RallyNorth.net

Wed, Jan 09, 2008 07:00 PM @ Rockport

Team	1	2	3	Final
Minuteman	1	0	0	1
Rockport	0	1	0	1

Vikings snap winless-streak, but don't pick up win

Thursday, January, 10 By Nick Curcuru
Correspondent

The Rockport hockey team got some good news and some bad news last night.

The good news was that the Vikings snapped its three game winless streak with a 1-1 tie against Minuteman yesterday at the Dorothy Talbot Rink.

The bad news was that they failed to pick up a win, making them winless in their last five games. The tie now brings their record to 2-4-3 on the season. The Vikings also tied Minuteman, 3-3, in their previous matchup this season. "This is another disappointing tie," Vikings head coach Mike Greel said. "We got a point out of it but I thought we would come out and play a little better."

Despite the tie on the scoreboard, the Mustangs dominated play outshooting the Vikings 36-11. Rockport goaltender Brian Greel kept the game knotted at one with 35 saves, including a number of big stops in the last minute, the last coming on a blast from the point with 4.6 seconds to play. "(Brian) really saved our backs," Greel said. "He especially came up big in the last minute making four big saves." The senior captain also drew praise from Mustangs head coach Dave Baker.

"Greel is a big kid and he really used his size to get in front of the puck," Baker said. "We hit him in the gut a lot because he's in the right place all the time. We missed some opportunities to score on him but give him credit, he played a great game."

Minuteman would open up the scoring late in the first period when Ryan Collette was able to bang a rebound past Greel. The Viking net minder made the initial save, but Collette stayed with the puck and was able to score despite having a man on him.

The Vikings looked to tie the score early in the second when Brendan Douglass broke in on Mustang's goalie Cody Lusk. Lusk, however, was able to make a miraculous diving stick save to keep his team in the lead.

Rockport was finally able to tie the score late in the second when Cam Smith shoved home a pass from Brendan Surette. Smith was able to score despite being in the middle of two Mustang defenders in front of the goal.

The third period saw plenty of scoring chances by the Mustang's, but they were all thwarted away by Greel. Overall Baker was happy with the way his team controlled the play.

"We did a good job carrying the play tonight." Baker said. "Our defense played well and we did a good job controlling the pace. Penalties seemed to slow us down a bit though. We got some big penalties and a game misconduct that took the wind out of our sales a little."

Greel also praised the Mustang defense. "(Minuteman) did a really nice job defensively," Greel said. "They kept us on the outside in the offensive zone. We were able to make some plays down low but they kept up clear of the crease all game."

All in all the Vikings hope that their experience in one goal games will carry them towards a state tournament berth, but they still feel a bit unlucky that they haven't been able to pull out many wins.

"We have been kind of snake bitten this year," Greel said. "We have had a bunch of one goal losses and now three ties. We are a young team and it shows sometimes in one on one battles, but we will keep pumping away."