The Observer, February 22, 2008
Volume XL, Issue 18
Poor second period ices Spartans at home
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Despite a strong first period, the Case Ice Hockey Club fell to Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) after a long and drawn-out, penalty-driven game on Saturday.
CCAC needed to secure a win on Saturday to ensure a first-seed bye in the conference tournament this weekend in Pittsburgh. Case was locked into the fifth spot, not to benefit or be put at disadvantage after the game.
"We knew they had something to play for and would have really liked to disappoint them. We definitely didn't take the game lightly, we play every game hard," said club president Jim Lowe.
Case struck first with a Lowe shot off assists from Jeff Barbarits and Mike Stork. Though the possession of the puck switched often, Case made better quality shots with the opportunities that presented themselves.
"[With the 16-6 advantage in shots,] yeah, we'd hope for better than 1-0. At the same time we didn't really have great chances on goal. That's been a problem for us all year. Just finishing the shots and taking advantage of the chances we get," said Lowe.
After trailing 1-0 in the first period, CCAC turned up the heat, scoring three unanswered goals in the second, killing Case morale.
"It wasn't more pressure necessarily that led to their run. We had discussed in the locker room how we had to keep up our good play. It's been a problem of ours easing up after a solid first, taking it for granted," said senior Pat Sullivan.
Also contributing to the CCAC advantage was the increasing pressure on Case's already short bench. Penalties in the second and third period were constantly being debated by referees and line judges. CCAC had 16 separate penalties resulting in 43 minutes, whereas Case had 13 penalties for 37 minutes.
"It made our short bench even shorter. The penalties messed with our lines that were already stretched thin. It always helps to win games if your bench is full of energetic players," said junior Jeff Greenstein.
After a failed attempt at scoring a goal with a two-man advantage, Case's offense had come to a stop. With three minutes and 37 seconds left in the second period, CCAC scored two easy goals before ten seconds ticked off the play clock.
"It's just frustrating that it can change the momentum of the game. Especially since they were both pretty soft; they could have been prevented pretty easily," said Sullivan.
Keeping up the penalty-ridden play, Case was still within one for much of the third period. Then two events created a problem for the already short-handed Spartans. Provoked by a CCAC player, Jim Lowe got into a bit of a scuffle, resulting in penalties of roughing, cross-checking, and game misconduct, with the CCAC player receiving high sticking, roughing, and game misconduct, ejecting them both from play. The other event was the injury of Mike Stork's knee, that combined with Lowe's departure, eliminated two of the Spartans' leading scorers. The pair combined for 69 goals in the first 12 games.
"We started out with only 11 skaters, but those two events knocked us down to nine. Even with 10 at least we could make up two lines and have some sort of flow between lines. With nine now we had to juggle the lines; someone has to double shift, so he's tired and not pulling his weight. The main thing though was just losing the scoring presence, especially when we were only one goal down," said Sullivan.
Even with two goals in the third by Stork and Barbarits, CCAC added two as well, putting the nail in Case's metaphorical coffin.
"Trying to mount a comeback, a main part is the momentum. With the constant stoppages in play, the referees discussing calls, there's no way we can get that flow going where we can get comfortable and get decent shots on goal," said Jeff Greenstein.
The match ended in a 5-3 decision. Case plays Allegheny College in a first-round playoff game tonight at 8 p.m. in Pittsburgh.
