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| 2002 Game Stories |
| Riverside downs Chapel Hill 10-9 in overtime to win state championship Posted May 19, 2002, 11:45 a.m.
Riverside junior midfielder Anthony Howard took a feed from Cory Coffman 55 seconds into overtime and put the ball past Chapel Hill goaltender David Russell to give Riverside a 10-9 victory and its fourth state title on May 18, 2002.
The Pirates came from four goals down late in the third quarter and outscored potent Chapel Hill 6-1 down the stretch. Coffman carried the scoring duties (5 goals, 2 assists) all day, but Chris Feif's and Kevin Raspet's dominance in faceoffs (20-3) gave Riverside the chances it needed to pull out the win.
For Chapel Hill, Russell again sparkled in goal, getting 17 saves, while Nick Woods scored six goals for the Tigers. Alas, it wasn't enough, as it was Riverside that scored the final and deciding goal at 3:05 of the 4-minute overtime period.
Everyone in the large crowd at Duke's Koskinen Stadium knew this would be a battle of possession for Riverside. If they could possess the ball, they could keep Chapel Hill's powerful attack from hitting net. And that's the way it started. But Russell made two one-on-one saves in the first three minutes to keep Riverside off the scoreboard. Finally, at 8:02, with Riverside in the EMO, Coffman bounced a ball over Russell's left shoulder to make it 1-0 Riverside.
The Pirates had two failure-to-advances called on them over the next two minutes, giving Chapel Hill additional chances to score. They paid for it at 6:23 when Nick Woods curled around the left side of the goal and put the ball in to make it 1-1 at 6:23 of the first period. Chapel Hill didn't waste time getting their next goal. Shawn Handy scored on a feed from Joe Tynan at 5:29 to make it 2-1 Chapel Hill as the first period ended.
Coffman pulled Riverside into a 2-2 tie at 10:44 of the second period when he uncharacteristically scored from 15 yards out, putting the ball to the left of Russell's feet. At 8:26 Woods answered for the Tigers on an unassisted goal to make it 3-2 Chapel Hill. But again Coffman pulled the Pirates back into it. He scored on an almost identical 15-yard shot from the same spot on the field and also put the ball low and to the left of Russell's ankles to make it 3-3.
At 2:48, Tiger Coach Greg Paradine called a timeout. His charges must have listened well because the Tigers quickly scored two goals to end the period. At 2:10 Joe Tynan found Shane Nouri to make it 4-3, and at 1:39 Tynan found Woods to make it 5-3 Chapel Hill as the half ended.
Even though the Pirates were down, they managed to keep the Tigers in check for the first four minutes of the third period. But the Tigers did the same to the Pirates, as no one could score. But at 7:26 of the period Woods found Tynan for a close-in score to make it 6-3. Pirate fans got a scare on that play when All-State long stick middie Ned Phillips went down, seemingly with a serious injury. After some tense minutes, however, Phillips pulled himself off the Duke grass and got back into the game.
At 5:49 of the third period, Riverside's Nick Wallhauser was called for an illegal body check, giving the Tigers a one-minute man advantage, and they took advantage. Twenty seconds later the brilliant Woods bounced around in front of the crease and scored unassisted to make it 7-3 Chapel Hill and the Tiger faithful found full voice as their team seemed destined to pull away.
Chris Feifs stopped the bleeding at 4:12, scoring on an assist from Coffman. Chapel Hill padded their margin at 2:30 after Riverside's Owen Ham was called for a slash. The Tigers scored twenty seconds into the penalty to make it 8-4, and the Tiger fans were loving it. Meanwhile, Riverside seemed dispirited. Riverside Coach Jim Kirkley said after the game that the coaches had said all they could say and the team would have to decide whether they wanted to win or not.
The Riverside fans had been quiet and surely uneasy about the turn of events. Something needed to happen to pull them and the team out of its funk. It did. With about a minute left in the third period and with Chapel Hill in possession and on the clear, Kevin Raspet hit the Tiger ball carrier and the ball came loose. In the mad scramble for the ground ball just past the restraining line, Riverside's Owen Ham came up with the ball and fed a wide open Graham Murray standing at the Chapel Hill crease. Murray put the ball in the net and the Riverside fans erupted in a thunderous cheer. It was the first thing they'd had to cheer about in some time.
That dramatic play -- and the fan reaction -- seemed to wake up the Pirates. When the clock ran out on the third quarter, even though they were down 8-5, the Pirates who came to the sideline were a different bunch from the one that had walked slowly to the sidelines at the half.
Then came the fun part, at least for Pirate fans.
Riverside scored four unanswered goals in the next six minutes. The first was an unassisted goal by Coffman at 11:33 to make it 8-6. Then Anthony Howard scored unassisted at 8:55 to make it 8-7, and the Riverside fans just got louder. At 8:41, Owen Ham scored on an assist by Kevin Raspet to tie the game 8-8 and the Riverside fans and the players reacted with emotion. Chapel Hill decided it was time for a timeout.
At 7:04 Chapel Hill was in possession and badly in need of a score. A Tiger player had a one-on-one shot on goal but Riverside goalie Zach Brewer made the stop with his chest and gained possession. On the next trip down the field Riverside's Coffman again scored unassisted to make it 9-8, Riverside's first lead since early in the first period. As usual, Riverside won the faceoff and began playing keep away. Now it was the Tigers who were fighting doubts and seeing their season wind down to an unhappy end.
But the lacrosse gods weren't finished. The Tigers managed to get the ball back at the five-minute mark and had a shot on goal that was saved by Brewer at the 4:40 mark. However, his outlet pass was picked off by Woods who promptly put it back in the goal to make the score 9-9. The next few minutes were frantic as both teams tried to score the winning goal.
Riverside was in a man-up from 4:02 to 3:02 but couldn't capitalize. A loose ball push on Riverside at 3:28 gave the ball back to the Tigers. Paradine called a timeout at 3:24 to set up a play that the Tigers hoped would win the game but they passed out of bounds at 2:23 and Riverside got the ball back. Anthony Howard cleared the ball through heavy traffic and, at 2:14, Kirkley called a timeout for Riverside to set up what it hoped would be a winning goal.
Two times Coffman tried to put the ball past Russell but failed. At 1:04, on his second attempt, he was called for a crease violation and Riverside fans began seeing their lives flash before their eyes. They got a reprieve, though, when, with 30 seconds remaining, Chapel Hill was called for a loose ball push and Riverside got the ball back. Time ran out, however, before they could get off a good shot.
Before the overtime period Riverside's Kevin Raspet and Chapel Hill's David Russell met with the official at midfield. Russell chose to defend the north goal and the stage was set.
Raspet won the faceoff -- his tenth faceoff win of the day -- and Riverside had possession. They brought the ball downfield and got it to Graham Murray behind the goal. He was joined by Cory Coffman on his right. Murray gave the ball to Coffman who sprinted past the GLE toward the restraining line. He saw Anthony Howard on the other side of the goal, but the tight Chapel Hill zone was packed in. He managed to thread a low pass to Howard who scooped it up and put a shot low at point blank range.
You know the rest.
Coffman finished the game with five goals and two assists and was named the game's offensive MVP. Howard scored two, one that will probably always be the biggest of his career, Chris Feifs had one goal, and Graham Murray and Owen Ham had one each, but one they will always remember is the play in the third period when they teamed up to give the Pirates new life. Ham added two assists, Murray had one and Raspet had one.
For Chapel Hill, Nick Woods scored six, Shawn Handy, Shane Nouri and Joe Tynan had one each. Tynan had three assists, Handy had two and Woods had one.
GBs:
Kevin Raspet 13, Chris Feifs 13, Anthony Howard 7, Owen Ham 5, Graham Murray 4, Cory Coffman 3, Mark Hamilton 2, Madison Thompson 2, Ned Phillips 2, Nick Wallhauser 1, Tim Gregory 1.
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| Riverside defeats Orange 18-2 in PAC-6 first round Posted April 30, 2002, 11:00 p.m.
Riverside had little trouble with Orange in the PAC-6 semifinal game on Tuesday, April 30, at Chapel Hill, defeating the Panthers 18-2. Most of the starters got less than two quarters of action as younger varsity players and even some JV players got lots of playing time.
The Pirates scored eight unanswered goals in the first quarter (Cory Coffman unassisted at 11:57, Anthony Howard on a Kevin Raspet assist at 10:53, Chris Feifs unassisted at 8:16 and 7:19, Coffman on a Raspet assist at 5:11, Owen Ham unassisted at 4:52, Howard unassisted at 4:52 and Raspet unassisted with 40 seconds remaining).
Riverside scored three more in the second period before Orange got on the board. Raspet, Coffman and Ham each scored unassisted to make it 11-0 at the 7:07 mark. That's when Orange's Will Franklin scored on a Niel Andrews assist to make it 11-1 with 6:41 remaining.
Feifs scored at 5:35 to make it 12-1, then Orange's Levelle Breeze scored after losing the ball and then regaining control to put it in the net to make it 12-2 with 4:23 remaining. Graham Murray scored at 3:08 on a Raspet assist to close out the first half scoring at 13-2.
Tim Gregory made it 14-2 at 7:15 of the third period, by which time most starters were watching from the sidelines. The backup players had some shaky play in the third period, but by the fourth they seemed to have gotten into a flow. Colin Rossi scored at 11:16 and Chris Cherry scored on a strong drive at 10:17, senior Scott Page, much to the delight of the cheering Pirate faithful, scored on a strong move after picking up a loose ball at the restraining line, and Elliot McDonald scored at 6:50 to end the scoring at 18-2.
Chris Feifs and Cory Coffman had three goals each in the game, Kevin Raspet had two goals and three assists, Owen Ham and Anthony Howard each had two goals, and Graham Murray, Tim Gregory, Colin Rossi, Chris Cherry, Scott Page and Elliot McDonald each had one goal. |
| Riverside wins rough Senior Night game against East Chapel Hill Wildcats 13-5 Posted April 27, 2002, 1:00 p.m.
The Pirates won a tough battle with the physical East Chapel Hill Wildcats on Friday, April 26, as 12 seniors played in their regular-season home-game finale. The 12 players, plus senior scorekeeper Jennifer Warren, were honored before the game.
The Pirates pulled to a 2-0 lead after one quarter of play on unassisted goals by Kevin Raspet (a sweep left followed by a left-handed shot) and by Owen Ham (a scoop-up and put-back of a ricocheted shot).
In the second period Tim Gregory drove for a score unassisted at 10:35 to make it 3-0. The Wildcats' Jon Reda made it 3-1 on an assist from Scott Hill at 6:25.
At 6:00, Coach Jim Kirkley called a timeout, which apparently rejuvenated the Pirates who went on a five-goal scoring stretch. Owen Ham scored unassisted at 4:41, Cory Coffman scored unassisted at 3:38, Ham scored again unassisted at 2:38, Chris Feifs scored unassisted at :45 to tie Bradley Shore's career mark of 154 goals, then, at :21 remaining, Feifs broke Shore's record with a goal on an assist by Coffman to end the half with Riverside up 8-1.
Riverside scored twice in the third, both unassisted. Feifs scored at :58 and Raspet at :40. East Chapel Hill also scored twice in the period, one by Alex Waldorf on a David Fussell-Louie assist to make it 8-2 and one by Dwight Weld on a Waldorf assist to make it 8-3. The period ended with Riverside up 10-3.
In the final period, a defensive breakdown by the Pirates allowed Scott Hill to take the ball the length of the field without being picked up. His score made it 10-4. But three unanswered goals by Riverside pushed the margin to 13-4 when Feifs, Coffman and Kevin Raspet each scored unassisted. A final goal by the Wildcats in the EMO with 29 seconds left made the final score 13-5.
Feifs was the leading scorer in the game with four goals, followed by Owen Ham and Kevin Raspet with three each. Cory Coffman has two goals and an assist and Tim Gregory had a goal.
The seniors who played their last regular-season home-game were Chris Feifs, Kevin Raspet, Madison Thompson, Adam Keough, Ned Phillips, Nick Wallhauser, Graham Murray, Mark Hamilton, Nate Hall, Gordon Bowman, Chris Wells and Scott Page. |
| Pirates win second game in row by 7-4 score, this time over Jordan Posted April 27, 2002, 12:45 p.m.
The Pirates won a tough battle over the Jordan Falcons 7-4 on April 23, finally pulling away to a working margin in the third quarter and holding on for the victory.
The Falcons came out ready to play, maintaining possession of the ball for the first four minutes. Three tremendous saves by Riverside goalie Zach Brewer during that period kept Riverside from falling behind. At 7:29 of the period and unassisted left-handed goal by Chris Feifs put Riverside up 1-0. The period from the 4:15 mark to the 3:00 mark was highlighted by the defensive play of Ned Phillips, who single-handedly kept the Falcons outside the restraining line. With 18 seconds left in the first period another great save by Brewer kept the score at 1-0 as the period ended.
In the second period, Feifs took the opening faceoff all the way to the goal to score unassisted at 11:50 to make it 2-0 Riverside. During a Jordan EMO at 9:54 Brewer had two more saves followed by a takeway by Bryan Thompson. Jordan got the ball back, however, and Will Lewis scored on a Rob Christensen assist to make it 2-1 Riverside as the penalty expired. At 5:40 Jordan again scored as Aaron Russell backed in for a goal to make it 2-2. Two quick goals by the Pirates kept the Riverside faithful breathing easier as Cory Coffman scored unassisted at 4:00 and at 2:51 as Chris Feifs rolled in unmolested to make it 4-2 Riverside. Another goal by Jordan's Russell at 1:28 made it 4-3 as the first half ended.
At 11:11 of the second half, Riverside Graham Murray looked like a tennis player serving as he reached high for a ricochet and put it into the net to make it 5-3. Jordan pulled to within one again when Russell scored his third goal, this one on an assist by John Solie as Riverside was in a man-down due to a cross-check penalty called on Tim Gregory. That made it 5-4 with 7:54 left in the third period and that was all the Jordan scoring for the night.
Two more goals by Riverside in the period, a unassisted goal by Coffman at 7:39 and a Kevin Raspet goal on a Coffman assist 4:47 made it 7-4. Raspet's goal caused a stir among the Jordan faithful as it hit the top bar and just edged under to hit net. The Falcon fans were adamant that it wasn't a goal, but the ref felt differently.
Neither team scored in the final period as great defense and some loose play conspired to kill all scoring threats.
Chris Feifs led the scoring for the Pirates with three goals, Cory Coffman had two goals and an assist, Kevin Raspet had one goal and Graham Murray had one goal. |
| Riverside gets by Laney 7-4 in game delayed by lighting and rain Posted April 27, 2002, 12:30 p.m.
It was role-reversal for the first 4:30 as Riverside took on Wilmington Laney on April 19. The Pirates looked like the over-matched team. With 9:59 remaining in the first period Laney was up 1-0 and looked like a playoff contender. That's when the lighting and the rains came, causing a one-hour-and-32-minute delay.
The roles were maintained in the opening minutes of the resumed game as Laney scored again to make it 2-0 with 6:35 left. A Cory Coffman goal on a Kevin Raspet assist at 5:37 made it 2-1 Laney as the first period ended. For the first seven minutes of the second period the Pirates played poorly, though they managed to keep Laney from expanding its lead.
Finally, at 2:56 of the period Coffman scored again unassisted, followed quickly by Chris Feifs on an assist from Anthony Howard to put the Pirates up 3-2 just as two Canada geese flew by the stands. Pirate fans were hoping this was a good omen.
It seemed to be. As the second half began Riverside reeled off three unanswered goals, one by Coffman at 11:20 unassisted, one by Feifs on a Coffman assist at 10:13 and another by Feifs unassisted at 7:18. There followed a period when the Pirates gave the ball up too many times in the Laney end of the field, finally paying the price at 4:53 when Laney scored to make it 6-3.
At 2:48 Kevin Raspet picked up a loose ball at the Laney restraining line, came down field on a dead run, adjusted his arm pads at the Riverside restraining line and calmly put the ball in the net to make it 7-3.
Riverside was held scoreless in the final period as Laney added one to make the final score 7-4.
Cory Coffman had three goals and an assist in the game, Chris Feifs had three goals, Kevin Raspet had one goal and Anthony Howard had an assist. |
| Pirates down Orange 16-1 Posted April 17, 2002, 9:30 a.m.
Riverside jumped out to a big halftime lead against the Orange Panthers on Tuesday, April 16, and coasted the rest of the way, clearing the bench in the second half to provide valuable playing time for younger players.
Chris Feifs was playing in his 2001 70-goal style, scoring five goals, four of them in the first half. Anthony Howard and Cory Coffman each added three goals, and Owen Ham, Tim Gregory, Kevin Raspet, T.L. Hutchins and Jay Whitaker added one each. Madison Thompson had two assists and Coffman, Raspet, Hutchins and Graham Murray each added one assist.
This game and the JV game that preceded it were played with one referee. Rick "Iron Man" Wooten called both games back-to-back and, strangely enough, there was not a contested call in either game. A shortage of refs had the varsity game scheduled with only one ref and none for the JV game, which was originally cancelled earlier in the day. But Wooten said he would do both games rather than see the JV game called off. Hats off to Rick.
The varsity game opened with three unassisted goals by Coffman, Feifs and Howard. That's when Riverside Coach Jim Kirkley yelled, "Come on, guys, let's get some assisted goals." A few seconds later Madison Thompson fed Tim Gregory for an assisted goal, showing that players do sometimes listen to their coach. Feifs scored unassisted a little later, but it was after winning a faceoff and he went in uncontested, to end the first period scoring at 5-0.
As the second period opened, Thompson again got an assist with a pass inside to an open Owen Ham to make it 6-0. Seven seconds later, after winning the faceoff, Feifs again roared downfield to put the ball in the net to make it 7-0. Goals by Howard and Feifs made it 9-0 with 6:39 left in the half. That's when Orange's Billy Brink bounced around the crease for a full 10 seconds without losing the ball and finally put it into the net, prompting one Pirate fan in the stands to say, "He really earned that one."
A left-handed turn-around goal by Raspet and a goal by Coffman ended the first-half scoring with Riverside up 11-1.
Goals by Coffman on a Raspet assist, Feifs on a high dink over the goalies right shoulder and Howard on a Murray assist made it 14-1 with 5:40 remaining in the third period. Less than a minute later Orange's Paul Huskins got free to score to make it 14-2 at 5:13, then Matt Singer scored on a Nick Holloman assist to make it 14-3 with 1:08 left in the third.
The Pirates' T.L. Hutchins scored unassisted with 4 seconds left in the third period to make it 15-3 as time ran out.
In the final period, Orange's Levell Breeze scored unassisted at 11:02, followed by an unassisted goal by Will Franklin to make it 15-5 with 3:29 left. A final Pirate goal -- Jay Whitaker scoring on a Hutchins assist -- made the final score 16-5 Riverside.
GBs: Chris Feifs 9, Bryan Thompson 9, T.L. Hutchins 7, Owen Ham 5, Cory Coffman 5, Kevin Raspet 5, Tim Gregory 4, Madison Thompson 4, Jay Whitaker 3, Michael Woodard 3, Gordon Bowman 3, Chris Cherry 3, Bryan Van Dyke 3, Anthony Howard 2, Nick Wallhauser 2, Brian Jobe 2, Graham Murray 1, Adam Keough 1, Nate Hall 1, Colin Rossi 1.
The last time the Riverside JVs met their Orange counterparts the game was a one-goal nail-biter with Riverside winning in the closing seconds. Not so this time. The JV Pirates dominated the game Tuesday, April 16, winning going away 10-1.
Joey Pietrantano led the Pirates with three goals, Alex Coulter, Kyle Rooney and Lowell Dyer each had two goals, and longstick Brian Farmer added a goal. Matt Gornto, Brian Wylie, Ben McDonald and Bryce Adrian each had an assist. Gornto led led in ground balls with 8. Farmer led in LBCs with 9.
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| Riverside plays well in 12-8 win over Charlotte Catholic Posted April 13, 2002, 5:30 p.m.
Riverside fans have seen their favorite team underperform (even in winning) recently, so it was like deja vu all over again on Saturday, April 13, when the Charlotte Catholic Cougars held a 3-1 lead four minutes into the game.
The Cougars' Shane Kimbell and Patrick Bosse scored in the first two minutes, as Riverside seemed out of sync, getting outhustled on ground balls. Owen Ham scored after getting open on the crease and taking a pass from Cory Coffman to make it 2-1. Then, with 9:31 remaining in the period, the Pirates scored an own goal when Mark Hamilton scooped a loose ball to Pirate goalie Zach Brewer without warning and it went into the net. The goal was credited to Cougar attackman Mike Ganzert, and Riverside found itself down 3-1.
That's about when it seemed the scales fell from the Pirates' eyes, for they went on a four-goal run to pull to a 5-3 lead at the end of the third period. Ham scored again on an assist from Kevin Raspet at 7:16 to bring the Pirates to within one, 2-3. Coffman then added two of his own, coming from behind the net both times (at 4:15 and 1:07), to make it 4-3 Riverside. Coffman had that play all day as the Cougar defense just couldn't keep up with him. The ground ball differential also began to go Riverside's way, and they ended the game with 57 to Catholic's 25.
With only seconds remaining in the half, the Cougars were trying to clear when they lost the ball near midfield. Chris Wells, in the game at attack to give Coffman a rest, scooped up the loose ball at the restraining line and scored with 4 seconds remaining to put Riverside up 5-3 at the end of the period.
As the second period began, the Cougars scored another unorthodox goal, this one when a pass went into the net, making it 5-4. But Tim Gregory padded the Riverside lead with an unassisted score at 5:51. A minute later Graham Murray scored on a Coffman assist to put Riverside up three, 7-4. The Cougar's Bosse brought it back to a two-goal margin, though, when he scooped up a loose ball and found himself undefended in front of the net to put it in and make it 7-5 Riverside as the half ended.
Pirate goalie Zach Brewer faced a barrage of shots early in the second half, making two big saves in the span of 10 seconds at the 10-minute mark. Andrew DeMartini pulled the Cougars to within one goal, though, at the 9:22 mark when he scored unassisted to make it 7-6 Riverside. Their would be no divine intervention for the Catholics, however, even though the next three minutes were frustrating for the Pirates, who failed to advance the ball at one point, had an in-and-out call on their goalie and dropped numerous balls.
They managed to keep the Cougars from scoring during that lull, however. And at 6:12, the fans' favorite play -- a score by a longstick -- took place. Longstick middie Ned Phillips picked up the ball after an LBC in the Cougar offensive zone, took it across midfield, found that no defensemen were near him (and no Pirate short sticks open) so he shot and scored, sending the Pirate fans into paroxysms of glee and pulling Riverside out to an 8-6 lead. Chris Feifs scored at 2:49 on a sweep to make it 9-6 as the third period ended.
As the final period began a Cougar attackman got free of the Pirate defense and headed for the goal. Pirate goalie Brewer, knowing no help was coming, made his best play of the day when he came out of the goal and hit the Cougar player before he could crank the shot. The ball went high and Riverside managed the ground ball.
The Pirates settled down and played possession ball at that point, and it was clear the Cougar defense was tiring. Additional evidence came when Riverside scored three quick goals, one at 5:20 by Anthony Howard on a double-dodge, reverse move, another at 4:34 when Feifs scored on a Murray assist, and again at 2:52 when Coffman scored unassisted, coming from the back of the net again, to make it 12-7. The Cougars managed a final score at 2:32 when the Cougars' Ganzert won the faceoff and ran unmolested for the score to make the final tally 12-8 Riverside.
Coffman ended the game with three goals and two assists, Chris Feifs and Owen Ham each had two goals, and Chris Wells, Tim Gregory, Graham Murray, Ned Phillips and Anthony Howard each had a goal. Feifs, Raspet and Murray each had one assist.
GBs: Kevin Raspet 13, Chris Feifs 9, Ned Phillips 6, Cory Coffman 6, Nick Wallhauser 5, Owen Ham 3, Graham Murray 3, Bryan Thompson 3, Madison Thompson 2, Anthony Howard 1, Tim Gregory 1, Brian Jobe 1, T.L. Hutchins 1. |
| Pirates sleepwalk through desultory 10-1 win over S.E. Raleigh Posted April 11, 2002, 11:00 p.m.
Riverside sandwiched a good 18 minutes between 6 lackluster opening minutes and 24 desultory closing minutes to fashion a 10-1 win over the Bulldogs of S.E. Raleigh on Thursday, April 11. The Bulldogs, though they've come a tremendous distance in their program's short history, were outmatched even with the Pirates playing poorly. The 2-goal second half by Riverside was due more to poor Pirate execution than the opposition's defense.
The game opened ugly with both teams trading possessions for the first six minutes of the game. Riverside managed to kill two penalties during that period, which is fortunate since they hadn't scored as the first quarter passed the halfway mark. That's when the period of good play began.
First, Chris Feifs scored unassisted at 5:12, followed 8 seconds later by a Kevin Raspet unassisted goal to make it 2-0. Then Tim Gregory scored on a Feifs assist at 2:59 to make it 3-0 as the first period ended. That was just a warmup for the second period, it seemed. In rapid succession Cory Coffman scored unassisted at 11:19, Raspet scored again unassisted at 10:55 and Chris Wells scored on a Graham Murray assist at 10:27 to make it 6-0.
The Bulldogs managed their only score at 8:43 when Kevin Wang got by the Pirate defense for an unassisted score to make it 6-1. It could easily have been 6-2 at the 7:07 mark when the Bulldogs' C.J. Calloway got was left all alone in the crease with the ball in his stick. As he prepared to shoot, Riverside goalie Zach Brewer made the most spectacular of his 12 saves on the night. Coming two yards out of the crease to put a body on Calloway, he blocked the shot, sending it high in the air out of harm's way.
At 5:47 the game's strangest occurrence eventuated (apologies to Howard Cosell). Cory Coffman made a nifty move from behind the goal, forcing his way around the goalie's left side and put the ball clearly in the net. But the ball apparently made a quick bounce off the net and into the goalies stick, prompting the ref to say there was no goal. The fans, both Pirates and Bulldogs, sat puzzled and bemused because it was clearly a goal.
As the faceoff was being prepared, apparently the refs thought better of it and gave the ball back to the Pirates for a do-over. And that's exactly what it was as Kevin Raspet scored at 4:58 to make it 7-1. Coffman, denied once, had his goal at 3:58 count when he scored on a Graham Murray assist to make it 8-1 as the half ended.
In the second half, Chris Feifs scored unassisted at 9:31 of the third quarter and again on a Coffman assist with 3:29 of the final quarter to provide the only highlights of the final two periods. The Pirates survived five man-down situations in the second half, which had a good effect on their penalty-killing percentage.
Feifs led the scoring with three goals and an assist, Raspet had three goals, Coffman had two goals and an assist, Tim Gregory and Chris Wells had a goal each and Graham Murray had two assists.
GBs: Chris Feifs 13, Ned Phillips 9, Kevin Raspet 8, Owen Ham 7, Nick Wallhauser 7, Madison Thompson 6, Graham Murray 4, Mark Hamilton 3, Cory Coffman 2, Madison Thompson 2, Anthony Howard 2, T.L. Hutchins 2, Chris Wells 1, Zach Brewer 1, Tim Gregory 1.
The Riverside JVs defeated the S.E. Raleigh Bulldog JVs 7-4 on Thursday, April 11. Elliot McDonald, Ben McDonald and Gray Robinson each had two goals while Lowell Dyer added one. Elliot McDonald and Robinson each added an assist, as did Matt Gornto and Andy Ross.
The Pirates led 3-2 at the half on goals by Elliot McDonald on a Ross assist for the only Pirate goal in the first period, followed by two goals in the second, one unassisted by Ben McDonald and another by Robinson on a Gornto assist. Dyer made it 4-2 with only 26 seconds left in the third quarter on an assist from Elliot McDonald, and Robinson scored unassisted to make it 5-2 with only five seconds left in the third period.
The Bulldogs scored on an EMO with 8:32 left in the final quarter to make it 5-3, but Elliot McDonald put the lead back to 3 goals with a goal at 6:20 on a Robinson assist. The Bulldogs again pulled to within two with a score at 4:36, but a final goal by Ben McDonald unassisted at 2:54 ended the scoring for the game with Riverside holding the edge 7-4.
Goalie Ryan Webb had 9 saves and defenseman Brian Farmer, who had to sub for Webb late in the second period after Webb was called for a penalty, had three saves. The Pirates had 42 ground balls to Southeast's 55 and 30 shots to Southeast's 26.
In the ground ball category, Elliot McDonald had 10, Ben McDonald and Joey Pietrantano had 7 each, Matt Gornto and Murray Forbes had 6 each, Gray Robinson and Kyle Rooney had 3 each, Andy Ross, Joe Miller and Chris Wooley had 2 each, and Daniel Hodges-Copple and Brian Farmer had 1 each.
Chris Wooley led in LBCs with 7, Murray Forbes had 6, Joe Miller had 5, Gray Robinson had 3, Matt Gornto, Andy Ross and Elliot McDonald each had 2, and Brian Farmer, Alex Coulter, Ben McDonald, Joey Pietrantano and Kyle Rooney each had 1.
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