EG – Prout Ice Hockey Game Ends in a Dubious Way

WEST WARWICK – An exciting game between the boys hockey teams from the The Prout School and East Greenwich High ended in bizarre fashion Friday night at the West Warwick Civic Center.

Breaking a 2-2 tie after two periods, Prout scored three straight goals in a span of 3:11 in the third period. Soon thereafter, both head coaches were summoned onto the ice surface by the officials.

After inspecting an area near the crease of the Avengers’ goal, which had been worn down to bare cement, the coaches and officials deemed the surface unsafe to continue playing on and agreed to end the game with 5:27 remaining.   

When and if the game will be completed is uncertain, but both coaches speculated that the remainder of the contest will be played the next time the two teams meet, which is on Dec. 28 at the University of Rhode Island’s Bradford Boss Arena.

“Hindsight is 20/20, but what I should have done was call a timeout once we were trailing 3-2 and asked to come out and take a look at the surface,” admitted head coach Len Kiernan. “We have a gutsy goalie, but the goaltender has to be able to take away different angles. It was obvious by the goals that he let up that the issue with the surface was in his head.”

Prout head coach John Gaffney noticed something wrong with the surface before the game started.

“While we were waiting for the previous game to end, you could see some of the cement through the ice,” recalled Gaffney. “They tried to patch it up by filling the area with ice, but the friction of the skates warms up the ice sheet.”

Kiernan couldn’t remember being part of a game that ended in such an unusual way. Gaffney recalled an incident several years ago in which a game he was coaching was delayed because a Zamboni driver smashed into the wall surrounding the surface.

“It sticks out in my mind because Mount St. Charles was scheduled to play in the game following ours,” said Gaffney. “Mount coach Bill Belisle quickly grabbed a piece of Plexiglas and a drill, constructed a temporary wall and then turned to me and asked, ‘Is that okay with you, Coach?’ All I could say was, ‘yes sir.’ I’m not sure if the Zamboni driver remained on the staff.”

Prior to Prout breaking the game open in the third period, the two teams played fairly evenly and at a crisp pace.

After East Greenwich got off the first three shots of the game, Prout’s offense came to life. With 10:48 left in the opening period, the Crusaders’ Brent Bazinet scored on passes from James Neri and Aaron Deady.

Prout went up 2-0 in the second period when Andy Horsfield tapped the puck in after a shot had deflected off EG goalie Connor Finn. Justin Mateus was credited with the assist.

Over the next 5:24, the Avengers netted two goals to tie the game. Positioned right in front of Prout’s goal with nobody on him, Dan Josloff fired home a centering pass from captain Jason Peduto. Mike Ranalli also assisted on the play. Evening the score was John Trutza on a pass from Ryan Trinque.

“East Greenwich took it to us in the second period,” said Gaffney. “They’re a resilient team, but at the same time, we have to be more confident with the puck. We were throwing it around too much, instead of making the safe play.”

Prout’s third period goals were scored by Matt Peacock, Mike Reilly and Nyle Sockbeson. Sockbeson assisted on Peacock’s goal. Reilly’s goal occurred on a power play. Sockbeson and Chris Colardo assisted on the play. Shooting from just inside the blue line, Sockbeson’s blast was set up by Mateus.

“We started the game off strong, but Prout came at us with a sustained attack,” said Kiernan. “They played hard, but very even-keeled, which is how I would like us to play.”

Many of EG’s shots came off the sticks of Josloff and Kevin Mason.

“Dan and Kevin are coming off of football,” said Kiernan. “They’ve only been on skate for two weeks. They’re still getting their timing and their skating legs back.”

Gaffney was proud of how his team played in the third period until the game was stopped.

“After East Greenwich outplayed us in the second period, we took it as a challenge to show what we’re really made of in the third period,” stated Gaffney.

Prout’s Zane Morgan saved 24 of the 26 shots he faced in goal. Finn turned away 25 of the 30 shots that Prout took.

Josloff now has a goal and two assists in the Avengers’ first two games. Ranalli has two goals and one assist for EG.

In Prout’s first three games, Reilly has three goals and an assist; Sockbeson has a goal and three assists; Peacock has three goals; and Conner Hagerty has two goals and an assist.

EG’s next game will be on Saturday night at 8:30 against Narragansett at URI. Prout will take the ice on Friday night at 7:30 against Portsmouth at the Abbey Rink.