Mona Shores 4 OLSM 1

From our roving -- and some would say "raving" -- correspondent out on the Lakeshore comes this dispatch:

They were a motley crew, a loosely organized cast of characters thrown together on the ice with a new leader and from a variety of different hockey clubs, faced with what appeared to be the insurmountable task of going against the hockey machine, the Red Army, the Beast of the East...Only the most foolishly optimistic in attendance gave the underdogs much of a chance against the hockey juggernaut.

The whole scene seemed oddly familiar, but I just couldn’t place it. Oh well; it must be one of those goofy deja-vu all over again moments, like when there’s a glitch in the matrix.

Tonight, Goliath was none other than the Orchard Lake Saint Mary’s Preparatory School for Boys Eaglets, ranked #6 in the state in the MHSHCA Rankings. Even their name is big. Playing the role of David this Friday night: the Sailors from Mona Shores, now 5-0 in league play and gaining confidence with each successive trip to the rink.

The Sailors looked fast and loose from the opening drop of the puck. With aggressive forechecking and two players flying to every puck in the offensive zone, Shores took away the Eaglets’ time and space, leaving them looking frustrated and flat-footed. This full frontal attack resulted in a early first period goal by David from MS; not the biblical David who slew Goliath with the stone, but David “Chicken Scratch” Coppock who slew the goalie, Ryan Morley-Stockton with a put-back at 2:43 in the first period of play on an assist from linemate Mike “Photo-Op” Soto. The furious forechecking paid dividends for the young, tireless Sailors, who held the mighty OLSM without a shot for nearly four minutes.

“Get one, get two” was a quote favored by the sophomores’ old (old as in previous) coach, and it must have resonated with the Sailors, who put together a string of goals in the first that ignited the raucous student section and their charismatic leader Jesse Hanson, quieting the visitors from the Orchard Lake community. At 7:39, Adam “Good Gosh” Meloche took a pass from Kyle “Hick Names” Hicks and somehow gained purchase on the slippery ice surface, taking the defenseman wide and leaving him in his jet stream before making a deposit in the water bottle section of the net. J “See Boyd Shoot, See Boyd Score” completed the trifecta during the “one minute to go in the game” announcement after robbing an OLSM defenseman in the neutral zone and further penalizing him with a solo shot (all while shorthanded).

The second period belonged to Orchard Lake, who attacked the MS zone relentlessly, firing shot after shot for the motherland, pausing only to reload against Scottie “I Tawt I Taw a Tiefenthal.” Tiefenthal held fast once more, and has been playing so well lately that even his equipment doesn’t stink. The Sailors defense, who also played admirably and should have received a collective game puck or other promotional considerations for their efforts, came up big for MS. Sailor’s defenseman "Brock Of Ages” Carlston, on a nifty no look shot from the middle of the blue line, scored a PP goal at 5:45 to finish the Sailors scoring, assisted by the capable Meloche.

The last period was another inspired effort from OLSM, resulting in 11 shots from the Eaglets and more hits than a mosh pit. St. Mary’s recorded their first and only goal of the game at 3:04 from #96 Tim Hooker, who dribbled one in off the armpit of Tiefenthal from Aaron Schneider and phenom Billy Balent. The puck remained in the Sailor’s defensive zone for much of the third, with the Sailor’s defensemen again providing a lift to their goalie with their work ethic and by killing off four Sailor penalties.

The hit of the game for the Sailors was recorded by Drew “Bing Crosby” Skocelas at 4:42 in the second, when he felled an enormous tree at the blue line, hitting him so hard that he knocked him back to the first period.

For the game, shots were close at 22 - 20 in favor of the visitors, with Tiefenthal refusing 21. St. Mary’s goaltending duties were shared by Ryan Morley-Stockton and Devon Carr. The best dressed coaching award went to Ron Clark, who sported a grey charcoal jacket, scarlet shirt and tie, and pressed trousers equally suitable for high school hockey or a post game runway show.