Upper Arlington Golden Bears 0   Coffman Rocks 6

Game Summary - Dublin Coffman vs. Upper Arlington, Sunday, November 26,2007      Chiller North

 

                                                                                                                                                            photo by Carol Anderson

1st Period
The Rocks entered the final game of the Thanksgiving Tourney knowing the opponent and knowing the Upper Arlington Golden Bears always come to play. With an early morning start both teams looked to get started on the right foot. The Rocks seemed ready to play, both teams showed early on great puck movement, end to end, back and forth as both teams pressed for the games first scoring opportunity.  The Rocks would get that first chance, when a delayed off-side on UA, opened a seam for defenseman Matt Zacharias,  to bolt up ice out of the Rocks zone, Zacharias carries the puck deep into the Golden Bears end and  from the left side lays a perfect saucer pass over to Anthony Rogers who took a point blank shot, however Golden Bear tender Ian Ansel makes a huge save early on. The Rocks keep coming and just a few minutes later Jimmy Wall’s blasts a hard slap shot on Ansel, Ansel's rebound is left on the doorstep for Alex Minardo, Minardo spoons the puck again the Rocks are leaving empty handed. Halfway thru the first frame, UA captain Nick Parakas, takes the games first penalty.  The power play gets production from hard work, forwards of Nagel, Edmonds and Anderson convert. Nagel wins the race to the corner and sends the puck behind the Golden Bears goal, Anderson comes in and frees up the puck with a hard check on the UA defenseman. Anderson spins and sees Jordan Edmonds in front, Edmonds tries crashing the net from the left side and the puck is laid in the perfect spot, Edmonds rifled the puck past Ansel, 1–0 Rocks. With 3:01 left in the 1st, Chris Ridgway, is sent off for slashing and UA has their first power play. Edmonds carries the puck deep into the UA end trying to kill off the Rocks penalty, his first pass to feed a Rocks forward was intercepted by UA, but a determined Edmonds manages to steal the puck again and from down low sends the a pass from the same spot, this time he connects with Rogers in the slot, Rogers wastes no time, keeping his shot low, fires the puck just under Ansel’s right pad just as the Rocks penalty ended 2-0, Rocks. Rocks out shot the Bears in the first period 12-5.

2nd Period
The Rocks line of Edmonds,  O’Brien and Hoover come out flying in the 2nd creating several  great scoring chances, but Ansel stood tall thru the flurry. The line continues to pressure UA keeping them on their heels, sending multiple shots and continuous cycling of the puck, had them clicking as a line but Ansel would not give an inch. Finally with 2:59 remaining in the period, this line gets a chance to convert for the Rocks 3^rd goal. Jeff Hoover picks up the puck in the neutral zone, cross the blue line, deke's one UA defensemen, walks in, pulls up and releases a wrist shot that beats Ansel’s left shoulder, 3- 0 Rocks. The second period came to a close with a flurry of shots from Rogers and Ridgway, peppering the UA goalie as often as they can, keeping the pressure in the UA zone. With :54 seconds left Sam O'Brien  sets-up Ridgway, Ridgway slips the puck across to a wide open Rogers in front of the UA net, only this time Rogers shot hits the crossbar. Rocks out shot the Bears 18-5.

3rd Period
The Rocks continued the pressure at the start of the 3rd, UA looked troubled as the early minutes unfolded. Defenseman Jimmy Wall takes the puck from the Rock’s zone end to end skating thru the UA team.  As he enters the left side of the UA zone he sends a perfect pass cross ice to Rogers, Rogers has a clean view of the open right side of the net and buries the puck past Ansel, 4–0 Rocks with 10:55 left in the game. Off the ensuing face-off at center ice, Rogers heads into the UA zone, crosses in front of Ansel, and Rogers scores with a backhand over Ansel's left shoulder for his hat trick at 10:45, 5–0 Rocks. While Ansel was flat out great in this game, UA makes a goaltender change to give new comer Cook his first action against the Rocks. The game immediately turns rough after the last Rocks goal and UA is assessed a 5 minute major, on a hit from behind. The Rocks tried some different line combinations through out the remaining minutes of the third, the new mix pays dividends as Edmonds, Strine and Minardo set-up the final score of the game.  Defenseman Matt Smith keeps the pressure on the UA team in their zone, he spots Strine whose shot on the UA net caroms to the blue line when Alex Minardo keeps the puck in and shuffles a pass over to Edmonds, Edmonds unleashes a wrist shot giving Cook no chance and with 3:06 left. Rocks lead 6-0. Rocks out shot the Bears 16-8 in the 3rd and 46-18 overall.

Rocks Highlights:
The Rocks finished strong the last 3 games as they get ready for Capital Conference play this weekend. Rocks, Jordan Edmonds, Andy O'Brien and Jeff Hoover were a line too watch in this one, the pin point passing and extra hard work effort gave the Golden Bears fits. Friday night the Rocks entertain St. Charles Cardinals, in game 1 of a 3 game league opening weekend at 8:00 pm, Dublin Chiller.

 

                                                                                                                      by Randy Zacharias