LYNN— Tuesday's 3-1 win on the road against Lynn pretty much tells the story of the Rockport hockey team's regular season; they just find ways to win.
The deck may have been stacked against Rockport Tuesday as they faced a desperate Lynn team that needed a point to make it to the playoffs, and they played the way a desperate team should play. The Vikings were also playing without head coach Derek Papalegis, who is out with an injury.
Despite the fact that the Jets played a great two way game, carrying play for the vast majority of the contest and outshooting the Vikings 37-13, Rockport was the more opportunistic team and still managed to come away with a win.
The win moves Rockport to 13-4-1 and they now await a tournament opponent. The high school hockey tournament pairings come out Saturday and Rockport looks to be one of the top two seeds in the tournament.
"This team has learned to deal with adversity this season and they never quit," Vikings assistant Sean Ferguson, who stepped into the head coaching duties on Tuesday in Papalegis' absence, said.
While Rockport showed a lot of fight Tuesday, it also didn't hurt having Colby Foster in net. The junior net minder proved why he was named the best goalie in the Commonwealth Athletic Conference as his 36 save performance was instrumental in ending the Jets season prematurely.
Foster needed every one of his 36 saves and a few of them were nothing short of spectacular. In the second period, the Jets most dominant frame, Foster was at his best robbing Lynn's best player, John Finnigan, twice in a two minute span.
Just over four minutes into the second frame Finnigan broke in all alone but was turned away by Foster, who nearly went into a full split and gloved the back handed shot attempt. Just two minutes later Finnigan broke in all alone again, this time Foster was able to get a pad on the puck and cover up any rebound opportunity.
Foster also made a big glove save with under two minutes to play to preserve a 2-1 lead.
It seemed that the Jets were getting quality scoring chances at will, only to be turned aside by the All Commonwealth Athletic Conference goaltender. You name it the Jets tried it. They tried shots from the point through screens, they tried crashing the net aggressively, they executed some nifty passing exchanges, shot from left, right, near or far and it was all for naught, Foster was just too strong on Tuesday.
"Colby stole the game," Ferguson said. "Lynn played a great game and we knew they would come out strong needing a point for the tournament. We took care of our opportunities and Colby was on top of his game."
The Vikings also showed off another important quality Tuesday, one that could be very important come the postseason; they are opportunistic.
The Jets (9-8-3) did not allow a whole lot of scoring opportunities, but the ones they did allow the Vikings made count.
Late in the first period, a period dominated by the Jets, Rockport got on the board when Josh Guertin found room to let a slap shot rip from the point past goalie Mike Gately for a 1-0 Vikings lead, where it stood after one period.
Lynn came back strong in the second and tied the score at 1-1 just two minutes in when Uva put the only puck past Foster of the day, a shot in the slot off of a perfect centering feed from Don Rustani from behind the Vikings goal. Lynn threatened a bunch more in the second but found themselves behind on the scoreboard heading into the third because Guertin and Beau Gauthier took full advantage of a three-on-two break. The break was set up perfectly as Guertin led the rush and drew a defensemen with him as he carried the puck wide of the goal. Just as the defenseman made his move Guertin dished the puck off to Gauthier, who snapped a wrist shot past Gately for a 2-1 Rockport lead.
In the third period the Jets went into full on desperation mode crashing the Vikings net aggressively and once again generating plenty of scoring opportunities. But it was Rockport that got the last laugh as junio captain Conor Douglass put one in an empty net to make it 3-1, where it would end.
Through 18 regular season games one thing is for sure, Rockport knows how to win games, and they have all the qualities and intangibles needed to make a strong run in the Division 3 North state tournament.
Rockport 3 Lynn 1
at Connery Rink, Lynn
Rockport111—3
Lynn 010—1
1st Period: R, Josh Guertin (Jake O'Maley, Mike Tupper) ppg, 10:43.
2nd Period: L, Tony Uva (Don Rustani) 2:02; R, Beau Gauthier (Guertin) 7:37.
3rd Period: R, Conor Douglass (Tupper) eng, 14:26.
Saves: R, Colby Foster 36; L, Mike Gately 10.
Records: R, 13-4-1; L, 8-9-3.
