Rams avoid let down, hang on to beat Methacton 11-7

The relief was clearly visible on the face of Rams head coach Kevin Donnelly’s Monday night as he and his Rams squad exited the surface of Coach McNelly stadium.

It was ironic that the rain came down immediately after Spring-Ford had just weathered a storm of its’ own as Methacton pushed the Rams to the brink, battling back from a 7-1 first period hole to climb to within two goals with seven minutes remaining in the game.

After scoring at will in the first period, the Rams needed late tallies by Brian Bock and Max Ullman as time was winding down, to remain unbeaten in the conference as they held off the Warriors, claiming an 11-7 victory.

“It was kind of the reverse for us,” said senior attacker Brian Bock. “We usually take a while to get going, but I think when we got off to such a great start we relaxed a little and just figured they were going to pack it in, They really tightened up defensively after that first period.”

“Well hopefully we learn from this game,” said Donnelly. “We have a lot of young players really making an impact and they need to be in games like this, to realize that you have to play our game every shift.”

Brock got the Rams on the board less than two minutes into the fray as he ripped a laser from 12 meters out, beating Warriors net minder Ryan Murphy

Brock was followed up by a goal by Zach Monzo, who scored twice on the evening, less than two minutes later giving the Rams a 2-0 edge.

Following a 7-1 drubbing in the first period, Methacton backed out the offensive end, giving more support to the defense, which eventually led to a furious comeback.

“After the first period thy slowed down the play,” said senior Drew Thomas. “We had our transition game going in the first which is why we got some easy goals, them slowing it down, took us out of that.”

Helped by two man up goals, Methacton held a 2-1 edge in the second and third periods as they whittled away at what had appeared to be an insurmountable lead earlier in the game, creeping to within four goals as they entered the final period.

Warriors attacker Clay Sobociski scored at the 10:09 mark in the fourth which was followed by a short-handed goal by Cody Ridgway with 7:21 left in regulation, suddenly what had been a laugher early on was anything but a joke as Methacton, who had scored three unanswered goals and six of eight, had gotten to within two goals.

“It was like we got hit on the head with a brick there,” added Thomas. “It gave us wake up call when they had all of the momentum and got to within two. Fortunately we were able to kick it into gear and come away with a win, but we have to use this game to remind ourselves we have to play 48 minutes.”

Following a much needed time out, Spring-Ford, which was 0-for-4 in their man advantage situations, gained control and set up in the Warriors zone, cycling the ball to Bock, who took a feed from Paul Major and would not be denied as he buried the ball behind Murphy to stop the bleeding.

“We needed to get it going again,” said Bock. “It was like we needed them to hit us in the head to get us back to playing the way we started. We set up that play when we were in the time out and we absolutely needed to score, after that goal it took the wind out of them.”

Midfielder Max Ullman closed out the scoring and the Warriors by crashing the net ad scoring with 2:08 left to regain a four goal lead for the Rams, which played “keep away” for the last minute and a half of the game.

“We got sloppy and it almost cost us,” said Donnelly. “We had a bad half and fortunately it did not cost u a win. As long as we apply what we learned tonight to games we have coming up, it’s a lesson learned.”

Rams notes:

Spring-Ford who improved to 5-0 in league play and 6-1 overall will square off Wednesday against Boyertown (2-3 league) before hosting Phoenixville (0-4 league) on Friday.  The Rams were out shot 31 –27 Monday night but held a 33-26 ground ball edge.

Scoring

First period

10:23   (SF) Bock

  8:28   (SF) Monzo from Pham

  7:41   (M)  McAddo

  5:41   (SF) Major

  5:13   (SF) Ullman from Ward

  2:59   (SF) Pham from  Glowacki

  1:51   (SF) Bock from Thomas

    :22   (SF) Monzo

Second period

  9:29   (M)  Sobociski from Ferraro

  8:23   (SF) Pham

  2:19   (M)  Aronow from Ridgway

Third period

 8:19    (M)  McAddo

   :53   (SF)  Major

   :17    (M)  Brasher from Ridgway

Fourth period

10:09   (M)  Sobiciski

  7:21   (M)  Ridgway from McAddo

  6:29   (SF) Bock from Major

  2:08   (SF) Ullman from Glowacki

                                Methacton  Spring-Ford

Ground Balls                  26                    33       

Shots                            31                    27

Man advantage            2/4                   0/4

Clears                          11/16               23/26  

Face offs                      10/15               5/15

Methacton            1            2            2            2            -7

Spring-Ford            7            1            1            2            -11                      

 Saves -  (SF)  Jared Novia  -5     (M) Ryan Murphy - 11