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Two goals are not enough for Preppers
(by Tony Lange - March 14, 2012)
Two goals are not enough for Preppers
By TONY LANGE
Two goals are perhaps the most dangerous lead in high school hockey. The next goal is a momentum changer.
After going up 2-0 in the second period against St. Edward during last Saturday's state semifinals game in Columbus, University School was hungry for a third goal, head coach Bill Beard said.
"You're not trying to hold on at that point. You're trying to extend it and trying to get a third goal to really try to make it hurt on them," he said. "Unfortunately, we couldn't get that third goal, and they got us at the end there."
The Preppers scored those first two goals during consecutive power plays in the beginning of the second period, when the Eagles sat a man in the penalty box.
Senior defenseman Connor Judson scored at the 13:44 mark. Then, less than two minutes later, Judson assisted senior Matt Wipper for the second goal.
"That was huge," Beard said. "That felt great. Being able to move the puck like we did and finish it off, that was big. In a game like that, it's important to take advantage of your power plays."
While the Eagles also had their power-play opportunities, they didn't strike until early in the third period, when they had a power play of their own and netted that momentum-swinging goal.
During regulation, St. Edward had 23 shots at goal, while University School had 22, but it was the Eagles who seemed to be applying that desperation pressure down the stretch.
With 1:33 left in the game, St. Edward was still down 2-1, and the Eagles decided to pull their goalie and skate a man up. At the 1:19 mark, they captured the equalizer through a barrier of Preppers. The deflected puck somehow managed to bounce across the goal line as senior Brad Marshall quickly scooped it out of the goal with his hand, but a referee standing above the goal was in perfect position to make the call.
After a replay review, the officials confirmed the goal, and a sudden-victory overtime period ensued.
In the beginning of overtime, the Preppers had another power-play opportunity but couldn't execute.
With about 35 seconds left in overtime, the Eagles made one last line change while the Preppers stayed busy back in their own territory.
At the 21-second mark, St. Edward buried a third goal for the win.
The Preppers, who beat St. Edward, 4-2 and 4-3, during the regular season, ended their season at 23-10-3 and came up short on an opportunity for a third state title.
"You're disappointed with the day, obviously, and you'd like to have won the game, but it certainly didn't define what these kids have done all year," Beard said. "So that's pretty much what you communicate to them. The overall year and the fact that we were down there playing, that's what we told them -- not to just focus in on one particular game to define the season. It was pretty quiet in the locker room, as you could image, afterwards. So I did most of the talking."
Meanwhile, the Eagles advanced to play Sylvania Northview on Sunday for a shot at their 11th state title. That shot, however, was battered by the Wildcats, who won, 5-2, for their first-ever state title.
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