By Bob Badders - Senior Staff Writer
SOMERSET -- The energy and excitement returned to
Brick's hockey team this season as the Dragons made the playoffs for the first time since the 2004-05 season. The Ocean Ice Palace was once again the place to be as fans came out in droves to see the Dragons make a run to the Handchen Cup final and prove that when on top of their game, they can play with any public school in the state.
But as head coach Bob Auriemma said after Brick's heart-breaking 3-2 loss to Montgomery at Protec Ponds, that is little consolation when you lose.
Senior Mike Guarino had given the 11th-seeded Dragons a 2-1 lead with a power-play goal at 5:12 of the third period, but the No. 6 Cougars rallied on goals by Will Irving and Kevin Hover to pull out the win in the Round of 16 of the NJSIAA Public A Tournament on Tuesday.
"When he (Guarino) scored that goal we got the momentum back and I thought we were good," said Brick senior forward Mike Gumina. "But then we took the penalty, and they tied it. We tried to fight back but they got another one."
A little over three minutes after Guarino's goal, Irving tied the game just after a Cougars power play had expired. Senior center Mike Papsin won a neutral-zone face-off back to defenseman Mike DeMarco, who then fed Irving with a quick cross-ice pass. The sophomore had plenty of room on the right side and skated all the way into the Dragons zone. Brick defenseman Ryan Martin moved in but before he could get to the puck, Irving lifted a wrist shot over the glove hand of Dylan Beaver on the short side to tie the game at two.
Hover's goal came when Irving hit him with a pass as he was cutting into the Brick zone. The senior defenseman/forward moved around a Brick player before cutting to the middle and releasing a wrist shot. He had Beaver moving with him to the left but sent his shot back the other way over the glove hand for a 3-2 lead.
"I saw the opening glove side high and took the shot," Hover said. "It's definitely one of those things in practice you do once in a while but never really do in games."
Guarino scored on a goal that Cougars goaltender Ian Healey never gives up. The Dragons senior forward was skating down the right side just inside the Montgomery zone and put a shot on net that was going high. But Healey jumped to get a shoulder on it and it caromed down and in for a power-play goal and a 2-1 lead.
"He's got a lot of experience, and he's always been there for us," Hover said. "Sometimes the puck doesn't bounce your way, but normally he bounces back."
Healey did precisely that by keeping Brick out of the net for the rest of the game. He finished with 29 saves on 31 shots to push the Cougars into the quarterfinals against the winner of today's game between third-seeded Randolph and No. 14 Westfield.
"We always need him in big games, and he keeps stepping up and I know he will keep doing that," Hover said.
Brick came out wanting to set a physical tone and was able to sustain offensive pressure with a solid two-man forecheck and some well-timed pinches from its defensemen. The Dragons were controlling the play and could have had a lead if not for some acrobatic saves by Healey. He allowed Montgomery to regain its composure and take a 1-0 lead on a goal by Papsin at 8:42 of the first period. Hover caused a turnover with a hit along the boards in the Brick zone and Papsin swooped in to take the puck and move in alone on Beaver. The goaltender went for a poke check but Papsin was able to move the puck to his backhand and slide it past Beaver.
Brick really picked up the play in the second period - it held a 25-11 shots advantage after two - and tied the game on the power play at 9:28. Gumina gained the zone and circled around the net from right to left. Once he made his way around the goal he looked up and saw senior defenseman James Murphy at the blue line. Gumina hit him with a pass and Murphy one-timed a low shot that got through the defense and Healey to tie the score at one.
Brick was hoping its early physical play would wear Montgomery down in the third period, but the Dragons got away from rolling four lines, which has been their strength this season.
"We made some mistakes on their (Montgomery's) goals but that's my fault, I broke the rotation," Auriemma said. "The effort was there. They worked as hard as they could and they were hustling the whole time. They gave everything they had. The boys worked hard to win and I let them down."
The Dragons finish up at 14-8-2 a year after going 7-11-3. They advanced to the Handchen Cup final after a memorable 6-4 win over
St. John Vianney in the semifinals. Brick was the only Shore Conference team to defeat the Lancers this season. The Dragons also played thrilling contests against
Brick Memorial,
Wall and
Middletown North during the season and also had a win over
Monsignor Donovan. Brick was the only Shore Conference public school to defeat a non-public team, and it did it twice.
"In the beginning I knew we would be solid," Gumina said. "We skated hard in practice and came out to the games and gave it all we had. But I didn't think we'd get this far and get to the championship of the Handchen Cup. It was a fun season."
"We have to keep our heads up," Auriemma said. "We came on strong after a slow start and played much better as the year went on. It's little consolation when you lose because we're here to win, but sometimes bad things happen and you have to keep your head up and continue to work hard."
Box Score
NJSIAA Public A Tournament
Round of 16
(6) Montgomery 3, (11) Brick 2
Brick (14-8-2) 0 1 1 - 2
Montgomery (13-9-4) 1 0 2 - 3
Scoring - First period: (M) Mike Papsin (Kevin Hover) 8:42;
Second period: (B) James Murphy (Mike Gumina) 9:28 (PP);
Third period: (B) Mike Guarino (Matt Dornacker, James Murphy) 5:12 (PP);
(M) Will Irving (Mike Papsin) 8:30;
(M) Kevin Hover 10:59.
Saves: (B) Dylan Beaver 20;
(M) Ian Healey 29.
Shots: Brick 31-23.
E-mail:
badders@digitalsports.com