Coffman Rocks 3   Jerome Celtics 0

Game Summary - State Districts - Dublin Coffman vs. Beavercreek Beavers, Saturday, February 16, 2008, Ice Haus

 

                                                                                                                                                            photo by Carol Anderson

1st Period
The match up for the Rocks final game of Capital Hockey conference play and the Blue Jacket Cup on the line would have the Rocks main opponent of the season, Dublin Jerome Celtics. The Rocks open the first shift of the game with an early flurry, Anthony Rogers has a great chance to put the Rocks on the board but an outstanding save by Celtic net minder Michael Saddler keeps the Rocks off the board. The Celtics get the first man advantage of the contest, the Rocks however do a great job of killing off the penalty allowing but a single shot. The Celtics get the next big opportunity when Justin Young for the Celtics gets a cross ice pass in the slot and goes wide on Alex Rogers, Rogers makes without question, the highlight save of the year, Young looks to have a sure goal and shoots to the low corner with a wide open net, Rogers dives back , fully stretched and some how snags the puck out of the air to keep the Celtics off the board. Halfway thru the period the Rocks are coming on big time, they are controlling all areas of the ice and giving the Celtics all kinds of problems, but they simply cannot solve Saddler. Than the call of the game occurred, the Celtics Logan Taylor takes a slapshot from the point, about 15 feet in front Justin Young redirects the puck and the twang of the goal post can be heard throughout the building, the puck gets picked up by Matt Zacharias and he heads up ice, in behind the play the referee blows his whistle, than indicates a goal was scored, the Celtics, who had gone for a line change, suddenly were celebrating the goal. The referee, completely out of play and out of view of the puck on the post, goes to the Celtic bench to determine which player may have scored, the Rocks bench and coaches are upset by just a horrible call, Celtics 1-0. The Rocks continue to press and are still in control of the game, than the referee decides he feels bad for the earlier bad call, and penalizes the Celtics with two very quick calls leaving the Rocks with a 5 on 3 advantage late in the 1st. Matt Zacharias parks himself in front of the net, the Celtics have trouble moving him and the Rocks start firing. Chris Ridgway i parked just off the back door, has a glorious chance but hits the crossbar, the puck goes in behind the net, Zacharias gets the puck feeds Ridgway and heads to the front, Ridgway feeds Jimmy Wall at the point and Wall wires a slap shot past Saddler and the Rocks are on the board, 1-1. Off the ensuing face-off the Rocks come flying into the Celtic end, Ryan Cohagen feeds Sam O'Brien in front and O'Brien has Saddler at his mercy, O'Brien beats saddler but puts the puck off the cross bar and over the net and the period comes to an end knotted at 1-1.   Rocks out shot the Celtic 16-7 after 1.

2nd Period
The middle frame starts off like the 1st ended with the Rocks starting on a power play, the big unit comes out and they are moving the puck well, the Rocks are firing from all angles and are in complete control, but Saddler continues to play great, and gets help from his friends when Anderson hits the post and a minute later Anthony Rogers hits another crossbar. The Rocks look great halfway thru the period when they get called for an interference penalty to this point the shots are 10-1 and the Rocks need to kill another advantage, the Celtics start getting their offense going and they direct 4 more shots on Alex Rogers, but Rogers matches Saddler at the other end not allowing anything to slip past him. The Rocks finish the period with a brief flurry but nothing seems to bounce their way.  Rocks out shot the Celtics 11-5.

3rd Period
The Rocks come out flying in the 3rd they have controlled the play and have missed chance after chance, but looked determined to complete the deal. Saddler, is absolutely unconscious in the first 5 minutes of the final frame, stopping Rogers, Ridgway, Wall and Andy O'Brien from point blank range. The Rocks make a gaff at the 6 minute mark of the 3rd, allowing Kyle Carney a chance, as he carries the puck into the Rocks zone he manages to get past the Rocks defense and is all alone on Alex Rogers, Carney buries the puck upstairs and the Celtics have taken the lead with 9 minutes to go, 2-1. The Celtics erupt and now start taking the game away from the Rocks in the one sided affair, and the Rocks fate was eventually sealed, once again, after a missed call at the Rocks blue line. Celtics Eric Olson manages, at full speed, to carry the puck in front of his body and drives Rogers into the net and the Rocks are down 3-1 with 6 minutes too play. The Rocks attempt a comeback but the Celtics defense plays strong until the final minute. With a face-off deep in the Rocks end Justin Young gets a pass from Carney in front and he beats Rogers short side to put any comeback hopes out of reach, 4-1 Celtics.  Rocks out shot the Celtics 10-7 in the 3rd and out shot the Celtics 37-19 overall.

Rocks Highlights:
Playoff time is here, a great performance, playing for all but 6 minutes of a game is not enough to carry you thru these playoffs. The Rocks lost their composure, after controlling most of the game, over two calls they could not have changed anyway. The Rocks did everything else right in this game out shooting their opposition by double the shots, but keeping their cool may have cost them in the end, a lesson they need to learn from and carry into the district championships in order to move to the final four. Full marks to the Celtics for hanging in their and in the end were victorious by taking advantage of late game mistakes and a very determined goal tender. While the Blue Jacket Cup went to the rivals, the Cup stayed in Dublin for the 5th time in as many years of the championship. The Rocks next play the Columbus Bracket State District Championships vs Beavercreek Beavers, February 16, 2008, 3:15 pm, Ice Haus.

 

                                                                                                                      by Randy Zacharias