Does a 0-0 first period ever provide an omen of things to come?

 

By Mitch Silver

 

Does a 0-0 first period ever provide an omen of things to come? It did Saturday afternoon February 1 when Rye Country Day School shot 16 pucks at the visiting Garnets’ net and came away with nothing to show for it.

 Still, head coach Erik Kallio and netminder coach Anthony Felice were upbeat at the break. “We told the kids we were playing our game, getting the puck deep and going in after it,” said Felice. “We liked where we were at.”

Even after a penalty allowed a Joseph Watanabe-Gastel screened shot to sail past Wildcats’ senior goalie Michael Mossman at 7:43 of the second stanza, Rye Country Day was well ahead in rubber on goal.

Then back-to-back Rye holding and hooking penalties changed everything. Eight seconds after Serafim Rocco scored while two men up to knot the score, Kyle Halloran dug a Blake Bieber rebound from under the Rye keeper to take a 2-1 lead into the locker room.

Then, seven minutes into the third period, Ryan Jaeger scored the Wildcats’ first even-strength goal to make it 3-1. Less than two minutes later, Kyle’s fraternal twin Will Halloran made it 4-1.

If it was any consolation, Rye High’s Griffin Tutin scored the game’s niftiest goal, leaving both feet to attack the puck outside the crease after two bad Wildcat clearing efforts gave the Garnets a chance. His goal made it 4-2, but a late Gabe Regan empty-netter after coach Jason Friesen pulled Rye’s goalie made the final 5-2.

Rye High Coach Jason Friesen summed it up for his team: “We seem to be generating a lot of scoring chances over the past few games but unfortunately we have been unable to finish them. It’s the real difference between us winning and losing right now.”