RallyNorth.net

Wed, Feb 20, 2008 07:10 PM @ Timberlane

Team	Final
Oyster River	1
Timberlane	5

Timberlane outfoxes Oyster River

Thursday, February, 21 By Peter A,. Martin
Staff writer

SALEM, N.H. | Just a eight weeks ago Timberlane was in disarray.

The team had just dropped a 4-0 decision to Andover in the Blue Devil Holiday Classic followed by a 3-0 loss the following night to Oyster River. In that second game, head coach Andrew Merrick decided to sit five of his varsity players for what he described as a "lack of effort."

His team responded, reeling off a 10-game unbeaten streak, and now sits at 13-3-1 and just a half point behind Division 2 league leader Spaulding with two games to play.

"We just started working hard and overcoming adversity," said Merrick after his team dispatched Oyster River 5-1 last night to snap a two-game losing streak. "Even tonight we had three of our top five defensemen out of the lineup and two freshman playing major minutes."

Another factor in the Timberlane resurgence has been the play of sophomore Zach Fox.

"Foxie is our guy," said Merrick. "He is the go-to guy when he wants to be, we still need to work on his consistency, but he can be one of the most dominant players in our league."

Fox had two goals to move him to 13 goals and eight assists through 17 games. Eleven of his goals and all eight assists have come after the Christmas tournament.

In addition to his scoring prowess, Fox plays on the Owls' top penalty killing line and is the point man on their first power play.

"Coach (Merrick) has really been pushing us harder, and he has gotten us to play as a team," said Fox.

Both of Fox's goals came in the first five minutes of play and both showed his greatest strength, speed. The first goal was an unassisted play on which he was able to carry the puck from behind his own net, through all five Oyster River defenders, to the front of Wildcats' net where he beat the goaltender 5-hole.

The second goal also started on a Fox rush. His initial shot left a rebound that Owl forward Nick Bundzinski shot, causing another rebound that Fox was able to slide home.

Oyster River's Andy Caswell made the score 2-1 thanks to a series of Timberlane penalties, but through the second period the game got lopsided. Josh Briggs scored with 5:49 left in the second period to chase Wildcat starting goaltender Ethan Adamczyk, then Bundzinski and Jared DiOrio scored within seven seconds of each other to put the game out of reach.

Owls' junior captain Ryan Rothwell made 22 stops to record the win.