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All Hockey - Boys Stories
One goal.
One goal is all it takes to win a hockey game. And one game is all it takes to see your season end in the one-and-done pre-regionals this week.
That’s what happened to the Huron hockey team Tuesday night in the D3 Pre-Regional 46 game down in Monroe.
The Chiefs lost 1-0 to St. Mary’s Catholic Central after over two-and-a-half scoreless periods.
The two teams are used to close games with a pair of 6-5 margins in two previous meetings this season.
Tuesday night was much of the same with both teams fighting hard, and both teams getting good scoring opportunities.
“I thought it was a good game,” Huron Coach Dennis Boomer said. “I thought they came out and they were better in the first period and I thought the second period we were better than them. The third period, I don’t know. There were a couple power plays that could have gone either way.
“We hit three goal posts and a cross bar. If we scored any one of those times, I think it would have helped us and we probably would have won the game.”
But for the longest time, neither team could score.
Groans came from all around as crossbars and posts were hit all night long, and big cheers erupted from Huron when goalie Jordan Bantau came up with big saves on several breakaways.
The last few minutes of the opening period the junior goalie was solid, stopping three nice scoring chances.
“In the first period, he kept us in the game,” Boomer said. “It could have been 3-0. They outshot us 12-5.
“Bantau gave us a chance to where we could actually go ahead. (He) was as good as he needed to be.”
At the 12:50 mark of the second period, the Chiefs celebrated what they thought was a goal, but the puck hit the crossbar and fell just outside the net.
Two minutes later, they had another scoring opportunity but both teams lost track of the rebound before the Falcons cleared it.
When back-to-back boarding calls were called on SMCC with six minutes to go, the Chiefs found themselves with 1:35 of a five-on-three, but were unable to capitalize.
It looked like overtime was in the near future, but with 7:15 to go, SMCC’s Dylan Lewis snuck one in after traffic was created in front of the net.
Patrick Nicholson and Drew Antonelli had the assists.
The Falcons took a quick timeout and both teams came out with a game plan, but the Falcons held on for their win.
“Basically, (we talked) about just getting two men on the puck and making sure you don’t give SMCC anything for free,” Boomer said. “Try not to make them have any easy plays. Try to get the puck as deep as you could and overload one side of the ice and try to get the puck across.”
The Falcons knew how important it was to hold on for the last minutes of play.
“We didn’t want to ice the puck,” SMCC Coach Brian Hughes said. “Just chip it in to the neutral zone.
“We didn’t want to give them a chance to have another faceoff in our end (and) we just wanted to play defensively and keep bodies in front of the puck.”
Hughes was very pleased with his win.
“Just like the last two games we played with them, it could have went either way,” he said. “We’re two very good teams. They’ve got a very good goalie, a very skilled team and are very well coached.
“We feel fortunate.”
Despite the loss, Boomer was pleased with his team’s performance in the game.
“I think they were as good as they could be for the most part,” he said.
With the win, the Falcons advance to Thursday’s game against Gibraltar Carlson.
“Carlson’s another good team,” Hughes said. “This is a real tough regional.
“Any team could win this regional. Carlson’s gonna be just as good as this year. We’re gonna catch our break a little bit and hopefully come out and play good.”
The Chiefs are already looking forward to next season.
This year, the team started with just 11 players but expect seven-eight more who have shown interest to come out.
The team will only be losing three seniors and Boomer is excited for a larger team.
“The kids are gonna be younger, but the hockey is way easier when you have more players,” he said. “It should be easier on the coaches, easier on the goalie.
“And we’re getting Bantau coming back, so you get your goalie back. And we get (Jesse) McGowan back who’s our captain (and) our strongest forward. (Devin) Collins is our best defenseman (and) he’s coming back. So the team should be okay going forward.”
PRE-REGIONAL HOCKEY: Huron outslugged by SMCC in low-scoring pre-regional
One goal is all it takes to win a hockey game. And one game is all it takes to see your season end in the one-and-done pre-regionals this week.
That’s what happened to the Huron hockey team Tuesday night in the D3 Pre-Regional 46 game down in Monroe.
The Chiefs lost 1-0 to St. Mary’s Catholic Central after over two-and-a-half scoreless periods.
The two teams are used to close games with a pair of 6-5 margins in two previous meetings this season.
Tuesday night was much of the same with both teams fighting hard, and both teams getting good scoring opportunities.
“I thought it was a good game,” Huron Coach Dennis Boomer said. “I thought they came out and they were better in the first period and I thought the second period we were better than them. The third period, I don’t know. There were a couple power plays that could have gone either way.
“We hit three goal posts and a cross bar. If we scored any one of those times, I think it would have helped us and we probably would have won the game.”
But for the longest time, neither team could score.
Groans came from all around as crossbars and posts were hit all night long, and big cheers erupted from Huron when goalie Jordan Bantau came up with big saves on several breakaways.
The last few minutes of the opening period the junior goalie was solid, stopping three nice scoring chances.
“In the first period, he kept us in the game,” Boomer said. “It could have been 3-0. They outshot us 12-5.
“Bantau gave us a chance to where we could actually go ahead. (He) was as good as he needed to be.”
At the 12:50 mark of the second period, the Chiefs celebrated what they thought was a goal, but the puck hit the crossbar and fell just outside the net.
Two minutes later, they had another scoring opportunity but both teams lost track of the rebound before the Falcons cleared it.
When back-to-back boarding calls were called on SMCC with six minutes to go, the Chiefs found themselves with 1:35 of a five-on-three, but were unable to capitalize.
It looked like overtime was in the near future, but with 7:15 to go, SMCC’s Dylan Lewis snuck one in after traffic was created in front of the net.
Patrick Nicholson and Drew Antonelli had the assists.
The Falcons took a quick timeout and both teams came out with a game plan, but the Falcons held on for their win.
“Basically, (we talked) about just getting two men on the puck and making sure you don’t give SMCC anything for free,” Boomer said. “Try not to make them have any easy plays. Try to get the puck as deep as you could and overload one side of the ice and try to get the puck across.”
The Falcons knew how important it was to hold on for the last minutes of play.
“We didn’t want to ice the puck,” SMCC Coach Brian Hughes said. “Just chip it in to the neutral zone.
“We didn’t want to give them a chance to have another faceoff in our end (and) we just wanted to play defensively and keep bodies in front of the puck.”
Hughes was very pleased with his win.
“Just like the last two games we played with them, it could have went either way,” he said. “We’re two very good teams. They’ve got a very good goalie, a very skilled team and are very well coached.
“We feel fortunate.”
Despite the loss, Boomer was pleased with his team’s performance in the game.
“I think they were as good as they could be for the most part,” he said.
With the win, the Falcons advance to Thursday’s game against Gibraltar Carlson.
“Carlson’s another good team,” Hughes said. “This is a real tough regional.
“Any team could win this regional. Carlson’s gonna be just as good as this year. We’re gonna catch our break a little bit and hopefully come out and play good.”
The Chiefs are already looking forward to next season.
This year, the team started with just 11 players but expect seven-eight more who have shown interest to come out.
The team will only be losing three seniors and Boomer is excited for a larger team.
“The kids are gonna be younger, but the hockey is way easier when you have more players,” he said. “It should be easier on the coaches, easier on the goalie.
“And we’re getting Bantau coming back, so you get your goalie back. And we get (Jesse) McGowan back who’s our captain (and) our strongest forward. (Devin) Collins is our best defenseman (and) he’s coming back. So the team should be okay going forward.”
Last Updated: 2/26/2013 11:42:57 PM EST