A week ago, I was talking to East Kentwood coach Todd Bell, asking him about his upcoming game with East Grand Rapids. Here's what he told me: "I don't want to play those guys right now."
The reason for his reluctance was no secret: East Grand Rapids is hot. After losing 10 straight to start the season, EGR reeled off a 6-1 record, with its only loss coming to Kentwood on Jan. 5th. The Pioneers were on a roll, with last weekend's stunning come-from-behind OT win over Hudsonville helping take them to new heights in terms of play, emotion and confidence. One had to wonder, though, if they had reached a peak.
Evidently not. Last night, the Pioneers' ascent continued as they gritted out a 4-3 win over the Falcons. East built itself a 3-0 lead over two periods on goals by Ekco Morgan, Jeff Kallil and Cullen Haskins, then watched the Falcons pull to 3-2 on two goals within 7 seconds of each other early in the third. Brennan McBride got the first one at the 4:33 mark, followed by senior captain Tyler Copeland (back in his first game since breaking a leg) at the 4:40 mark.
With the score 3-2, East Grand Rapids dug in and worked its way to an opportunity. Junior Joe Glendenning created a turnover and threw the puck to Morgan, who spotted Drew O'Brien heading to the net. As O'Brien received the pass, Kentwood goalie Zac Bresko slid across the crease and stacked the pads. Rather than one-time it, O'Brien slid the puck back to the far post where Bresko had just come from. The puck banked off the post and into the net for what would prove to be the game-winner. Kentwood's McBride got another one with 55 seconds left, but the Falcons couldn't get the equalizer.
In the postmortem, Bell summed up the difference in the game. This was not about talent or speed or systems, he said. It was something far more basic: "They beat us through sheer will and determination."
Pictures and scoresheet are below. You can see highlights of the goals by Morgan and O'Brien on WOOD-TV 8's website and the box score is here (though it has a few mistakes). Can't believe I missed this, but FOX-TV also has highlights.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
EGR 4 EK 3
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7 comments:
Shores is in a very good position to win conference now because they could lose two games and still win conference outright because FHNE and EK both have 2 regular losses and 1 OTL.
wouldnt we all love to be them right about now. nice win EGR. looks like things are starting to turn around
COMMENT DELETED because poster failed to look at the scoresheet, which is the official record of who scored goals in the game. Some people come on here and post comments like "Joe scored the first goal," or "Steve really didn't have a hat trick." That may be true in your vantage point of the game, but we use the official scoresheet as the guide in blogging the goals and assists. That's also why I've begun photographing the scoresheet and making it available for you to look at. Thanks!
Brian:
Great response! As scorekeepers, we only write down what the referee tells us. If there is a change to be made, the proper channel is for the coach or captain to go to the ref, tell them and then they inform us of the change and it is then noted on the scoresheet.
Sometimes there may be a missed assist, but in that case the ref will go to the bench and ask the coach who it was. Sometimes they respond - sometimes they don't.
Also, I'd like to mention the Shots on Goal. A true shot on goal is only one that is within the 4x6 area. A fantastic windmill glove save outside that area is not a shot. Nor is a shot that hits the pipes. Sometimes we get blocked out by players in the penalty box or a referee but I'd say we're better than 99% accurate with our numbers.
One other comment: the videotape doesn't lie. The previously deleted comment was a claim that Jeff Kallil did not score the second goal. Check the FOX TV highlights, and you'll see that Kallil did indeed score the second goal.
after reviewing the video, #20 clearly backhands the puck in.#9's stick is on the ice the whole time.
It's a team game...let's not worry so much about individual stats, eh?
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