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All Hockey - Boys Stories
The Riverview hockey team extended its winning streak to five games and was crowned the Division 3 Region 24 regional champion Saturday night after a 4-3 overtime victory over St. Mary’s Catholic Central.
It was Brian Bachnak who got the scoring started and Brian Bachnak who finished the game.
After Riverview tied the game with just over seven minutes to go, Bachnak banged in the game winner at the 4:30 mark in the first overtime.
The Bucs took the first lead of the game, but the Falcons had two more of their own before Riverview was victorious.
With seven minutes gone by in the first period, Bachnak got the scoring started when he snuck one in with traffic in front of the net. Alex Testy and Tyler Rode had the assists.
Seven minutes later the Falcons tied the game; the first of three ties the teams would see in the contest.
SMCC pulled Riverview goaltender Zach Woolcott to his left, passed the puck across and Chad Cousino shot one in from the right.
Andre Lewis and Drew Antonelli had the assist.
The teams went to the break tied at one and both had scoring opportunities in the opening minutes of the second period, but it was the Falcons who struck first to take their first lead.
Dylan Lewis shot one from the point and before anyone knew what had happened, the Falcons were up by one.
Patrick Nicholson had the assist.
The lead was not long held, and Riverview responded 20 seconds later with a nice pass in front of the net to Timmy Lyons who flipped it in.
Bachnak and Alex Test had the assists.
It looked like the teams would head into the second intermission tied at two, but with 50 seconds to go, SMCC’s Shane Hughes slipped one in a somewhat of a fluke goal.
The third period was back and forth and Wolcott came up with a big save on a breakaway to keep the Bucs in the game.
When a Riverview goal was called off at the 7:57 mark, it took the Bucs all of 30 seconds to net another one and tie the game at three.
Testy had the goal to tie the game, assisted by Lyons and Bachnak.
In the last five minutes, both teams again had scoring chances with the Falcons hitting the post and Riverview smacking away at rebounds before the net was knocked off.
The overtime came with both teams hungry for the win, but it was the Bucs who prevailed when Bachnak got his second of the night, assisted by Lyons.
The win came just weeks after the Bucs secured first place in the Huron League.
Riverview Coach Al Taurence thought it was an exciting night.
“It was an exciting game,” he said. “I really didn’t think it was going to be that close.
“But when they’re prepared for this type of game all year, when they run two lines and four D, they’re used to it. They were probably in better shape than us because they’ve been doing it all day.”
The Bucs have more seniors than the Falcons do players and Taurence was happy they got the win.
“I was happy with the win,” he said. “(But) more so, I was happy with the kids. With so many seniors on the team and this being their last game, I was just really happy with the outcome.
“We won the two previous games and the third game’s always the hardest.”
The hard work of the Bachnak, Lyons, Testy line was not lost on Taurence.
“They play so well together,” Taurence said. “They just read off each other. One knows where the other’s going with the puck and so on. They just really play well together.”
While scoring is nice, Taurence is also pleased with the work from the Brandon Mulligan, Shane Nowak and Chris Hass line.
“Their job is to stop the best line on the other team from scoring,” Taurence said. “And they do it every game.
“It’s one of those jobs that never gets any press, but on our team they get a lot of recognition because they’re doing the job that doesn’t get much recognition from the fans out there.”
Recently, the Bucs have seen the return of Kyle Agius, coming back from mono, but making things happen quickly.
“Agius coming back was a huge, huge asset to us,” Taurence said. “He’s playing so well and he’s so gritty and he’s just a very, very good player and he’s a good leader.”
Since coming back from his illness, Agius has scored two goals and worked hard in Saturday’s game.
“This game had to kill him because he’s coming back from mono,” Taurence said. “You could tell a few times he was gassed, but when the puck got to his stick, he moved.”
With their win, the Bucs advance to play Chelsea who defeated Allen Park 5-4 the same night.
HOCKEY: Bachnak nets game-winner in OT for regional champion Riverview (PHOTO AND VIDEO)
Riverview goaltender Zach Wolcott stopped two breakaway attempts in Saturday's game against SMCC to help lead the Bucs to their regional championship. Photo Credit: Dave Chapman
It was Brian Bachnak who got the scoring started and Brian Bachnak who finished the game.
After Riverview tied the game with just over seven minutes to go, Bachnak banged in the game winner at the 4:30 mark in the first overtime.
The Bucs took the first lead of the game, but the Falcons had two more of their own before Riverview was victorious.
With seven minutes gone by in the first period, Bachnak got the scoring started when he snuck one in with traffic in front of the net. Alex Testy and Tyler Rode had the assists.
Seven minutes later the Falcons tied the game; the first of three ties the teams would see in the contest.
SMCC pulled Riverview goaltender Zach Woolcott to his left, passed the puck across and Chad Cousino shot one in from the right.
Andre Lewis and Drew Antonelli had the assist.
The teams went to the break tied at one and both had scoring opportunities in the opening minutes of the second period, but it was the Falcons who struck first to take their first lead.
Dylan Lewis shot one from the point and before anyone knew what had happened, the Falcons were up by one.
Patrick Nicholson had the assist.
The lead was not long held, and Riverview responded 20 seconds later with a nice pass in front of the net to Timmy Lyons who flipped it in.
Bachnak and Alex Test had the assists.
It looked like the teams would head into the second intermission tied at two, but with 50 seconds to go, SMCC’s Shane Hughes slipped one in a somewhat of a fluke goal.
The third period was back and forth and Wolcott came up with a big save on a breakaway to keep the Bucs in the game.
When a Riverview goal was called off at the 7:57 mark, it took the Bucs all of 30 seconds to net another one and tie the game at three.
Testy had the goal to tie the game, assisted by Lyons and Bachnak.
In the last five minutes, both teams again had scoring chances with the Falcons hitting the post and Riverview smacking away at rebounds before the net was knocked off.
The overtime came with both teams hungry for the win, but it was the Bucs who prevailed when Bachnak got his second of the night, assisted by Lyons.
The win came just weeks after the Bucs secured first place in the Huron League.
Riverview Coach Al Taurence thought it was an exciting night.
“It was an exciting game,” he said. “I really didn’t think it was going to be that close.
“But when they’re prepared for this type of game all year, when they run two lines and four D, they’re used to it. They were probably in better shape than us because they’ve been doing it all day.”
The Bucs have more seniors than the Falcons do players and Taurence was happy they got the win.
“I was happy with the win,” he said. “(But) more so, I was happy with the kids. With so many seniors on the team and this being their last game, I was just really happy with the outcome.
“We won the two previous games and the third game’s always the hardest.”
The hard work of the Bachnak, Lyons, Testy line was not lost on Taurence.
“They play so well together,” Taurence said. “They just read off each other. One knows where the other’s going with the puck and so on. They just really play well together.”
While scoring is nice, Taurence is also pleased with the work from the Brandon Mulligan, Shane Nowak and Chris Hass line.
“Their job is to stop the best line on the other team from scoring,” Taurence said. “And they do it every game.
“It’s one of those jobs that never gets any press, but on our team they get a lot of recognition because they’re doing the job that doesn’t get much recognition from the fans out there.”
Recently, the Bucs have seen the return of Kyle Agius, coming back from mono, but making things happen quickly.
“Agius coming back was a huge, huge asset to us,” Taurence said. “He’s playing so well and he’s so gritty and he’s just a very, very good player and he’s a good leader.”
Since coming back from his illness, Agius has scored two goals and worked hard in Saturday’s game.
“This game had to kill him because he’s coming back from mono,” Taurence said. “You could tell a few times he was gassed, but when the puck got to his stick, he moved.”
With their win, the Bucs advance to play Chelsea who defeated Allen Park 5-4 the same night.
Last Updated: 3/4/2013 4:24:05 PM EST