Hockey: West Rallies to a 1-1 Tie

Cranston West hosted the Lincoln Lions in a Division I battle on Saturday night. Stellar goaltending was on display for both squads, as there were only two goals scored in three periods and the overtime, leading to 1-1 tie.

It was obvious from the drop of the puck that this was going to be a long night for the officials, with three first period penalties and some lingering extra-curricular activities. The teams traded scoring chances in the early going with Cranston West holding a narrow lead in shots on goal for the first period, at 9-7. But Lincoln took advantage of their power play opportunity whereas Cranston could not. The Lions put four shots on goal while Anthony Simeone was in the box for his interference infraction, and Tyler Duquette found the nylon with a wrister from the point to give Lincoln a 1-0 lead at 10:25 in the first period. 

Despite jumping out to an early lead, the Lions looked as though they would surrender it moments later, as Lincoln committed concurrent penalties, giving Cranston a 5-on-3 opportunity to close out the period. West was unable to net a goal, but would maintain the two-man advantage for 1:09 after intermission.

The Lions would kill off the penalty and both teams would end up in special teams for most of the second period, with six penalties being called in the period. The penalty kill of both squads performed at a high level, and despite all the penalties, the second period would go scoreless. This of course had a lot to with terrific netminding from both goalies. Freshmen Chris Leclaire from Lincoln and Senior Derek Hagopian of Cranston West had 11 and 10 saves respectively, stymieing the power play of the opposition. Hagopian was able to keep the Lions from extending the lead while killing off a 5-on-3 opportunity, and kept his squad in the game and giving his offense a chance to tie it up in the third period.

Eight more penalties were called in the third period, 5 of which were on the Lions, and Cranston West able to dominate the third period. the Falcons outshout Lincoln 13-5 in the third and tied up the score. Anthony Simeone beat Leclaire on the doorstep, going top shelf with 8:28 remaining in regulation.

The goal spurred West on to spirited, high-energy hockey for the remainder of regulation. Leclaire remained stout in net, moving well laterally and stifling the Falcon attack. 

The Lions picked up a roughing penalty with less than a minute remaining, which would give Cranston West the man-advantage going into overtime. The Falcons out shot Lincoln 8-3 in overtime, but couldn't net the game-winner, resulting in a tie.

Chris Leclaire stopped 40 of 41 shots for the Lions, while facing a myriad of Falcon power plays.

"Chris played great. He's a freshmen and it's only his third start. I thought collectively we did a good job of just making him make the first save. I thought our defensemen played well defensively down low, making sure that Chris only had to see that first shot," Lincoln Head Coach James Riel said.

The Lions are 1-2-1 on the season, but with a young team, Riel is excited about the way his squad is improving.

"We have a young team that's inexperienced, so we are making steps. We are getting better every single week, which is what you want to see with a young team. We had a couple key guys out, and considering that I'm pleased. It was a good game. That's what this public school league is about: tight games. There's never going to be a blowout in this league. We've got to learn how to to win. We've gotta learn how to tighten up when we have a lead in the third period," Riel said.

The tie moves Cranston West to 2-1-1 on the season

Falcons Head Coach Michael Boyajian was happy with the effort of his squad, as much of the team is battling the flu. Boyajian harped on the play in the third period, citing the potential of his squad.

"The first two periods we weren't playing smart hockey. We were making a lot of turnovers and committing way too many penalties. But in the third we tightened things up and played up to our potential. We tied it up and if it wasn't for their goalie, who was outstanding, we could've won," Boyajian said.

The Falcons will travel to Barrington on Thursday, with hopes of notching their third win of the season and moving up from their fifth place in the Division I standings.