Rough Riders Shut Out on Frozen Diamond

Kent Roosevelt’s hockey team was defeated by Amherst Steele 2-0 on Saturday afternoon with the activities of the Cleveland Indians’ snow days as a backdrop to the “Frozen Diamond" ice rink at Progressive Field.

Suffering offensively through a game in which they could only get eight shots on goal, the Rough Riders were shut out for the first time this season.  

“We came out and started playing well in the first period” Roosevelt coach Ben Barlow said. "We’ve got to start scoring early. It’s obviously so important,” he added in reference to a first period that ended with neither team scoring a goal.

“We let (Amherst goalie) Eli (Branscum) settle in," he said. "We never really challenged him too much. 

“We’d go a minute, two minutes without a shot," Barlow added in describing his team’s lack of offensive output. “We’re just not generating any offense. We had one power play opportunity and we have to capitalize. In a game like this it’s special teams that win it for you.”

Asked about his team’s defensive effort, Barlow said he was "very proud of the way we played defensive zone, and the way Nate (Grootegoed), our goalie, played, he played well enough to win a game."

After two periods of scoreless hockey, Amherst’s Kevin Burgett scored the game winner with 3:20 remaining in the third period. Teammate Jordan Reynolds scored an empty net goal with two-tenths of a second remaining in the third.

“They are a really tough team, one of the best teams we will face this year,” Barlow said. “Everybody’s got to play their best against competition like this.”

Barlow did see some positives from the outcome. "We proved we can play with these guys. We will learn from this.”

Blue line notes

• Playing at Progressive field was a great experience for the team. Barlow mentioned how thankful he was to the Indians and everyone involved in providing that opportunity for the high school players.
• Roosevelt will be hosting their annual Rough Rider Holiday Tournament at the Kent State Ice Arena Dec. 16-18. The Riders will play Normandy at 8:15 p.m. on Friday night, Mayfield at 2:45 p.m. Saturday and conclude the tournament against Benedictine on Sunday at 11 a.m.

Scoring summary

1^st Period: No goals

2^nd Period: No goals

3^rd Period: 1, (AS) Burgett (Gannelli, Morris) 3:20; 2, (AS) Reynolds :01

Shots on goal

Roosevelt : 8

Amherst Steele: 32

Saves:

Roosevelt: Grootegoed  31

Amherst Steele: Branscum 8

Game summary:

Roosevelt            0 – 0 – 0   0
Amherst Steele     0 – 0– 2   2