Hockey: Fabulous Goaltending Leads to 1-1 Tie

After defeating them 2-0 a week prior, the Falcons took on the Barrington Eagles in a Division I Hockey rematch. The story of the night was goaltending on both sides, as Derek Hagopian and Christopher Calitri combined to stop 58 of 60 shot attempts, ending the game in a 1-1 stalemate.

A late arrival to the rink prevented West from stretching and getting loose, and it showed in the early minutes. Colin Fay and Brett Fay were putting immense pressure on West defenders with good passing and stickhandling in the Falcons zone, creating open lanes for shooters. But the Falcons did a nice job scrambling and preventing shots from the point from getting through, especially considering they were without top defensemen Kyle Sedgley due to an injury.

Although they defended well, the Falcons committed the first penalty of the game with a tripping call at the 13-minute mark of the first. And the penalty would prove to be costly, as a minute later Nicholas Graham found the nylon off a well-executed wraparound play and pass from Nicholas Vastano, giving Barrington a 1-0 lead at 13:58 in the period. 

The Falcons got into more of a rhythm in the second period and were the aggressor in the period. But the goaltending would be stout from both sides in the second period, with Barrington Goaltender Christopher Calitri stopping multiple odd-man rushes and turning away several point blank chances. The period went scoreless and the Falcons still trailed with fifteen minutes to play. 

The third period was played pretty evenly, with shots nearly equal at 11-10. Both teams had opportunities to score, but there would only be one goal scored in the third. Anthony Rodi went stick side to light the lamp for the Falcons on a shorthanded opportunity at 1:44 in the third, a tremendous individual effort.

"He's a grinder. He's all out all the time. And he's had his fair share of short-handed goals. I'm happy for him because he's working hard," Cranston West Coach Michael Boyajian said.

With the goal the Falcons tied the score and would have plenty of opportunities to take the lead later in the period, including a 5-on-3 power play. 

"When you've got a 5-on-3 with about four minutes left, you've got to win. You've got to put the puck home. Other than that I thought we played well. But we've got to get better on the power play," Boyajian said.

Cranston West and Barrington both had many scoring chances, but in the end the goaltending was just too strong. Christopher Calitri stopped 28 of 29 for the Eagles, and Derek Hagopian had 30 saves for the night and allowed only his seventh goal in six games this season. 

"A great job by both goaltenders in this one. I think they did a wonderful job, even on the odd-man rushes. There were a lot of shots but there wasn't many second opportunities," Boyajian said.

Cranston West improves to 3-1-2 on the season and sits in third place behind Hendricken and LaSalle in Division I. The Falcons will skate again on Friday against Burrillville.