I’m sure most of you have read fellow Ace JJ Conrad’s review of this game, but there’s some great story lines that these two teams created. Perhaps the top story is the great goaltending both teams got.
What, you say? You want to run that by me again? Sure. This game was kept close because of solid play in net and it was eventually won by equally impressive goaltending. Let me explain.
By now you know all about the three goals in 19 seconds scored by West Milford that gave them a 6-2 lead in the first period. There were actually four goals in 47 seconds, as Lakeland had scored 28 seconds before the Highlander trio. That West Milford outburst was really quite amazing. It started innocently as Chris Dressler scored unassisted with 1:14 left in the period.
Dressler then grabbed a puck off the faceoff and found Joey Fenui all alone in front of the net, a major defensive lapse by the Lancers. He beat a helpless Sean Komjian to make it 5-2. On the next faceoff, it was Kyle Little to Dressler to Fenui who again was left alone to complete a natural hat trick with his third goal of the period. Bang, 6-2.
Komjian had allowed 6 goals on 13 shots. From there on, he stopped the final 14 over the last two periods as Lakeland overcame that ugly end of the period to jump back into the game.
“He had a rough period there for sure, but he bounces back,†Lancer head coach Nick Crouch said. “We needed him to bounce back and we’re going to need him to do that all season. You saw what he is capable of in those last two periods.â€
Conversely, West Milford had all the momentum as that first period ended, but with the Big north now recognizing the five-minute break between the first and second periods, it actually worked against them.
“We stayed out on the bench hoping that we’d keep the momentum,†WM head coach Dan Frey said. “They get a chance to go into the locker room, refocus them and make a couple of adjustments and everything changes. If there was only a minute or two in between like last year, I think we may have kept that momentum.â€
Lakeland inched back into the game with two second period goals, and when Dan Mullin completed his hat trick midway into the third period the game had become a nailbiter. Enter Highlander goaltender Alex Crevina, who had already stopped eight shots prior to the goal.
The Lancers continued pressure Crevina, but he was up to the task, stopping six more shots, including two big time saves in the final three minutes, and a total of 31 in the game.
“As a team, we probably played our finest period of the year in the first,†Frey said. “Alex probably played his finest period of the year in the third.â€
Both coaches also felt that the atmosphere in the rink, with this being a rivalry game, had a lot to do with what went on. The crowd was over 700 and it was loud and raucous and both felt that the players got caught up in it.
“I thought we outplayed them for most of the game except for a couple of pockets,†Crouch said. “At 6-2 we could have folded but I’m proud of the way we responded. I liked what I saw in the second and third periods and that’s what I’m taking out of this. We just dug ourselves too deep a hole.â€
“What I liked about this game was that we were able to win a rivalry game and the kids learned a good lesson,†Frey said. “We got that early first goal from our second line (Nik Latronica 1:18 in), which was huge. We know that (Komjian) is a real good goalie and you need to get him early. We had him real good and then we let him get a little run and he got comfortable. It’s a good lesson to learn in December.â€
Crouch had much the same feeling about an early season game.
“We lost a game; so what,†he said. “It’s not like we lost a county final or a state final. It’s December, and what I learned today was that this team has a lot of heart. Last year we might have folded in the same situation and been mercy ruled. It’s frustrating, don’t get me wrong, we expected to win the game today, but the team you saw in the second and third periods is a better representation of who we are.â€