This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
03/12/2014 12:00 AMDespite Guilford boys' ice hockey's record, it's been fighting all season long in close contests and its efforts helped the Indians land a blow against a rival.
Guilford scored a thrilling 5-4 road victory over Hand on March 3 at the Northford Ice Pavilion to snap the postseason-bound Tigers' three-game winning streak. After sophomore Alex Corso scored the eventual game-winner with 3:08 to play, Guilford faced a shorthanded 6-on-3 situation with 43 ticks left thanks to Hand's extra attacker, coupled with two Indians' penalties, but the Guilford defense turned away the Tigers for the big victory.
"I saw [senior] Derek Batick skating down to shoot the puck so I went to the far side of the net, was open, and backhanded it in," said Corso, who scored his first tally of the campaign. "We've been working hard all season and been playing close so this is the edge we needed at the end of the year to feel good about ourselves. Our record might not be the best, but we're all feeling good after this game."
Additionally in the triumph, Guilford converted four Hand penalties into three power play scores as the Indians also outshot the Tigers 20-17. Sophomore Will Dacey scored twice, including the equalizer, while junior Jack Petrick added a goal and an assist. Senior netminder Hunter Martins made 13 saves with two huge ones coming against Hand's three-man edge.
"They tried screening me with two guys in front of the net so I just went in lower trying to see through and over the guys and told them to throw it down there with the empty net," said Martins. "With three minutes left, we went on the attack and scored to go up and we upped the ante because we knew Hand would come out swinging because they are always a tough team."
Guilford (5-15) began the game with offensive pressure, yet Hand (10-10) junior Ben Solin skated down the left side and slammed the puck into Martins' right for the Tigers' 1-0 edge at 9:26 of the first period. Following a Hand power play for a Guilford trip, the Indians then got to take their first man-up shift and Petrick capitalized on it at 2:51 for a 1-1 tie after a frame.
The second stanza saw a larger scoring spree with six tallies. First, Guilford took the 2-1 command 3:57 into the second with a power play strike from Dacey, although,Hand answered right back with sophomore Jeffrey Rider finding the net from senior Dan Braumann less than three minutes later to knot the score at 2.
Guilford retook the lead with 6:51 to go when sophomore Evan Powell slammed the puck in from the blue line on a power play before sophomore Michael Belliveau and freshman Chase Freiman notched goals 64 seconds apart to give their squad the one-score lead. Dacey then shot another one in to even the matchup at four with 35.3 seconds remaining to conclude a wild 15 minutes.
"We've been working on our power play all year and it's been frustrating because we couldn't seem to find a rhythm with cycling the puck better," said Head Coach Ralph Russo. "But I think you are seeing a better result now, especially with the sophomore-junior line of Petrick, [sophomores] Chris Cafiero, and Stephen Thibault."
Each side had their opportunities to grab the lead early in the third and Corso was true to the task for Guilford when he got the Indians the 5-4 command with 3:08 to go on his rebound to the right. After Hand put on the extra man, Guilford took two potentially costly tripping calls to set up the 6-on-3 scenario, but Martins and the defensive unit rose to the occasion and sealed the decision for the Indians.
"This wins says that if you believe in yourself and keep working hard that you do get the result," said Russo, whose team also defeated Wethersfield 4-2 on March 6 in its season finale. "You may not win every game or get all the wins that you want, but it's really great to see the seniors get a win in their last game versus Hand. It was also great to see the team win and for a guy like Alex Corso, who's worked hard quietly all year to get his first goal of the season. Batick hasn't played much on defense this year, but we wanted to mix it up with the seniors to inspire the young guys, but they also had their game working, too, so it was all great to see."