements during the ceremony, clearly showed this night the value of his leadership, he has class both on and off the ice. The Rocks, on the other hand, wanted to spoil the night for the Liberty Captain, as the Rocks were eyeing a prize of their own to honor their captain and leader Anthony Rogers, with a chance at the CHC Conference title that is still up for grabs. The first period started very strong for the Rocks as they came out hard for the first 5 minutes of the period, Patriots net minder Ryan Finneran got the call and he would not disappoint as he stops both Rogers and Ridgway on point blank shots, holding the Rocks off the board. Just as the night before, the opposition chose too play a hard hitting attack on the Rocks, for the Patriots the robust play inspired their play and slowed the Rocks attack for the balance of the first period. Rocks goaltender, Alex Rogers makes 3 saves that are of the incredible variety, first stopping a one time shot from 6 feet in front by Grant Woods, than making a great gloves save off of high flying forward, Doug Kouskouris, and finally with a tremendous save on a breakaway by Justin Garland. Rocks take a penalty with 3 minutes to go in the period and the Patriots get set to score, and score they would on the power play. Eddie Nail feeds the puck to the right point to Patrick Kouskouris, Kouskouris unleashes a slap shot along the ice, just in front Nick Zanetos is battling for position and deflects the puck at the last 2nd that just squeezes thru Rogers pads, 1-0 Patriots.  Patriots late flurry had them out shoot the Rocks 9-8 after 1.

2nd Period
The Rocks looked calm after the period break and came out with a determined effort. Not fazed by the tremendous, boisterous crowd, the Rocks fire from all three lines, at 3:29 into the frame, Jimmy Wall sends a perfect pass up the boards to Chris Ridgway, Ridgway heads down the right side crossing the blue line and feathers a pass over the defenseman's stick to Anthony Rogers, Rogers redirects the pass, along the ice to the left corner of the net and the Rocks tie the game, 1-1. 3 minutes later the Rocks continue the surge on the Patriots when Zacharias stops a puck at the blue line feeds Rogers to the left of the goal keeper, Rogers has a clear lane and heads to the net, he drills a low shot to the right pad of Finneran, who makes a great save but the rebound is headed to Andy O'Brien, O'Brien wastes no time and blasts the puck to the open side, 2-1 Rocks. Rocks out shot the Patriots 10-3.

3rd Period
Rocks take an undisciplined penalty to at the end of the 2nd period, and the decision costs the Rocks again, Garland cycles the puck in the right corner of the Rocks end with Doug Kouskouris, the crafty Kouskouris leaves the puck just to the right of Alex Rogers and Grant Woods is standing alone, he slides the puck along the ice that just makes the goal line and the Patriots tie the game 2-2. Just a minute later the Rocks put a dent in the Patriots comeback attempt. Ridgway sees O'Brien come off the bench, he feeds him a pass and O'Brien undresses a defenseman at the Patriots blue line, O'Brien winds up and uncorks a blast no one is going to stop, off the left post and in, 3-2 Rocks. The puck gets dropped at center ice and the Patriots dump the puck into Jimmy Walls corner, Wall has made some pretty rushes of late and this one was of, plays of the week quality, Wall beats one man in his own end, bolts straight ahead, beats two more in the neutral zone , goes around a d-man at the Patriots blue line and fires a shot 5-hole on Finneran and just 22 seconds after taking the lead the Rocks score again, 4-2 Rocks. As had happened the night before the Rocks went into a dump and chase game that was giving the Patriots a major problem to try and get back in the game. But a soft errant pass at the Rocks blue line allowed Eddie Nail to steal a puck and feed Nick Zanetos who bangs a puck 5-hole on Rogers and the Patriots are back in the game, 4-3. The Rocks stick to their game plan and continue to hem the Patriots in their own end for the last few minutes of the game, after Patriots pull Finneran with a minute to go, O'Brien makes another play in his own end, intercepting a cross ice pass and feeds Rogers off the boards, Rogers has nothing but net and ices the game with an empty netter, 5-3 Rocks.  Rocks were out shot by the Patriots 11-8 in the 3rd but outshoot the Patriots 26-22 overall.

Rocks Highlights:
Rocks looked a little tight in the opening frame, after that the Rocks got back to puck movement, the dividends paid off. Liberty played a very strong game on a night honoring their senior Patrick Kouskouris. Leadership at this time of the year is often the difference between good teams and winning teams, the Rocks leaders played, hit and scored at key points of the game, but the unsung heroes can push a team from winning to Championship level, the players that may not score as often, the players that take one more stride to block a shot, one more stride to finish a check make a huge difference, and on this night that is exactly how the Rocks came back to beat a determined Patriots team. Rocks final game for the regular season is the final game for the CHC. The Rocks travel to play Thomas Worthington Cardinals, Sunday, February 3, 2008, 6:00 pm, Chiller North.

 

                                                                                                                      by Randy Zacharias