Posted April 9, 2002, 11:00 p.m.

Riverside opened with a strong offensive first quarter and excellent defense for three-and-a-half quarters to forge a comfortable 4-goal lead over Chapel Hill with just over three minutes to go on Tuesday, April 9. But lackluster Pirate defense from that point on allowed the Tigers to make a close game of what should have been a convincing win, pulling Chapel Hill to within two goals for an 11-9 final score.

It looked like it would be tense for Pirate fans early as Owen Ham scored first on a Madison Thompson assist at 9:04 of the first period, but the Tigers' Nick Woods answered quickly on a Shawn Handy assist 20 seconds later to knot the score at 1-1. The Pirates reeled off four unanswered goals, however, to give some breathing room.

Graham Murray scored at 6:38 and at 6:06, both on Cory Coffman assists, Chris Feifs scored at 4:50 unassisted and Ham scored again at 4:34 on a Kevin Raspet assist to put Riverside up 5-1. At 4:07, however, Chapel Hill's Jason Merritt scooped up a loose ball in front of the crease and put it in the net to make it 5-2 and end the first-quarter scoring.

Riverside added two goals in the second period, one at 10:13 on a nifty move by Kevin Raspet who dodged two Tigers and scored unassisted, then at 9:08 when Chris Feifs bulled his way to the net. A back-in goal by Chapel Hill's Nick Woods made it 7-3 as the half ended.

Riverside extended its lead by one in the third quarter, again scoring 2 goals to Chapel Hill's 1. Feifs scored unassisted at 5:06 to make it 8-3, Tiger Mike Ragazzo scored unassisted at 3:28 to make it 8-4, Riverside's Ham again made it a 5-goal margin when he ripped on high into the left corner of the net on a Raspet assist to end the third-quarter scoring at 9-4 Riverside.

Neither team could manage a score in the first five minutes of the final period. Errors by both teams kept the ball changing possessions. Riverside goalie Zach Brewer made a spectacular save on a Joe Tynan point-blank shot at 10:26 to keep the margin 9-4. Riverside managed to keep possession of the ball from the 8:16 mark to the 6:53 mark without managing a score. That unproductive lull would nearly come back to haunt them.

Two unassisted goals by Chapel Hill's Shawn Handy at 6:24 and at 5:36 cut the margin to 9-6 and the Pirate fans became restless. But Kevin Raspet scored at 4:54 to make it 10-6. And at 3:43 Feifs scored unassisted to make it 11-6 and it looked like the game was over.

But at 3:29 Mike Ragazzo scored to make it 11-7, and Chapel Hill Coach Greg Paradine had his goalie play defender so his team could double the ball. Even with the net open for long stretches Riverside didn't score down the stretch, while Chapel Hill hit pay dirt twice more. At 2:01 Jason Merritt took the ball from his own restraining line all the way to the Riverside crease virtually untouched to make it 11-8. And with 9.8 seconds remaining, Merritt assisted Handy for the final tally to make the score 11-9 at the buzzer.

In the final few minutes, the Pirates' play was not to Coach Jim Kirkley's liking. The frantic last-gasp by the Tigers seemed to unnerve the Pirates, who were called for several infractions, including a ward, an illegal body check, an in-and-out and a failure to advance. But the margin was too great and the time to short to give the Tigers anything but a moral victory.

GBs: Anthony Howard 10, Kevin Raspet 9, Cory Coffman 9, Chris Feifs 7, Bryan Thompson 6, Ned Phillips 4, Owen Ham 3, Graham Murray 3, Nick Wallhauser 3, Mark Hamilton 1, Tim Gregory 1.
LBCs: Ned Phillips 7, Mark Hamilton 7, Chris Feifs 5, Nick Wallhauser 3, Kevin Raspet 2, Tim Gregory 2, Cory Coffman 1, Graham Murray 1, Anthony Howard 1.

Posted April 9, 2002, 11:45 p.m.

Like Confederate General Braxton Bragg in 1863 the Pirates had superior forces in the shadow of Missionary Ridge on Thursday, April 4, but, also like Bragg, committed crucial mistakes to lose their battle of Chattanooga against The McCallie School. On Friday, April 5, however, the Pirates redeemed themselves with a win over The Webb School 11-6 in bucolic Bell Buckle, Tenn. (see that story below)

After two days of sightseeing, which included Rock City, Ruby Falls, the Incline Railway and the Tennessee Aquarium, it seemed the Pirates were in vacation mode even on the field. In the McCallie game, played on their campus that backs up to historic Missionary Ridge, the Pirates scored first, as they have in most of their games, and, as is usually the case, Kevin Raspet scored the first goal seconds after play began.

Though maintaining possession for most of the period, the Pirates couldn't score another goal. Three strong saves by goalie Zach Brewer kept the Pirates ahead and, when the clock read .9 seconds remaining, and with McCallie initiating play behind the goal, it looked like it would be a 1-0 lead. But a quick pass to an open man in front of the goal and a quick stick made it 1-1 as the buzzer sounded.

McCallie managed two more goals in the second period, one of them in a very disheartening manner. The Pirates had just killed a double-man penalty only to see the Tornadoes score seconds after the teams were even. A Cory Coffman score on a Chris Feifs assist made it 3-2 McCallie at the half. McCallie was the picture of offensive efficiency in the first half, taking only six shots and scoring on three of them. But two of those (and at least two more later) were fluky goals resulting from poor Riverside execution. Even missing key defensive and offensive players who didn't make the trip, the Pirates should have won this game.

In the third quarter McCallie outscored the Pirates 4-2. Cory Coffman and Chris Feifs scored the only goals for the Pirates in the period. The Tornadoes opened the lead to 8-4 in the period, and stretched it to 9-4 at the 11:38 mark of the fourth quarter. That's when the Pirates seemed to wake up from their vacation slumber. McCallie was held scoreless the rest of the way, while the Pirates managed three goals before their rally ran out of time. Kevin Raspet scored unassisted, Owen Ham scored on a Coffman assist and Coffman scored unassisted as time ran out, making the final score 9-7.

Kevin Raspet ended the game with two goals, Cory Coffman had three goals and two assists, Owen Ham had one goal and Chris Feifs had an assist.

GBs: Kevin Raspet 13, Cory Coffman 9, Chris Feifs 8, Owen Ham 5, Anthony Howard 4, Ned Phillips 4, Nick Wallhauser 3, Madison Thompson 2, Graham Murray 2, T.L. Hutchins 2, Bryan Van Dyke 2, Mark Hamilton 1, Nate Hall 1.
LBCs: Nick Wallhauser 7, Ned Phillips 4, Cory Coffman 4, Chris Feifs 3, Bryan Van Dyke 3, Mark Hamilton 2, Kevin Raspet 2, Owen Ham 1, T.L. Hutchins 1.

Riverside downs Webb 11-6 in Bell Buckle, Tenn.

Posted April 9, 2002, 11:50 p.m.

On Friday, April 5, the Pirates journeyed 90 miles up I-24 toward Nashville to play The Webb School team, known as the Feet. Get it. The Webb Feet.

The team had spent the day on the Southern Belle Riverboat. (Some wag in the entourage wondered why a riverboat would be named after a phone company.) That leisurely cruise, along with the food and sunshine, seemed to put the Pirates in another vacation stupor. Or maybe it was the bad movie they had to watch on the bus on the way to Bell Buckle.

But for whatever reason, the Pirates fell behind 1-4 by midway through the second period, an Owen Ham goal on a T.L. Hutchins assist at 2:18 of the first quarter being the only Pirate score. But with 3:42 remaining in the half they seemed to wake up. Cory Coffman, Chris Feifs and Kevin Raspet all scored unassisted to tie the game 4-4 at the midway mark.

Their resurgence didn't stop there, either. They opened the third period with five unanswered goals to make it 9-4. Ham scored unassisted at 11:46 and at 10:15 to make it 6-4. Then two goals by Coffman, one at 4:41 on a Ham assist and another at 8:33 on a Feifs assist, made it 8-4. Then Ham scooped up a loose ball in a scrum on the crease and put it in the net to make it 9-4. The Feet answered with a goal at 3:03, and Coffman scored unassisted at 2:07 to end the third period scoring at 10-5.

Each team added a goal in the final period, Feifs scoring unassisted at 6:40 and an athletic Foot scoring at 5:05 to make the final score 11-6.

Owen Ham and Cory Coffman each had four goals and an assist in the game, Chris Feifs had two goals and an assist, Kevin Raspet had one goal and one assist and T.L. Hutchins added an assist.

GBs: Graham Murray 13, Chris Feifs 10, Cory Coffman 10, Anthony Howard 8, Kevin Raspet 7, Owen Ham 4, Mark Hamilton 2, T.L. Hutchins 2, Nick Wallhauser 1, Michael Woodard 1, Zach Brewer 1.
LBCs: Kevin Raspet 9, Nick Wallhauser 6, Mark Hamilton 4, Chris Feifs 4, Cory Coffman 3, T.L. Hutchins 3, Madison Thompson 1, Owen Ham 1, Anthony Howard 1.

Posted March 27, 2002, 10:50 p.m.

The Pirates scored three in the first period and six in the second while goalie Zach Brewer had his second first-half shutout in a row as Riverside defeated Jordan 11-4 on Wednesday, March 27. Chris Feifs had three goals and an assist to lead the Pirates. Kevin Raspet, Owen Ham and Anthony Howard each had two goals, and Chris Wells and Madison Thompson had one each. Cory Coffman and Graham Murray each had two assists while Tim Gregory added an assist.

The Pirates started quickly, with Kevin Raspet scoring two unassisted and Madison Thompson another unassisted to make it 3-0 Riverside at the end of the first period. The second period was again all Riverside as Chris Feifs scored all three of his goals in that period, two unassisted and one on an assist by Cory Coffman. Owen Ham had an unassisted goal at 9:43 of the period, paying the price with a big hit after scoring. Ham added another goal on an assist by Graham Murray at 5:41. Anthony Howard scored twice in the period, one on a Coffman assist and another on a Feifs assist to end the half with Riverside up 9-0.

Both teams managed one goal in the third period, with Feifs scoring for Riverside on a Tim Gregory assist and Tim McDermott scoring for the Falcons unassisted on a Jordan man-up after the Pirates' Ned Phillips was called for a one-minute, non-releasable penalty for having his mouthpiece out. The period ended with Riverside up 10-1.

In the final period the Falcons scored again on a power play at 10:15 when John Solie took advantage of the man-up to make it 10-2. At 4:59 of the period Riverside's Chris Wells scored on a Graham Murray assist to make it 11-2, after which most of the Pirate starters were replaced. Jordan scored two goals in the last minute -- two unassisted by Rob Christenson and Ben Clauson -- to close out the scoring with Riverside winning 11-4.

GBs: Owen Ham 8, Bryan Thompson 6, Kevin Raspet 6, Chris Feifs 6, Cory Coffman 6, Anthony Howard 5, Tim Gregory 4, Madison Thompson 3, Graham Murray 3, Chris Cherry 3, Ned Phillips 3, T.L. Hutchins 2, Mark Hamilton 1.
LBCs: Owen Ham 4, Bryan Thompson 4, Madison Thompson 3, Nick Wallhauser 3, Kevin Raspet 3, Anthony Howard 3, Ned Phillips 3, Chris Feifs 2, Graham Murray 1, Mark Hamilton 1, Cory Coffman 1, Adam Keough 1.

Posted March 22, 2002, 9:50 p.m.

Riverside, which has lost to Annapolis Area Christian School by large margins for the last two years, turned the tables on Friday, March 22, defeating AACS 13-6. Owen Ham had six goals for the second straight game and added an assist, Cory Coffman had three goals and two assists, Kevin Raspet had two goals, Chris Feifs had a goal and an assist, Anthony Howard had a goal and Graham Murray had an assist. Goalie Zach Brewer kept Riverside ahead during the first half, registering a shutout over the first 24 minutes and scooping up 11 saves in the first half.

Before a sparse but hardy crowed in 32-degree weather, Riverside scored its first goal at 10:32 of the first quarter when Kevin Raspet scored unassisted to make it 1-0. Riverside's defense at the offensive end was superb in the first quarter, causing loose balls each time Annapolis Christian gained possession in the Pirate offensive end of the field. In fact, it was nearly five minutes into the game before AACS got the ball into its own offensive end of the field.

At 4:35, with Riverside a man down, Zach Brewer made the first of his 11 saves in the first half. At least four of those saves came with Riverside a man down. In the second period, Ham scored on an assist from Cory Coffman at 2:31 remaining, Chris Feifs scored unassisted with 2:01 remaining, and Coffman scored on a Ham assist with 59 seconds left to make it 4-0. Brewer added two more saves, one at 1:15 left and another with only 4 seconds remaining in the half to save his two shutout periods.

Riverside opened the second half with an unassisted Coffman goal at 10:19, followed by an unassisted Ham goal at 9:37 to make it 6-0. But AACS didn't go away. They scored two unanswered goals, one by Shawn McCuen and another by R.J. Napolitano on a Jimmy Deterding feed to make the score 6-2 with 6:40 remaining in the third period.

But Riverside had a run of its own to answer those two goals. Anthony Howard scored unassisted at 4:19, Ham scored on a Feifs assist at 2:25, and Raspet scored on a rifle shot to the top of the net at 1:05 to end the scoring in the third period with Riverside up 9-2.

In the final period, Coffman scored after zigzagging past three AACS defenders to make it 10-2. But Annapolis Christian added two more goals in succession, one by Deterding on a McCuen assist at 7:40 and another by Josh Peck unassisted at 5:19 to make it 10-4.

At 4:29, Riverside goalie Zach Brewer had to come out of the net to try to get an errant Riverside ball, only to have the bounce go AACS's way as Annapolis' Kyle Rogge picked up the ball in a scrum and put it into the open net to make it 11-5.

Two goals by Ham, one unassisted at 5:05 and another on a Coffman assist at 2:54 made it 13-5. with 53 second remaining Riverside was called for an offsides when Ham slid over the midfield line in pursuit of the AACS clear and Annapolis took advantage to score with 26 seconds left to make the final score 13-6.

GBs: Kevin Raspet 12, Chris Feifs 8, Owen Ham 7, Graham Murray 7, Anthony Howard 7, Bryan Thompson 6, Madison Thompson 4, Nick Wallhauser 3, Tim Gregory 3, Chris Wells 2, Ned Phillips 2, Bryan Van Dyke 1.
LBCs: Owen Ham 10, Nick Wallhauser 5, Ned Phillips 3, Madison Thompson 2, Kevin Raspet 2, Chris Feifs 1, Bryan Van Dyke 1, Brian Jobe 1.

Posted March 19, 2002, 11:30 p.m.

The Pirates overcame a bumpy field and a plethora of major penalty calls to pull away from the Orange Panthers for a 20-7 win on Tuesday, March 19. Owen Ham led the scoring for the Pirates with six goals and one assist, Cory Coffman had three goals and four assists, Chris Fiefs had three goals and an assist, Kevin Raspet had two goals and two assists, Graham Murray had two goals and two assists, Madison Thompson, Colin Rossi, Chris Wells and Brian Jobe had one goal each, and T.L. Hutchins and Gordon Bowman had one assist each.

The Pirates opened to a 2-0 lead on two unassisted goals by junior attackman Owen Ham. That lead was cut to 2-1 though at 9:13 when Orange took advantage of a two-man-up situation when Pirates Mark Hamilton (hold, :30) and Ned Phillips (cross check, 1:00) were in the penalty box at the same time. The Panthers' Billy Brink scored in 6-on-4 opportunity.

Three unanswered goals by Riverside followed. Kevin Raspet scored unassisted at 7:37, Chris Feifs did the same at 7:01 and Cory Coffman followed suit at 5:22 to make it 5-1 Riverside. Another major penalty late in the quarter, a slash call on Madison Thompson, gave the Panthers another man advantage and they cashed in when Kurt Vandeventer scored at 1:49 to make it 5-2. Another unassisted Pirate goal by Feifs made it 6-2 as the quarter ended.

The Pirates seemed to have trouble picking up ground balls on the tufted field at Orange High, often having to try at a pickup three or four times as the Panthers' defense drew a bead on them. Still, they managed their customary margin in ground balls, winning the battle on the night 67 to 42.

At 8:41 of the second period, Coffman scored his second goal, an unassisted rocket shot high in the net, to make it 7-2 Riverside. The game seemed in hand, but a slew of major penalties kept the Pirates a man down for 3:30 and the Panthers scored twice, one by Brink and another by Robert Bullock to bring the Panthers to within three goals, 7-4, with 3:40 left in the first half. Graham Murray gave the Pirates an additional margin at 3:29 on an assist from Raspet to make it 8-4 at the half.

In all, the Pirates were called for eight penalties, six of the major, in the first half. At times it looked as if the Pirates were afraid to play defense, waiting for the quick whistle, much like playes in a basketball game adapt to the way refs are calling a game. That was to the Panthers' advantage, however, and it showed in the last few minutes of the first half.

The second half opened with Ham scoring his third goal on an assist from Coffman to make it 9-4 at 10:17. A few seconds later, Huskins intecepted an outlet pass at the restraining line and found himself one-on-one with the Riverside goalie with no defense to help. He scored to make it 9-5 with 9:44 left in the quarter.

At 8:30 remaining, one of the refs called the Pirates for an illegal substitution, saying a Riverside player stepped onto the field before the man he was replacing had stepped off. Problem was, a Riverside player had already come off the field and had remained off, so Riverside never had too many players on the turf. Coach Kirkley pointed this out to the ref, which got a penalty called on him, leaving Riverside a man down again. The Panthers again took advantage, scoring at 8:03 to make it 9-6, a margin certainly closer than anyone watching, Orange or Riverside fans, had expected to see in the third period of this game.

It didn't stay that way for long. The Pirates embarked on a 10-0 run to put the margin at 19-6. The first goal came at 6:34 of the third period when Owen Ham scored his fourth goal of the night on another assist from Cory Coffman to make it 10-6. At 5:22 of the third, Graham Murray scored on a Feifs assist to make it 11-6. Ham again scored at 2:22 on a Murray assist to make it 12-6, followed by a Madison Thompson goal on a Ham assist at 1:10 to make it 13-6 as the third period ended.

Between the Ham and Thompson goals, Orange had an opportunity to end the Riverside run when Paul Huskins came around the back-right side of the goal to try to force one in past Riverside goalie Zach Brewer. But Brewer took him on one-on-one and made the save, coming out of the crease an initiating contact with Huskins to foil the shot, one of 10 saves on the night for Brewer. At 11:39 of the final period Ham again found net on another Coffman assist to make it 14-6. Feifs made it 15-6 at 9:32 on a Murray assist, a Coffman goal on a Raspet assist at 8:02 made it 16-6, and an unassisted Raspet goal at 7:41 made it 17-6. Coffman assisted Brian Jobe at 7:00 remaining to make it 18-6 and Chris Wells's goal on an assist by T.L. Hutchins made it 19-6.

Orange broke its scoring drought at 4:19 when Huskins scored the Panthers' final goal to make the margin 19-7. A final Riverside goal by Colin Rossi on an assist by Gordon Bowman made the final score 20-7.

The Riverside JV team defeated Orange 6-5 in a game held just prior to the varsity game on Tuesday, March 19.

GBs: Chris Feifs 14, Kevin Raspet 10, Cory Coffman 6, Bryan Thompson 5, Nick Wallhauser 5, Graham Murray 4, Madison Thompson 3, Owen Ham 3, Ned Phillips 3, Colin Rossi 2, Adam Keough 2, Anthony Howard 2, Chris Cherry 1, Gordon Bowman 1, T.L. Hutchins 1, Brian Jobe 1, Nate Hall 1, Mark Hamilton 1, Jay Whitaker 1, Chris Wells 1.
LBCs: Ned Phillips 5, Chris Cherry 4, Chris Feifs 4, Owen Ham 3, Bryan Thompson 3, Graham Murray 2, Nick Wallhauser 2, Tim Gregory 2, T.L. Hutchins 2, Madison Thompson 1, Colin Rossi 1, Mark Hamilton 1, Kevin Raspet 1, Cory Coffman 1.

Posted March 17, 2002, 1:30 p.m.

Riverside defeated the Charlotte Country Day Buccaneers 12-7 on Saturday, March 16, riding Chris Feifs' five goals and three assists to an historic first win over Country Day, the defending private school champions. Also scoring were Graham Murray with two goals and an assist, Kevin Raspet with two goals, Cory Coffman added two goals, and Owen Ham had one goal in the win.

Riverside dominated possession in the game, giving the Buccaneers the ball for only two minutes in the first quarter. That left Country Day's excellent lefty attackman Oliver Bacon in the role of spectator for most of the afternoon. Still, he managed one goal and three assists for the Buccaneers.

Riverside scored first 15 seconds into the game when Feifs scored the first of his five goals. A slash call on CCD's Ryan Riggins at 10:57 gave the Pirates a man-up advantage which they converted when Feifs again scored assisted by Graham Murray.

At 6:24 the Buccaneers' Wesley Jones was called for a slash and again the Pirates' EMO converted with Coffman scoring unassisted. The Pirates had two more extra-man situations in the first period but didn't score on either. The period ended with Riverside up 3-0 but only due to several excellent saves by Zach Brewer, one a spectacular erasing of a Bacon shot with 31 seconds left in the period.

The Buccaneeers broke through at 8:27 of the second period when Will Pittmans scored after taking a long outlet pass from CCD goalie Jonathan Shaw and scoring unmolested.

Riverside answered with two quick goals of its own, one by Graham Murray on a Feifs assist at 6:04 and another at 5:53 on an unassisted goal by Raspet to make it 5-1 Riverside. At 5:27 of the period Riverside's Nick Wallhauser, who had the chore of dogging Bacon most of the afternoon, was called for a slash.

Country Day took advantage when a shot by Charles Melvin, pointedly shooting where the sun was in Riverside's Brewer's eyes, was initially saved by Brewer but ricocheted off his body and rolled into the net to make it 5-2. Riverside answered with another pair of goals, one by Owen Ham on an assist from Feifs at 4:43 and another by Feifs unassisted at 1:38 to make it 7-2. Another goal by CCD with 18 seconds left was a high-90 left-hander by Bacon, again from out of the sun, to make it 7-3 at the half.

As the second half began, Feifs again initiated the festivities with an unassisted goal at 10:58. Only 10 seconds later Country Day's Neal Watterson scored unassisted to make it 8-4. Graham Murray put Riverside up again by five goals at 7:03 when he scored on an assist from Feifs. That gave Feifs three assist in the game, tripling his total number of assists in 2001 when he had 70 goals and a single assist.

Country Day's Scott Simonton scored at 4:47 to make it 9-5, and Riverside began a four-minute stretch when it seemed is simply couldn't clear the ball. Luckily, Country Day couldn't capitalize on those miscues. As the period ended, Coffman juked two CCD defenders and scored unassisted with 37 seconds left to make it again a five-goal margin, 10-5.

Country Day began the final period aggressively, scoring twice to make it 10-7, on goals by Simonton on a Bacon assist and an unassisted goal by Pittman and suddenly the Buccaneers were within striking distance with 7:52 remaining. Two unassisted goals by Feifs and Raspet closed out the day's scoring, though, with 2:14 left and Riverside up 12-7.

For the next two minutes the Pirates exercised their delay game to perfection, keeping the ball behind the net, the ball moving among Raspet, Murray, Howard and Ham as they stayed in the box and one step ahead of the CCD defense until the time ran out.

GBs: Kevin Raspet 11, Bryan Thompson 8, Cory Coffman 8, Chris Feifs 7, Graham Murray 6, Anthony Howard 6, Tim Gregory 3, Nick Wallhauser 3, Owen Ham 2, Madison Thompson 2, Adam Keough 1.
LBCs: Nick Wallhauser 6, Bryan Thompson 5, Tim Gregory 3, Kevin Raspet 2, Cory Coffman 2, Madison Thompson 1, Mark Hamilton 1, Adam Keough 1, Chris Feifs 1.

Posted March 15, 2002, 11:00 p.m.

Riverside broke open a 2-2 tie by scoring five goals in the final 2:37 of the first period and cruised to a 13-4 win over Chapel Hill on Friday, March 15. Cory Coffman had 3 goals and 2 assists, Chris Feifs put in 3 goals, Kevin Raspet had 2 goals and 2 assists, Owen Ham had 1 goal and 1 assist, and Tim Gregory, Madison Thompson, Anthony Howard and Chris Wells each had a goal.

Chapel Hill senior attackman Shawn Handy drew first blood with an unassisted goal at 10:32 of the first quarter. A couple of minutes later, with Riverside in the EMO, Chris Feifs tied it up with his first goal of the year at 7:36 when he drove unassisted to put the ball past the feet of the Chapel Hill goalie. At 6:11, Riverside goalie Zach Brewer made one of several one-on-one saves, but a few seconds later in a scrum for the ball Chapel Hill's Joe Tynan put the Tigers up 2-1 with 6:03 left in the period.

Only 15 seconds later, however, Riverside was on a fast break an Kevin Raspet passed to Owen Ham to the left of the Chapel Hill goal and Ham put it in past the goaltender to tie the game at 2 with 5:49 remaining.

For the next three minutes the teams traded possessions with neither doing any damage. But at 2:37 remaining in the period Cory Coffman drove and scored unassisted, followed by Tim Gregory on an assist from Raspet at 2:21, followed by an unassisted Raspet goal at 1:48, followed yet again by a Feifs goal at :53 remaining and suddenly it was 7-2 Riverside as the first period ended.

Both teams' defenses came to the fore in the next period as neither team scored. The Riverside defense, anchored behind the goal by Nick Wallhauser and Bryan Thompson, and in front by Mark Hamilton and Ned Phillips, dominated the Chapel Hill offense. Even at the offensive end of the field the Riverside defense was tough, with attackman Owen Ham pestering the Chapel Hill goalie and outlet players to foil clear after clear.

The second period was scoreless for the Tigers due mainly to some great goaltending by Brewer. As the second half opened, he registered one-on-one saves against Handy, Jason Merritt and Joe Tynan to keep Chapel Hill at 2 goals. At 4:55 of the third period Anthony Howard scored on an assist from Owen Ham, and at 2:11 Cory Coffman scored unassisted to make it 9-2 Riverside. Chapel Hill's Merritt scored with :53 left in the period to make it 9-3 as the final quarter began.

Riverside scores by Kevin Raspet unassisted, Madison Thompson assisted by Coffman, Chris Feifs unassisted and Chris Wells assisted by Coffman made it 13-3 with 5:51 remaining. A final goal by Handy with 2:21 left made it 13-4.

GBs: Chris Feifs 13, Kevin Raspet 8, Bryan Thompson 8, Graham Murray 6, Cory Coffman 5, Madison Thompson 4, Owen Ham 3, Anthony Howard 3, Chris Cherry 3, Ned Phillips 3, Tim Gregory 2, Nick Wallhauser 2, T.L. Hutchins 1.
LBCs: Nick Wallhauser 7, Bryan Thompson 4, Owen Ham 3, Mark Hamilton 2, Ned Phillips 2, Kevin Raspet 1, Cory Coffman 1, Tim Gregory 1, T.L. Hutchins 1, Chris Cherry 1, Bryan Van Dyke 1.

Posted March 8, 2002, 10:45 p.m.

Riverside defeated Charlotte Providence 7-4 on Friday, March 8, 2002, spoiling the homecoming of former Pirate Andy DeLamielleure, who moved to Charlotte last year after playing on the 2001 championship team. Kevin Raspet, Cory Coffman and Owen Ham each had two goals for the Pirates. Coffman also had two assists and T.L. Hutchins added one assist.

Owen Ham got Riverside's first goal, scoring unassisted while the Pirates were a man down with 9:13 remaining in the first period. Riverside had two extra-man chances early in the quarter but couldn't capitalize. Then, with 6:54 remaining, Cory Coffman drove on the goal, dodged two defenders and scored unassisted to make it 2-0 Riverside.

Providence got a man-up advantage of its own when Riverside's Madison Thompson was called for a slash and DeLamielleure scored from 15 yards out, an unusual sight for Pirate fans who got so used to seeing Andy working behind or to the left of the goal when he was a Pirate. That made it 2-1 Riverside with 5:03 remaining, but it didn't stay that way for long.

At the 4:40 mark Kevin Raspet drove to the left of the Providence goal and shot a left-handed bouncer that went into the net to make it 3-1 Riverside, the score at the end of the first period.

It was deja vu all over again for Riverside as the officials, performing their random stick check between quarters, found Graham Murray's pocket to be out of compliance, resulting in a one-minute, non-releasable penalty. Riverside survived that man-down situation and had to also survive a furious effort by Providence over the next few minutes.

Riverside goalie Zach Brewer kept the score at 3-1 with several saves over the next six minutes, two on good shots by DeLamielleure. Another extra-man advantage went by the wayside for Riverside after Providence's Jim Trice was called for slashing. The Pirates, despite raining shots on the Providence goal, found the go wide or high. They paid for that lack of marksmanship when, at 2:46 of the second period, Providence's Eric Kempter scored the first of this two goals to make it 3-2.

Tim Gregory gave the Pirates a bit of breathing room with 28 seconds remaining in the first half, taking a feed from T.L. Hutchins and putting it in the net. That made it 4-2 at the halftime break.

The second half got off to a good start, with Kevin Raspet scoring at 11:21 on an assist from Cory Coffman. The, a minute later, after Brewer had made a great save of a Providence shot, the ball rebounded and bounced around the crease long enough for Providence midfielder Matt Zastrow to sweep it into the goal, making it 5-3.

Brewer made four of his 11 saves over the next five minutes to maintain Riverside's two-goal lead. Then, at 6:28, Riverside got control of the ball and kept it for more than three minutes, shooting at least six shots but never finding the net. Two shots hit the pipe, the others were wide or high. Again Riverside paid for its lack of precision when Kempter scored his second goal of the night at 1:12 to make it 5-4.

The Riverside fans, listening the the Duke-UNC ACC tournament game while watching the Riverside-Providence game, began to get uneasy with a scant one-goal lead. But, with 10 seconds left in the period, Owen Ham scored on a pass from Coffman to make it 6-4 and give the fans some breathing room.

Coffman scored the only goal for either team in the final period with 10:02 remaining and the game ended 7-4 with Riverside getting its third win of the season.

The Riverside defense, especially Bryan Thompson, Nick Wallhauser and Mark Hamilton, dogged the Providence middies all night, making it hard for them to hold on to the ball. Those take-aways, coupled with Brewers saves, helped make up for the too-many turnovers at the offensive end, giving the Pirates the possession edge they needed to win this game.

Posted March 6, 2002, 10:45 p.m.

The Pirates stormed to a 5-0 lead in the first half and added five more in the second to defeat the Ravenscroft Ravens 10-4 on Wednesday, March 6, 2002. Kevin Raspet and Owen Ham led the scoring for the Pirates with three each. Cory Coffman added two goals and two assists, and Anthony Howard and Chris Wells added one each. Graham Murray had an assist in the contest, held in Raleigh on Ravenscroft's home field.

After four minutes during which neither team could mount any threats, Riverside's Cory Coffman scored unassisted at 7:59 of the first period to make it 1-0 Riverside. Excellent rides by the Pirates made it difficult for the Ravens to clear the ball all during the game, a pattern that was set in the first period.

With 40 seconds to go in the period, Anthony Howard dodged two Ravens and scored in heavy traffic to make it 2-0 Pirates.

The second period was a stalemate for most of the 12 minutes. Both teams had several extra-man chances but couldn't score. The Riverside ride continued to force turnovers and failure-to-advance calls against the Ravens.

It looked as if the Pirates would enter halftime with a slim 2-0 lead when, with 32 seconds left, Coffman scored unassisted. Kevin Raspet won the faceoff and drove to the goal for another score with 18 seconds left. Raspet again won the faceoff and rolled to another score with 9 seconds left. At this point the Ravens fans urged their team to let the time run out for fear that Raspet would score again in the last 9 seconds. He didn't, though, and the half ended with Riverside up 5-0.

In the third period, Owen Ham scooped up a loose ball near the restraining line and dodged in for an unassisted goal to make it 6-0 with 7:53 left in the half. A brief letdown by the Pirates led to two quick scores by Ravenscroft, one at 7:11 by Clay Hamrick and another at 7:02 by Simon Flynn. At 6:07, Coffman picked up a loose ball on a fast break, raced to the goal and fed Ham who dumped it into the Ravenscroft net to make it 7-0.

At 3:00 remaining in the period Riverside was in an extra-man offense after an unnecessary roughness call on a Ravens player. Ham took a pass from Coffman and ripped a hard shot above the goalie's right shoulder to make it 8-2.

Riverside fans got a scare late in the third period when a Ravens player tripped Madison Thompson from behind, hitting him on the foot Thompson injured in fall ball. Thompson laid on the turf for a good five minutes as Riverside fans wondered if the metal plate and screws that had been used to put his ankle back together in the fall had survived the hit. It seemed so later when Thompson was walking on the foot after the game.

The Ravens' Alex Floyd scored with 7:52 left in the game to make it 8-3, but Raspet answered quickly, stealing the ball in the Riverside end an racing three-quarters of the field to score unassisted. That made it 9-3. Chris Wells rounded out the Riverside scoring with a goal on an assist from Graham Murray with 4:59 remaining. A final Ravens goal by Hugh Letherman with 22 seconds left put the final score at 10-4.

Posted March 5, 2002, 11:45 p.m.

In a game with more bizarre twists than Stephen King novel, Riverside defeated the Grimsley Whirlies 6-5 in overtime on Tuesday night. Cory Coffman led Riverside with three goals, including the game winner less than a minute into the overtime period. A disallowed Grimsley goal after a stick check request by the Riverside coaches allowed the Pirates to get to the overtime period. Anthony Howard, Tim Gregory and Kevin Raspet also added unassisted goals to the total.

The game began auspiciously for the Pirates when, a mere 18 seconds into the game, midfielder Anthony Howard drove on the Grimsley goal and scored to make it 1-0 Riverside. But that was the last goal Riverside would score until 17 playing minutes later. In the meantime, the Whirlies pretty much had their way with the Pirates, scoring three goals and leading at the half 3-1.

After Howard's goal, the teams traded possessions for the next eight minutes, with Grimsley goalie Alex Thanos making some spectacular saves. With 3:15 remaining in the first period, Grimsley attackman Frank Kelly tied the score at 1-1. A minute later, the first of several strange twists occurred. The Grimsley goalie flung the ball downfield over the Riverside defense and his own offense. The ball rolled toward the Riverside goal and no defenseman could reach it. It rolled toward Riverside goalie Zach Brewer and went under his stick, ending up behind him in the goal to make it 2-1 Grimsley. Since Thanos was the last to touch the ball, the goal was credited to the Grimsley goalie.

Early in the second period, Grimsley's Thanos, who had 19 saves, again made a save on an Anthony Howard shot and cleared the ball to Grimsley longstick middie Kyle McKinney, who played his middle school lacrosse at Brogden with many of the current Riverside players. McKinney took the ball in all alone and scored to make it 3-1 Grimsley with 10:47 remaining in the half.

At 2:41 of the second quarter Riverside longstick middie Ned Phillips was called for slashing, giving the Whirlies a man-up situation, which they capitalized upon when attackman Chris Leath scored to make it 4-1 Grimsley. It looked as if it might be 5-1 but a Grimsley shot that went in the goal came just after the time had expired in the half.

In the second half Riverside had a quick man-up situation but couldn't capitalize. But at 9:06 of the third period, what was meant to be a pass from Cory Coffmann to Owen Ham floated over the Grimsley goalie's right shoulder and hit net, making it 4-2 with 7:44 remaining in the period.

The Pirates had a golden chance with 1:02 remaining in the third period when two Whirlies were called for penalties, giving Riverside a 6-on-4 advantage, but they couldn't score. The Grimsley goalie, in an eight-minute span in the period, made saves on four dead-on Kevin Raspet shots and another by Coffmann.

As the fourth quarter began, a routine stick check found Raspet's stick to be illegal and he was hit with a 3-minute non-releasable penalty. Forty-five seconds into the penalty Grimsley's John Rierson scored to make it 5-2. Over the next four minutes the Grimsley goalie and Riverside's Zach Brewer made tough saves on each end to keep the score at 5-2. But at 5:06 of the final period Kevin Raspet drove on the goal and scored unassisted to make it 5-3.

The Riverside defense stymied the Whirlies for the next few minutes, forcing the Grimsley goalie into two 4-second violations and stealing the ball twice on Grimsley clears. At 3:58 remaining in the game, Tim Gregory faked his defender, drove and scored to make it 5-4. Thirty seconds later Coffmann made an identical move on the same isolation play and tied the score at 5-5. Kevin Raspet kept giving the Pirates opportunities by winning the critical face-offs after each catch-up goal. He was 11-1 on the night.

Grimsley got possession of the ball with 45 seconds remaining and moved toward the Riverside goal. Grimsley's Leath bounced off several defenders, got turned around with his back to the goal and heaved the ball over his head backwards and it found the Riverside net with 36 seconds remaining. As the Grimsley crowd went wild, Riverside Assistant Coach Glenn Estacio suggested to Coach Jim Kirkley that they call for a stick check on Leath's stick, since it would be difficult to keep a ball in a legal stick long enough to make a shot like the one they had just witnessed.

Kirkley called for the check, and after several agonizing minutes the refs determined Leath's pocket was illegal and disallowed the go-ahead goal, and putting Leath in the box for a 1-minute non-releasable penalty. Neither team managed to score in the remaining seconds and the game went into sudden-death overtime.

With 2:41 remaining in the 4-minute OT, Coffman again drove on the goal, dodged his defender and put the ball past the Grimsley goalie's feet, bringing a sigh of relief from Riverside fans and cries of anquish from the Grimsley partisans.