Cory Coffman: 3 goals, 2 assists

Zach Brewer: 28 saves

Tim Gregory: 1 goal, 9 LBCs, 8 GBs

Latest stats Box score

The Pirates started off hot and cooled off at the end, but a 5-goal lead and a stalwart defense were enough to get a 9-7 win over archrival Chapel Hill on Thursday, May 1.

Ten Pirate seniors played their final regular-season home game against Chapel Hill on May 1. They are, left to right, Duran Green, Cory Coffman, Elliot McDonald, Zach Brewer, Bryan Van Dyke, Owen Ham, Andy DeLamielleure, Anthony Howard, Tim Gregory and Michael Woodard. Click here for bigger version.

The win capped a productive 10 days for the Pirates since their disappointing loss to Jordan on April 22. After that game it seemed a distinct possibility that Riverside might not make the NCHSLA playoffs. They were ranked ninth in the LaxPower ratings and barely had a winning record at 6-5. Facing them was a tough Hoggard team, Orange and then Chapel Hill.

The coaches and the captains engaged in some attitude adjustment after that Jordan game and the result has been a 3-0 run and a rapid rise in the LaxPower and the state standings. Instead of missing out on the playoffs, it's now possible that Riverside could get a first-round bye.

Against Chapel Hill on Thursday, Cory Coffman was spectacular even when not scoring (he had three goals, two assists) and the defense, anchored by goalie Zach Brewer's 28 saves and Tim Gregory's tough defensive play (with a goal to boot) held the potent Tiger offense scoreless for long periods. When Chapel Hill got hot with three unanswered goals in the final period it was too late.

The Pirates began like a house afire, scoring four unanswered goals in four minutes. Coffman scored unassisted at 10:30 coming around the Chapel Hill goalie's left side, then he scored again coming from behind the net from the right side at 9:26.

Owen Ham scored at the 8:10 mark on an assist from Michael Woodard, who had grabbed a loose ball at midfield and made a nifty 20-yard pass to Ham, who was camped out 5 yards from the crease to the goalie's right. At 7:59 Coffman scored unassisted again after Tim Gregory picked up the ball on a faceoff and fed it to Coffman, and suddenly it was 4-0.

But while the Riverside partisans went wild with cowbells, castanets and other assorted noise-makers, they knew that the Tigers were capable of a stirring comeback. All they had to do was remember back to March 11 when they were up 4-1 in the first period at Chapel Hill and lost 8-6. The teams traded possessions for the next four minutes until Jason Merritt scored on a Shane Nouri assist at the 4:13 mark to make it 4-1, an eerily similar circumstance from eight weeks ago.

The Tigers didn't waste any time as the second period began. After taking possession on an illegal procedure call on the opening faceoff, Merritt scored his second goal, this one unassisted, to make it 4-2. A two-goal margin is never enough against the Tigers and Riverside fans were hoping for some padding. Coffman delivered in dramatic fashion at 9:09 when he scored on a full-speed, 360-dodge to make it 5-2.

The Tigers threatened a couple more times in the second period but came up short. At 7:44 a Mike Ragazzo shot bounced off the post, and at 4:19 a Joe Tynan goal was disallowed due to a crease violation.

Meanwhile, the Riverside defense was playing inspired ball, their best of the year. The stats show it: Zach Brewer, 28 saves; Tim Gregory, 8 GBs, 9 LBCs; Bryan Van Dyke, 4 GBs, 5 LBCs; Chris Woolley, 3 GBs, 4 LBCs, Michael Woodard, 3 GBs, 3 LBCs. They also held the potent Tynan to no goals or assists in the first half, and they repeated that feat in the second half.

But while the defense was disrupting the Chapel Hill offense, affecting shots and taking the ball away, the Pirates were having trouble clearing after the takeaways. Several times in the late-going of the second period they made excellent defensive plays only to lose the ball at midfield, sometimes as a result of good Tiger defense, but often as not due to errant passes or sloppy ball-handling. Still the score at the half was 5-2 Riverside.

The Pirates played for good defense as the third period opened and got rewarded with an extra-man opportunity early in the period. Anthony Howard scored on a Coffman assist at 10:21 to make it 6-2 Riverside. Apparently Coffman's dazzling moves among several Tiger defenders to get open for the pass to Howard on that play piqued tiger Coach Glenn Estacio's suspicions. He called a stick check on Coffman but the refs ruled the stick legal.

Brewer had several saves over the next few minutes, one that he made on his knees, to keep the Tigers out of the goal. But at 7:54, after the Pirates had killed off a penalty against Gregory (who made what seemed to Pirate fans an amazing and legal takeaway at midfield), they allowed Chris Boyle to score on a Nouri assist to make narrow the gap to 6-3. Then, a minute later, Ragazzo scored unassisted to make it 6-4 and again the Pirate fans drew a deep breath.

But the Pirates reacted like defending state champs instead of folding as the Tigers made their run. They scored three unanswered goals in the third period (Andy Ross on a Coffman assist at 3:06, T.L. Hutchins on a pretty Ross assist at 2:42, and Andy DeLamielleure on a rocketing low shot from 15 yards to make it 9-4 as the period ended.

It was good that the Pirates had padded their lead, because that was all the scoring they would generate this night. On the other hand, the Tigers would score three of their own in the final period (Nouri from Nick Woods at 10:33, Woods on a neat move from behind the goal unassisted at 3:09 and Kevin O'Connor unassisted at 2:51) to make it 9-7 Riverside.<[> The Riverside defense stiffened in the final three minutes and Brewer added a few more saves as Riverside ran out the clock and won a game that was Tiger Head Coach Glenn Estacio's first time back to Riverside's stadium since leaving his assistant coaching position to take over at Chapel Hill.

Brewer's 28 saves broke the Riverside single-game record shared by Josh Doyle (27 vs. Ravenscroft and 27 vs. Jordan in 1997) and Andy Williams (27 in the state championship game vs. Chapel Hill in 1997).

Before the game, the 2003 seniors were introduced with their parents. This year's senior captains Cory Coffman, Zach Brewer, Anthony Howard and Owen Ham; Andy DeLamielleure, Tim Gregory, Bryan Van Dyke, Michael Woodard, Elliot McDonald and Duran Green.

Next up for Riverside are the NCHSLA playoffs. As soon as the pairings are announced the bracket will be on this Web site. Stay tuned.

Owen Ham: 4 goals, 1 assist

Anthony Howard: 3 goals, 1 assist

Andy DeLamielleure: 3 goals, 3 assists

Latest stats Box score

Riverside got off to a slow start as they experimented with their offense against the Orange Panthers, but they kicked it in a higher gear to get a 15-4 win on Monday, April 28 at Orange.

Scoring for Riverside were Andy DeLamielleure with three goals and three assists, Owen Ham with four goals and an assist, Anthony Howard with three goals and an assist, Chris Cherry with one goal and three assists, Cory Coffman with one goal and two assists, and Lowell Dyer, Joey Pietrantoni and Alex Coulter with one goal each.

To prevent buzz starting on the forum about Coffman's output, it should be pointed out that, apparently by design, he was not intended to be a scorer on this night. Instead he played behind the goal all evening and only took one or two shots. His 11 ground balls attest to his not being idle against the Panthers. The Pirates drew first blood at 10:32 of the first period when T.L. Hutchins scored on an Andy DeLamielleure assist to make it 1-0. For the next 10 minutes, though, the Pirates went scoreless as they seemed to run unfamiliar plays. However, things began to click late in the period when first Owen Ham scored on a DeLamielleure assist with 57 seconds remaining and then Coffman scored unassisted with 22 seconds remaining to make it 3-0 at the end of one period.

Riverside score a quick one in the second period to make it 4-0 when Anthony Howard scored on a Ham assist at 10:19. The Pirates hit another dry spell for about 10 minutes, but, with 1:44 remaining, Orange's Ryan Soles scored on an assist from Nick Holloman to make it 4-1. As in the first period, the Pirates scored two in the waning moments of the period when Ham scored on a Chris Cherry assist with 45 seconds left and DeLamielleure scored on a Cherry assist with 21 seconds remaining in the first half to make it 6-1 at the half.

Riverside's Chris Cherry scored on a Coffman assist at 8:53 of the third period, followed by an Alex Coulter goal also on a Coffman assist at 7:39, to make it 8-1. The Panthers put two of their own into the Riverside net when Lamar Vanhook bounced one past Riverside goalie Zach Brewer on an assist by Jason Infante at 4:47 and Soles scored on an assist by Vanhook with 2:34 remaining to make it 8-3. Third period scoring was capped off by an unassisted goal by Owen Ham after an 360-degree dodge in front of the crease made it 9-3 with 1:04 remaining in the third period.

In the final period the work the Riverside offense had been doing for three quarters seemed to take hold. They scored six goals in the period to Orange's one goal. Lowell Dyer scored on a nice feed from DeLamielleure at 9:24, Ham scored on a Howard assist at 9:03, Howard scored on a Cherry assist at 8:19, DeLamielleure scored unassisted at 6:44 after a lengthy fight for a loose ball, Howard scored unassisted from the left side at 6:27 and DeLamielleure scored unassisted at 3:01 to end the Riverside scoring spree.

Orange's Matt Singer scored unassisted at 8:47 after picking up a loose ball in front of the crease to make the final score 15-4.

Next for the Pirates is the makeup game against Chapel Hill. That's on Thursday night at 7 p.m. at Riverside. Don't forget, it's Senior Night.

Cory Coffman: 5 goals, 6 assists, 6 GBs

Zach Brewer: 16 saves

Owen Ham: 3 goals, 1 assist, 10 GBs

Michael Woodard: 6 GBs, 6 LBCs

Andy DeLamielleure: 3 goals, 16 GBs

Latest stats Box score

The Pirates looked crisp and efficient on offense on Friday, April 25, as they defeated Hoggard 17-2 at Riverside. Cory Coffman had 5 goals and 6 assists, one point short of the single-game record of 12 set by Evan Leekley against Orange in 1999.

Others scoring for Riverside were Owen Ham with 3 goals and 1 assist, Andy DeLamielleure with 3 goals, Anthony Howard with 2 goals, Lowell Dyer with 2 goals, Joey Pietrantoni with 1 goal and T.L. Hutchins with one goal.

On the defensive side, the long poles did an admirable job making up for the loss of Bryan Thompson. Michael Woodard had perhaps his best game ever with 6 ground balls and 6 LBCs. Chris Woolley, Duran Green and Bryan Van Dyke, joined by Murray Forbes down the stretch and aided greatly by Riverside goalie Zach Brewer's 16 saves, held Hoggard scoreless for more than three quarters of play.

Meanwhile the middies and attack did their part too. Owen Ham, Anthony Howard, T.L. Hutchins and Cory Coffman had 10, 9, 7 and 6 ground balls respectively. Looking at the final score one would not know that this was a close game early on. Cory Coffman put Riverside up 1-0 at 9:51 when he came from around the goal and scored unassisted. He did that three more times unassisted and another time assisted. He was nearly unstoppable when scoring, and when not scoring he was feeding other scorers (he did that six times).

At 9:45, however, Hoggard tied the game at 1-1 after Andrew Williams scored seconds after winning a faceoff and heading straight for the goal. At 6:19 Coffman again scored unassisted to make it 2-1, which gave Riverside a lead it would never relinquish. Coffman scored again at 2:40 on an Owen Ham assist to make it 3-1, and Anthony Howard picked up a loose ball in a scrum in front of the Hoggard crease and scored at 2:18 to make it 4-1.

Hoggard scored with 28 seconds remaining on a shot by defenseman Brad Dohtery, whose off-pace shot seemed to take Riverside goalie Zach Brewer by surprise, to make it 4-2 as the first period ended. However, it would be the last ball Brewer would let by him as he would register 16 saves on the night and shut out Hoggard the rest of the way.

The Riverside defense, missing Bryan Thompson since his injury in the first half of the Jordan game three days earlier, played splendidly. And when they let a Hoggard player get off a shot Brewer was there to make the save. For instance, in the second period, Brewer made saves at 10:28, 9:38, 8:44, 4:55, 4:51 and 2:58.

Meanwhile, on the offensive end, the Pirates scored 13 unanswered goals in the final three periods. In the second period Coffman scored again unassisted at 9:00, DeLamielleure scored on a Coffman assist at 8:31, Howard scored on a Coffman assist at 3:48, Ham scored unassisted at 1:41, and DeLamielleure scored on a Coffman assist at 1:09 to make it 9-2 at the half.

In the third period Howard scored unassisted at 10:31, Joey Pietrantoni scored on a Ham assist at 7:51, Lowell Dyer scored on a Coffman assist at 5:10, Coffman scored unassisted at 3:27, Dyer scored again on Coffman assist at :18, and Ham scored with one second remaining on a Coffman assist to make it 15-2 with one quarter remaining.

In the final period Ham scored at 11:07 on a Coffman assist and T.L. Hutchins scored unassisted at 5:34 to end the Riverside scoring at 17. Most of the Pirate starters watched from the bench for most of the final period as the younger players got valuable field experience. They were backed up by five saves by Brewer in that final period to keep the score at 17-2.

Next up for Riverside are makeup games with Orange (Monday, Apr. 28, at Orange) and against Chapel Hill (Thurs., May 1, at Riverside). The Chapel Hill game on May 1 will be Riverside's Senior Night, so come out to say goodbye to the 2003 seniors playing their last home game.

Latest stats Box score

Cory Coffman: 2 goals, 1 assist

Zach Brewer: 12 saves

Riverside and Jordan both had scoreless quarters on Tuesday, April 22, but the Falcons scored three goals in their other two periods while Riverside scored only two in theirs. The result: a 6-4 Jordan win.

That ended a streak of 17 wins by Riverside, ironically on a night when a streaker ran buck naked -- except for shoes, a ski mask and a lacrosse helmet -- onto the field at half time. After running in circles a few times to the amazement of the audience, the exhibitionist ran back up the hill behind the home stands and disappeared.

It was a game of contrasts for the Pirates, who were dazzling at times and dreadful at others, hot at times and cold as ice minutes later. They began cold by allowing Jordan to possess the ball for a full four minutes before the Pirates got their hands on it. Riverside goalie Zach Brewer registered two of his 12 saves during that period.

After the Pirates did get the ball it took only 17 seconds to score. Riverside cleared the ball at 8:08 of the first period and Chris Cherry scored on a Cory Coffman assist at 7:51 to make it 1-0 Riverside. Some 90 seconds later Coffman scored unassisted to make it 2-0 and it looked like the Pirates were hot.

They cooled down however and did not score for the rest of the first half. Meanwhile, the Pirate defense, especially Tim Gregory and Brewer, were making great plays. Gregory was manhandling any Falcon he was covering during this period as it seemed Jordan could hardly get off a shot. When they did Brewer stopped them. He had four saves in 90 seconds midway through the second period to keep the Falcons off the board. The defense also killed a 3-minute stick penalty at the beginning of the second period.

The Pirate faithful got some bad news late in the first half when they saw defenseman Bryan Thompson being treated on the sidelines and later leaving the field on a golf cart with his right leg elevated. It was later learned he had a knee injury and his prognosis at this time is unknown. He did not return to the game Tuesday night. Though the Pirates were up 2-0, their failure to score for the last 18 minutes of the first half left the door wide open for the Falcons, who, as all Riverside fans knew, were not going to quit.

Between the halves the streaker made his appearance. From the looks of the box score he inspired the Falcons, who scored twice in the first three minutes of the third period, first by Sam Solie on an assist from John Peretti at 11:27 as the Riverside defense failed to clear the crease area, and second by Solie on a Michael Simel assist at 9:09 while the Falcons were in a man-up situation.

The Pirates quickly gained the lead again when Coffman scored unassisted on a move from the back of the goal at 8:47 to make it 3-2 Riverside. Meanwhile, the Pirates were getting to almost all the ground balls during this stretch but were negating that advantage by repeatedly passing the ball out of bounds. They were also having trouble clearing with Thompson out of the game.

As the third period ended Andy DeLamielleure scored in a man-up situation on an assist from Owen Ham to put Riverside up 4-2 with 1:40 left in the period. At the other end of the field Falcon goalie Adam Canoy made two huge saves in the final minute, one on a Coffman shot at 58 seconds and another on an Andy Ross shot at 44 seconds to keep Riverside from going up even more. With only 1.8 seconds remaining in the period Solie scored his third goal unassisted to bring Jordan to within one goal with a period to play.

The Falcons tied the game 4-4 at 11:03 when Joe Howard scored on a feed from Rob Christensen and they went ahead to stay at 7:12 when Ben Clauson scored unassisted to make it 5-4. The Pirates had two man-up chances at the midpoint of the period but were unable to capitalize. Brewer made three saves in a one-minute stretch to keep the margin at one goal, but at 2:10 defenseman Ben Tucker rambled the length of the field and put the ball into the Riverside goal to make it 6-4.

Both teams played sloppily the rest of the way, with both sides throwing the ball away numerous times. Riverside had its chances, though, but Canoy made saves on shots by Anthony Howard and Coffman in the last 44 seconds to maintain the Falcon lead and register the win.

Latest stats Box score

Cory Coffman: 2 goals, 4 assists

Zach Brewer: 10 saves

Andy DeLamielleure: 2 goals

Riverside defeated the Albemarle Patriots of the Virginia Northwest AAA by a score of 8-6 on Wednesday, April 16 on a warm and sunny afternoon in Charlottesville, Va. on their 2003 Northern Exposure Tour.

[UPDATE: The Webmaster originally wrote this story on very little sleep and his alert wife pointed out that he had gotten the schedule mixed up in the original narrative. Sorry if it confused everyone. It's fixed now.]

The Riverside Pirates and Coach Jim Kirkley on the lawn of Monticello on Thurs., Apr. 17, 2003. [More photos later].

The Patriots had the first score at 6:00 in the first period to make it 1-0 Albemarle, but Andy Ross's goal at 3:20 on a Cory Coffman assist tied the score at 1-1 as the teams entered the second period. At 8:49 Tim Gregory took the ball away from a Patriot player and rambled the length of the field to score unassisted to make it 2-1 Riverside. Then Gregory assisted to Coffman at 6:58 to make it 3-1 Riverside.

The Patriots scored at 4:52 to pull to within one, but then Coffman stole an Albemarle pass 20 yards from the goal and drove in unmolested to make it 4-2. Two goals in the waning moments of the half by the Patriots made the score 4-4 at the midpoint.

The defenses dominated the early going in the third period until the Pirates broke the tie at 5:08 when Owen Ham scored on a Coffman assist to make it 5-4 Riverside. Then, at 3:20, Andy DeLamielleure scored on a Coffman assist while the Pirates were in the extra-man. It was the first of three extra-man opportunities the Pirates would convert in the game.

The Patriots put a score on the board in the last millisecond of the third period as time was running out -- or had run out. Even the referees at the break said they weren't sure, but said they felt the horn sounded after the goal had entered the net. There may have been a sound delay because Riverside goalie Zach Brewer, who was facing the clock, said he saw all zeros on the clock and relaxed just as the Patriot player let go of the shot. In any case, the goal was called good and it was 6-5 Riverside with a quarter to play.

Again the defenses dominated early, but the Patriots managed to tie the game at 4:41. One of their players was called for an illegal body check, however, and Riverside converted the man-up opportunity when DeLameilleure scored on a Coffman assist at 4:00.

At the 1:39 mark the Patriots were called for a slash and again Riverside converted, with Anthony Howard scoring on an Owen Ham assist to make it 8-6 with 1:13 remaining. The Patriot goalie threw the ball down the field in frustration after the goal and was called for a delay of game. The Pirates were awarded possession with no faceoff and killed the clock.

The next morning the Pirates visited Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson, and spent several hours exploring the home of our third president. They had a relaxing day at the top of Jefferson's "Little Mountain" before heading to Monticello High School for a practice session.

Riverside was supposed to have played Monticello but a mandatory makeup game with Fauquier County bumped the Pirates from the Monticello schedule. The Pirates did manage a practice on Monticello's practice field on a raw, blustery and cloudy afternoon, after which they watched a bit of the Monticello-Fauquier game, which Monticello won 17-3. Several Monticello parents were overheard to say they wished they could have played Riverside instead of the Falcons of Fauquier County.

The Riverside party wandered back into Charlottesville after practice where they partook of the delights of C'ville's only mall for a few hours. They ate dinner before heading back to the hotel. A team meeting was called by the captains that night and a hair-styling party was organized and executed.

The following day, Friday, April 18, the Pirates and the adults accompanying them, drove in heavy fog to Humpback Rock on the Blue Ridge Parkway for a two-mile hike that Coach Jim Kirkley had talked them all into. As they arrived at the hiking trail the temperature had dropped to 32 degrees and a mist was falling. Halfway into the hike it was pelting rain and the tree limbs had a quarter inch of ice on them.

Some hearty souls continued on the trail, but saner ones turned back to the warmth of the tour bus, with its comforting Tweety Bird color scheme. Some 100 yards from the bus the bottom dropped out and those who had come down the mountain ran for the bus. Those who had decided to forego the hike altogether were warm and toasty inside listening to music and munching on snacks. Those who had just arrived were cold but not very wet.

It took about 15 minutes for the brave souls who had ventured on to begin arriving, soaked completely to the skin in the now-31 degree weather. A good time was had by all.

But more wetness was to come. The adventurous party went back to the hotel after the hiking debacle to warm up for the ACC men's lacrosse semifinals on Friday night. The Riverside group arrived about two hours before the Duke-Maryland game and some even managed to get some of the few covered seats in Klockner Stadium. The rain began during the Duke-Virginia women's game and never stopped. It just got worse during the Duke-Maryland men's game and had turned into a torrent in the first half of the UNC-Virginia men's game.

Many players and parents left after the first game and headed to the warmth of the bus again, but some stayed until the halftime of the UNC-Virginia game before the rain finally forced them to head for cover with UNC trailing by two. Little did they know the game would turn into an overtime classic in their absence.

Around 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 19, a soggy crew of Pirates, parents and coaches pulled into Riverside's parking lot, the 2003 Northern Exposure Tour now completed. It was a memorable one.

Latest stats Box score

Cory Coffman: 3 goals

Zach Brewer: 12 saves

Tim Gregory: 1 goal, 6 LBCs

Andy DeLamielleure: 2 goals, 1 assist

The Pirates started slowly for the second game in a row, going scoreless in the first period against Grimsley but pulling themselves together to get a 10-8 win in a very exciting game on Friday, April 4.

Riverside fell behind 3-0 but managed to collect themselves down the stretch in a game that saw several ties and lead changes. The final lead change came at 4:10 of the fourth period when Andy Ross scored unassisted to put Riverside up 9-8. Riverside's Cory Coffman added another goal with 1:36 left and Riverside hung on for the win.

Riverside's chances came on possessions made possible by Andy DeLamielleure's face-offs. No one on the Grimsley team could solve DeLamielleure as he racked up 16 faceoffs, at least five after the Grimsley faceoff man was called for illegal procedure trying to beat him to the clamp. Meanwhile, at the other end of the field, Riverside goalie Zach Brewer had 12 saves, four of them coming in a key two-minute stretch right before the half to keep the score tied 4-4 at that point.

Coffman had three goals on the night while DeLamielleure had two goals and an assist. Anthony Howard and Andy Ross had two goals each and longstick middie Tim Gregory also added a goal, his second in the last two games. Gregory also stymied Grimsley's offense with pass interceptions, ground balls, knock downs and LBCs all during the night.

Grimsley's J. Rierson scored first at 9:59 to put the Whirlies up 1-0. Grimsley went up 2-0 with 11 seconds left in the period when John Wells scored after scooping up a dropped Riverside ball and putting the ball into the net. And at the 11:11 mark the Whirlies went up 3-0 after a Riverside defender overplayed Grimsley's Wells near the restraining line and allowed him to go by for a close shot.

As against Southeast Guilford two nights earlier, Riverside seemed to wake up in the second period. DeLamielleure scored unassisted on a drive to make it 3-1 at 7:52 of the second period and Coffman scored in a man-up situation at 5:39 after Grimsley's Charlie Beavers had been called for a slash. That made it 3-2. Grimsley returned the favor in their own man-up at 4:17 after Riverside's Chris Cherry hooked a Grimsley player and the Pirates went man-down. Garret Sherwood scored on an assist from Beavers to put Grimsley back up by two.

Riverside's Anthony Howard's goal on an assist from Jay Whitaker at 3:40 made it 4-3. And when DeLamielleure dodged his old middle-school teammate Kyle McKinney, McKinney fell down and DeLamielleure had a straight shot to the goal to tie the game a 4-4 at the 3:19 mark of the second period.

At 2:55, Pirate goalie Zach Brewer made the first of four spectacular saves as the second period waned. He made another at 2:19, another at 1:57 and another at 1:50, the last one redeeming his bad pass that was intercepted 10 yards from the goal. The half ended with 49 seconds remaining in a Grimsley penalty and Riverside holding the ball to the horn.

With no faceoff to begin the second half, Riverside was in a man-up with 49 seconds to score. They used nearly every bit of that, scoring at 11:12 with one second remaining in the Grimsley penalty when Coffman scored unassisted to give Riverside it's first lead of the night 5-4.

But it wasn't to last long as Grimsley scored in a man-up of their own at 8:28 after Chris Cherry was put in the box for 30 seconds. Grimsley's Beavers scored on a Chris Leath assist to tie the score 5-5. But 12 seconds later Riverside scored again after Tim Gregory scooped up the loose ball on the faceoff and rambled in to score unassisted to make it 6-5 Riverside.

At 7:05 Grimsley again tied the score when Sherwood intercepted a bad Riverside pass in front of the goal and scored to make it 6-6. The Pirates survived two penalty situations and Brewer again had multiple saves (at 3:24, 3:00 and 2:40) to preserve the tie as the third period ended.

Grimsley's Sherwood scored again on a Beavers assist in a man-up to make it 7-6 Grimsley at 10:40 of the final period after DeLamielleure was put in the box for tripping. But at 8:37 DeLamielleure got revenge when he assisted on an Anthony Howard goal to tie the score 7-7. Riverside survived another man-down at the 7:20 mark but a pass out of bounds led to a possession by Grimsley that resulted in another go-ahead goal, this one by Chris Leath. It would be their last goal, however.

Down 8-7 with less than five minutes remaining Owen Ham passed to Andy Ross from behind the goal, Ross made a dodge and scored on a grounder to make it 8-8 at the 4:38 mark. Now Riverside just needed to get a go-ahead goal of their own. Ross saw to that too only 28 seconds later, scoring from the same spot unassisted to make it 9-8 Riverside with 4:10 left.

Riverside managed to keep possession most of the final four minutes, and Coffman gave them the insurance goal at the 1:36 mark when he danced around behind the goal for what seemed an eternity before losing his defender and coming around to put the ball in over the Grimsley goalie's shoulder to make it 10-8 Riverside.

Next up is Orange on Tuesday at Riverside at 7 p.m.

Latest stats Box score

Cory Coffman: 4 goals

Zach Brewer: 12 saves

Bryan Thompson: 10 GBs, 9 LBCs

After a soporific first period the Pirates came alive with five goals in the second -- including four straght by Cory Coffman -- to pull away to a 9-0 win over the Southeast Guilford Falcons. Riverside goalie Zach Brewer, registering his second shutout of the year, had 12 saves in the contest.

The game began slowly as neither team could score or possess the ball for any length of time. The Falcons' inability to score can be blamed on Brewer, who had five of his 12 saves in the first period, mostly on close-in shots by the Falcons. The Pirates also survived two man-down situations as the man-down defense performed well all night, keeping the Falcons from scoring on six extra-man possessions in the course of the game.

Meanwhile, the Riverside defense was playing well, knocking the ball out of Falcon sticks and getting to ground balls first. Pirate defenseman Bryan Thompson registered 10 GBs and 9 LBCs in a stellar performance, his best of the year.

The second period scoring for Riverside was begun by Andy DeLamielleure who put a shot high in the corner over the Falcons goalie at 10:37. Next, Joey Pietrantoni, took a shot from near the restraining line and the ball found its way into the goal at 9:41, turning thoughts of "Oh, no, you're too far out" to "Great shot!"

Then came a string of Coffman goals, all nearly identical. All during the first period Falcon defender Matt Mullen had kept Coffman contained on the right side of the goal. In the second period, however, Coffman began using the left side, coming around the back of the Falcon goal and dumping the ball in the net left-handed three times in a row at 7:12, 4:38 and 4:00.

In the third period Coffman opened the scoring at 5:11 on an assist from Chris Cherry, followed seven seconds later by an unassisted goal from DeLamielleure, who won the faceoff and drove straight through the Falcon defense for the score at 5:04, making it 7-0. A goal by Alex Coulter on a DeLamielleure assist at 4:26 made it 8-0 as the fourth period ended.

As the fourth period began, Riverside longstick middie Tim Gregory picked up the ball on the opening faceoff and raced to the Falcon end and put a shot into the goal to make it 9-0 at 11:48. Many of the Riverside starters came out after that as young players got valuable game experience.

At that point everyone on the Riverside squad was working to preserve the shutout for Brewer, but they were making it tough on themselves. Twice the Pirates were penalized, giving the Falcons a man-up opportunity to get on the board, but twice the man-down defense stopped them. Brewer made a one-on-one save at the 1:28 mark, and Duran Green checked a shooter's stick at the 1:10 mark to keep two goals out of the net. Riverside got possession at that point and ran out the clock.

Next up is Grimsley on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Latest stats Box score

Riverside fell behind 3-0 early, rallied to move to within one at 7-6 late in the third period, but couldn't hold off Durham Academy's Ben Mark nor solve DA goalie Tim McCord in a 10-6 loss on Friday, March 28 at Riverside.

[Note from Webmaster: Sorry for the delay in getting this story posted. Had company in town for the weekend.]

The Riverside offense couldn't get going in the first period, as DA put three goals into the net. Mark scored on an assist from Peter Elkins-Williams at 10:40, Matt Wilson scored unassisted at 9:03 and Mark scored again, this time unassisted, at 6:01 to make it 3-0 DA. And while his offensive colleagues were scoring, DA goalie McCord was stopping everything thrown at him in the first period. He would end the game with 17 saves and two shutout quarters.

The Riverside defense stiffened at that point, holding DA scoreless for the next 5 minutes of the second period and first 7 minutes of the third and forcing several uncharacteristic turnovers by the Cavaliers. The Pirates scored to make it 3-1 when Cory Coffman scored on a T.L. Hutchins assist at 7:17 of the second period. Meanwhile, the Riverside defense was keeping DA off balance, holding them scoreless for the first seven minutes of the second period.

But scoring droughts don't last long for the Cavaliers. At 4:51 Billy Wellman scored unassisted to make it 4-1 and at 2:55 Mark Chandler scored on an Elkins-Williams assist to make it 5-1 at the half.

After the break, Riverside's offense came out with some fire as Owen Ham scored at 10:16 when he rounded past DA defenseman Travis Koon from behind the goal and put the ball into the net unassisted to make it 5-2. Less than 30 seconds later, after Andy DeLamielleure won one of his 12 winning faceoffs, Andy Ross assisted an open T.L. Hutchins to make it 5-3.

But with the DA offense finally cranking, DA still managed to score enough to keep the lead. Mark scored on a scooper in front of the goal as the Riverside defense neglected to clear the crease at the 9:08 mark. That made it 6-3, but Andy Ross's goal on a Coffman assist at 8:52 brought it back to 6-4.

But again DA managed to add one, with Chandler scoring on a Mark assist to make it 7-4. It looked like it would be 8-4 a minute later, but a goal by DA was disallowed because of a crease violation. Two consecutive goals by Riverside, one by Anthony Howard on a DeLamielleure assist and another unassisted by DeLamielleure made it 7-6 and pumped up the RHS partisans in the crowd.

DA, though, choked off the rally quickly with two more scores in the third period (Matt Wilson and Ben Mark unassisted) to make it 9-6 at the end of three. DA scored another goal in the final period (Elkins-Williams from Chandler) to make it 10-6 while the Riverside offense had its second scoreless period of the game.

The scoring for Riverside was certainly well distributed, with all six goals coming from different players. Scoring were Coffman, Ham, Hutchins, Ross, Howard and DeLamielleure. Also, for the second game in a row, more than half of Riverside's goals were assist. Hutchins, Ross, Coffman and DeLamielleure each had assists in the game.

The Pirates led in ground balls 34-31 and trailed in shots 26-22. Riverside goalie Zach Brewer had five saves, but was forced too many times to defend one-on-one shots from 2 yards out. Next up is Southeast Guilford Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Riverside.

Owen Ham: 4 goals, 1 assist

Andy DeLamielleure: 2 goals, 3 assists

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With the score knotted at 7-7 and 1:33 left on the game clock, Riverside attackman Owen Ham knocked the ball loose from the Jordan goalie 15 yards in front of the net, picked up the ball and scored into an empty net to win the game 8-7 over the Falcons in a nail-biter of a game on Tuesday, March 25.

But Jordan had three possessions in the last minute-and-a-half to try to tie the score. Riverside played hard defense to keep the Falcons from getting a shot, but J.P. Trehy got one off with four seconds remaining on the clock but it went inches wide right of the goal. Riverside won this close one and Jordan came oh-so-close to gaining their first win over Riverside since 1996.

Riverside tried hard to give the game away, serving up two gift goals to the Falcons earlier in the game. In one instance in the first quarter, Riverside goalie Zach Brewer's pass from the crease was intercepted by Jordan's Rob Christensen five yards out and he scored the Falcons' second goal. In another instance, Riverside defenseman Bryan Thompson lost the ball in front of the net and Jordan's Sam Solie picked it up and fed Joseph Howard for Jordan's seventh goal, putting them up 7-6 with 6:53 remaining in the game.

In addition to those goals, Jordan scored their first goal on a possession that came after a Riverside midfielder jumped past midfield too early as a defenseman came back in the zone, and they scored their sixth goal after getting the ball on a fast break after a busted Riverside clear at midfield to go up 6-5.

Still, Riverside kept coming back in a game that saw eight ties and six lead changes. Ham led the scoring for Riverside with four goals and an assist, Andy DeLamielleure (sorry there's no photo, will take it tomorrow) had two goals and three assists, Anthony Howard had a goal and an assist and Cory Coffman had a goal. Chris Cherry also added an assist. Goalie Zach Brewer had 14 saves in the game. The win evened Riverside's record at 3-3.

Riverside began the scoring with a goal by Howard, who dodged two defenders to get an unassisted score. Over the next few minutes DeLamielleure, who won 13 of 17 faceoffs against Jordan, hit the pipe with a rocket shot and Chris Woolley, Bryan Thompson and Bryan Van Dyke played a couple of great defensive series to keep Jordan out of the goal.

But at 7:12 Jordan's Ben Clauson scored after the Falcons gained possession when a Riverside midfielder, who had stayed in the zone on a middie back situation, went across the midline too early as a defender came back across the midfield line. That tied the score at 1-1.

At the 3:50 mark Jordan attackman Will Lewis was hit hard by Riverside defenseman Bryan Thompson and fell to the ground. After a brief moment he limped off, but returned again later to score one of the Falcons' seven goals.

Thirty seconds later Brewer passed the ball from the crease after one of his saves and it was intercepted by Rob Christensen who put it in the net to put Jordan up 2-1. At the 2:42 mark Christensen was called for an illegal body check and the Pirates ran the extra-man-offense to perfection as Howard hit Coffman who scored to make it 2-2.

In the second period, Jordan goalie Adam Canoy was decked by a Riverside player as he came out of the crease with 10:50 remaining in the period. It looked as though Riverside had a shot on an open goal but a Jordan defender stepped into the goal (sorry, didn't get the number) and made a great stick save to keep Riverside from taking the lead. The teams traded possessions for the next five minutes until Jordan's freshman attackman Joseph Howard had the first of this three goals, this one unassisted, to make it 3-2 Jordan as the first half ended.

The Pirates wasted no time getting back on the board. DeLamielleure took the initial faceoff and raced toward the goal, passing to an open Owen Ham who scored to tie the score at 3-3 just six seconds into the third period. At the 10:40 mark Christensen was called for a crosscheck and went into the penalty box. Meanwhile, Ham was put in the box for Riverside on a push at the 10:23 mark. At 9:52, with 12 seconds left in his penalty, Christensen raced onto the field, but the release should have been for Ham. Play continued until Riverside Coach Jim Kirkley got a stoppage of play at 9:44. A long discussion ensued and it was decided that Christensen had four seconds remaining in his penalty and Ham should have been released at 9:52. (Everybody got that?)

At the 8:42 mark Jordan's Howard scored again unassisted to put Jordan up 4-3. But less than 20 seconds later DeLamielleure drove to the right and fired Riverside's fourth goal into the net unassisted to tie the score. And then at 5:52 Ham scored the second of his four goals on a rifle shot after a feed from Chris Cherry to make it 5-4 Riverside.

But the lead didn't last long as Will Lewis scored on a feed from Sam Solie to tie the score at 5-5 with 5:19 remaining in the third period. And at 3:17, after Riverside dropped the ball at midfield on a clear, Evan Shearer took a feed from Howard to put Jordan up 6-5.

With Riverside in the man-up a few minutes later, DeLamielleure scored on a Ham assist to tie the score 6-6 with 2:15 left in the period. With time winding down in the period Cory Coffman put a ball in the net but it was a fraction of a second after the horn and was disallowed, ending the third period with the teams knotted at 6-6.

The teams traded scoreless possessions for the first half of the final period, but with 6:53 remaining Riverside's Bryan Thompson lost the ball to the left of Riverside's goal and an alert Sam Solie picked it up and got it to Howard who scored to put Jordan up 7-6 with 6:53 left in the game. Again, the lead didn't last long as DeLamielleure won the faceoff and fed to Ham who put a hard shot past the Jordan goalie to tie the game at 7-7.

At the 4:20 mark Riverside again lost the ball near its own goal but Brewer made a great save to preserve the tie. Jordan began a long possession at the 4:18 mark and held the ball until the 3:09 mark when Riverside defenseman Bryan Van Dyke had a takeway. At the 2:56 mark Jordan's Solie was penalized but Riverside couldn't convert the EMO chance.

Jordan got the ball at the 2:15 mark but Riverside took it back with 2:04 remaining but then passed it out of bounds with 1:46 remaining. That gave the ball to Jordan and they began their clear. Goalie Adam Canoy was walking the ball up the field and was about at the restraining line with Riverside's Ham jumped him and knocked the ball loose. Ham managed to pick up the ball as Canoy tried to check his stick and he put the ball into the empty net at 1:33 for the go-ahead goal and the Riverside crowd let out its biggest cheer since Anthony Howard's game-winner against Chapel Hill last May.

The Falcons had several possessions and J.P. Trehy's shot with four seconds left was too close for comfort for the Pirate fans. The clock ran down before the Falcons could get another shot.

This was by far the Pirates' best-played game of 2003. With Coffman drawing the attention of the Falcon defense, it was left for other players to provide the offensive punch, and they did. Also, the defense had its best game, with Bryan Thompson, Bryan Van Dyke, Tim Gregory and Chris Woolley registering a combined 26 LBCs and 11 ground balls in the game, and Brewer registering 14 much-needed saves. In addition, six of Riverside's eight goals were assisted, an uncharacteristic percentage for a Riverside team.

Zach Brewer: 22 saves

Cory Coffman: 3 goals, 2 assists

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The sun may have been shining for the first time in what seemed weeks, but the Pirates and the players from Annapolis Area Christian school were still slip-sliding in several inches of mud Saturday, March 22, as the team from Maryland defeated Riverside 10-7.

Providing most of the firepower for Annapolis Christian was R.J. Napolitano who had six goals and an assist in the contest. For Riverside, Cory Coffman led the way with three goals and two assists, Andy DeLamielleure had two goals, Owen Ham had a goal and an assist, and Joey Pietrantoni had a goal.

Riverside drew first blood in the game when Pietrantoni scored at 11:21 of the first period on a Coffman assist. And when Coffman scored unassisted at 5:32 after longstick middie Tim Gregory's big hit jarred the ball loose from an AACS player, it was 2-0 Riverside.

It was at that point that Napolitano came alive, scoring the first of his six goals at 4:35 unassisted after Riverside dropped the ball at its own restraining line. Napolitano, perhaps remembering last year's 13-6 win by Riverside, in which he scored two goals, seemed unwilling to let something similar happen in 2003. A minute later he scored unassisted again at 3:35 to tie the score at 2-2 as the quarter ended..

In the second period AACS scored four goals to Riverside's two. Chase Sands scored two for AACS and Napolitano added another while Coffman scored unassisted and Ham scored on a Coffman feed to make it 6-4 AACS at the half. Numerous saves by Riverside goalie Zach Brewer kept the Pirates even that close. He would end the game with 22 saves while his counterpart, Brian Janssens of AACS had 18 saves in a fine outing.

In what has become an unfortunate trend for the Pirates they scored no goals in the third period while AACS scored three, making it 9-4 going into the final period. Napolitano scored all three of the AACS goals, two on assists from Scott Ashley and Shawn McCuen.

The Riverside offense came alive a bit in the final period, outscoring AACS 3-1, but the margin had grown too large by then. Coffman scored unassisted at 5:28 to make it 10-5, DeLamielleure scored on a Ham assist at 3:15 to make it 10-6 and DeLamielleure put one over Janssens' shoulder unassisted with 40 seconds left to make it 10-7.

Owen Ham: 4 goals, 2 assists

Cory Coffman: 3 goals, 1 assist

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Riverside, working meticulously on set plays, defeated the Orange Panthers 12-0 on Wednesday, March 19. Owen Ham had four goals and Cory Coffman had three to lead the scoring for the Pirates.

It was clear from the start that the Pirate offense, which managed only one goal against Charlotte Country Day on Saturday, was on a short leash as Coaches Jim Kirkley and Pete Kitrinos continuously shouted directions to the offense and were quick with vocal instruction when the Pirates deviated from whatever play had been called.

It gave the game a different look from the free-lancing, take-what-they-give-you type of offense most Riverside fans are used to. At first the players seemed uncomfortable with it, but by the second half it was clear that they had been good students.

Scoring only three goals in the first half (and none in the second quarter), the Pirates pumped in nine in the final two quarters. Owen Ham's unassisted goal at 5:27 of the first period put the Pirates up 1-0. Then Andy DeLamielleure scored unassisted at 2:58 to make it 2-0. And with 20 seconds left in the period Ham scored on a Coffman feed to make it 3-0.

The second period was uneventful for both teams. Riverside seemed out of sync during the period, though they had several shots on goal that were stopped by Orange goalie Tim D'Angiolello, who had 10 saves in the game.

After the half it was a different story, and seemingly a different team. The Pirates scored four goals in the period, one shorthanded. At 6:56 DeLamielleure scored unassisted, at 4:44 Coffman scored unassisted, at 4:24 Ham scored on a DeLamielleure assist, and at 3:07 longstick middie Tim Gregory stole the ball in the Orange end and raced the distance to score unassisted, making the score 7-0 at the end of three quarters.

In the fourth period the Pirates were even more productive, scoring five goals in the period. At 10:20 Anthony Howard scored on a Ham assist, at 8:59 Coffman scored unassisted, at 5:27 Chris Cherry scored on a Ham assist, at 4:35 Ham scored unassisted, and at 1:21 Coffman scored on an assist from Tim Gregory to make it 12-0.

Riverside goalie Zach Brewer had four saves in the game. Though they scored 12, Riverside still sent 33 of their 55 shots awry. However, the ground ball stat picked up for this game, and several players had LBCs who hadn't shown in that stat before, signifying more aggressive play overall.

That kind of play will be needed on Friday when Riverside is scheduled to meet Chapel Hill for the second time in 10 days, this time at Riverside. Riverside lost to the Tigers 8-6 on March 11.

Country Day photos Attackman Owen Ham drives past a Country Day defender. Click here for more photos.

Wilton photos Defenseman Bryan Thompson (18) at work against Wilton. Click here for more photos. (The Webmaster apologizes for putting black-and-white film in his camera without realizing it.)

On cold and dreary morning Riverside found its offense in suspended animation while Charlotte Country Day's Bacon was sizzling with three goals and five assists. Result? A 9-1 loss for the Pirates.

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That one-goal output was the lowest for the Pirates in at least six years. They scored three goals against Durham Academy in the 1998 season, their lowest of that season. Saturday's output may have been lower than even 1997 or further back, but the Webmaster does not have box scores for those years.

Riverside opened the game looking pretty crisp, battling Country Day to a standstill until late in the first period. That's when Bacon scored the first of his three goals, this one unassisted at the 3:37 mark. The Pirate defense had done well against him, getting several LBCs early in the game. Meanwhile, Riverside goalie Zach Brewer registered four saves in the first period to keep the score that close.

But as the second period opened, Bacon fed Charles Melvin for a goal at 11:26 and then Jonathan Shaw fed Will Pittman for a score at 11:00 and the rout was on. Pittman's score was symptomatic of what happened several times Saturday. Riverside would make a good defensive play and get a take-away only to lose it again quickly and give the Buccaneers a fast break.

Three more goals by the Buccaneers in the second period (Ward Colton from Bacon at 8:15, Bacon unassisted at 7:51 on a low left-hander, and Bacon again unassisted at 2:24 on another Riverside lost ball at midfield) to make the score 6-0. An unassisted goal by Cory Coffman made it 6-1 at the 1:43 mark.

The Buccaneers scored three more in the third period, Pittman again from Bacon at 8:19, Mark Embree from Bacon at 4:42 and Tommy D'Allesandro from Bacon at 2:36. The Buccaneers didn't score in the final period, but neither did Riverside.

In addition to the low offensive output, for the second consecutive games the Pirates got fewer ground balls than their opposition. That happened only once last year. The Pirates' marksmanship was not great on Saturday, either, with only one goal coming from their 31 shots.

The first three games for Riverside make clear how much benefit the presence of Chris Feifs and Kevin Raspet had for the Pirate offense, even when the two were not scoring. The defense's preoccupation with Feifs and Raspet often left Coffman or Ham open with room to maneuver.

From the tenor of the post-game discussion with the coaches, it looks like the Pirate captains and players need to go into the laboratory and emerge with some chemistry if 2003 is not going to be a long year.

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It was reminiscent of last year's state championship game, only without the overtime and with the roles being reversed. Chapel Hill fell behind early, just like Riverside did last May, but came back strong to win, just like the Pirates did in the NCHSLA final.

It was a bruising game, with Riverside middie Cory Coffman getting mugged three times in succession and having to go out of the game briefly, and Chapel Hill goalie Graham Georges getting knocked out of the game after a hard hit outside the crease. He was spelled ably by freshman Josh Freid, who ended the game with three saves.

Coffman had two goals for Riverside and Owen Ham, Andy DeLamielleure, Jay Whitaker and Andy Ross each had one. Ham and DeLamielleure each had an assist. For Chapel Hill, Nick Woods, Kevin O'Conner, Jason Merritt and Jason Merritt had two each, while Michael Ragazzo and Joe Tynan each had one. Woods had two assists, while Merritt and O'Conner had one each.

Riverside came out strong with DeLamielleure scoring at 11:32 after Woods was called for a trip on the opening faceoff to make it 1-0. A few seconds later, at 11:14 the Pirate defense let Merritt waltz down the middle wide open to take a pass from Woods to tie the game at 1-1. At 10:56 Coffman made it 2-1 Riverside with a three-dodge drive to score unassisted.

At 9:24 Jay Whitaker scored for Riverside unassisted to make it 3-1, followed at 7:41 with a score by Andy Ross on an Owen Ham feed to make it 4-1 Riverside. The teams traded man-up situations but neither could score. But with 1:37 remaining in the period Kevin O'Conner scored unassisted to pull Chapel Hill to within two, 4-2.

The teams traded possessions early in the second period, with neither scoring. But at 7:07 Merritt hit Woods who scored to make it 4-3. Then began a series of assaults on Coffman that might have caught the attention of the anti-gang task force. At 6:51 he was tripped hard by Chapel Hill's Brian Hertzberg, at 6:19 he was pushed with vigor from behind by Ragazzo and at 5:34 he was slashed by Alex Elkins.

The Pirates had a 6-on-4 briefly but couldn't capitalize. The clock was stopped at one point as Coffman was obviously suffering from the previous two minutes. He came out of the game to collect himself. The Tigers took that opportunity to score a short-handed goal with one second remaining in Elkins' penalty, to tie the game at 4-4 on an unassisted Ragazzo goal that resulted from a loose ball in the Riverside end.

Coffman came back into the game at a fortuitous moment. He intercepted a Chapel Hill pass at midfield and drove in for the score to make it 5-4 Riverside. Riverside goalie Zach Brewer preserved the lead in the next three minutes, making two one-on-one saves on Woods shots and one on a Chris Boyle shot. Brewer ended the game with 11 saves.

Chapel Hill scored first in the third period when Joe Tynan scored unassisted at 9:20. The lead was upped to 6-4 at 7:14 when Jason Merritt scored on a Tynan assist. But Riverside's players had noticed that the ball stayed uncannily in Merritt's stick, despite vigorous checks, and told their coaches. A stick check was called and Merritt's stick was ruled illegal. The goal was disallowed, with several Riverside fans wondering aloud about the other goal he scored to open the game. The score was 5-5.

The Pirates had a three-minute non-releasable penalty against their opponent but could do nothing with it. The Tigers also had two extra-man opportunities shortly after they survived the stick penalty, but also could not cash in. However, two quick goals, one at 2:34 by Merritt -- using another stick this time -- on a Woods assist and a garbage goal by Kevin O'Conner at 1:20 put Chapel Hill up 7-5 as the quarter ended.

With 45 seconds remaining in the third period Chapel Hill goalie Graham Georges carried the ball out to the restraining line when he was set upon by three Riverside defenders. He lost the ball and broke his stick, and in the melee was hit hard from the front and went down. He lay motionless for several minutes but got up and walked off the field under his own power, to the applause of Tiger and Pirate fans. Freid was quickly warmed up while Georges lay on the ground and he took over in goal. Georges ended the night with five saves.

Riverside had not scored at all in the third period, prompting one Riverside fan to ask, "Has Riverside ever had a strong third quarter?"

Woods won the opening faceoff as the fourth period began and again Brewer made a highlight-reel save on a Chapel Hill shot. At 10:16 Freid made a great save on a Coffman shot, much to the delight of Tiger fans cheering for their freshman goalie. Chapel Hill was called for a push at 9:15 but the Pirates again couldn't capitalize.

At 8:21 the Tigers were called for another push and this time Coach Kirkley put Owen Ham up top. After several rounds of passes, Ham took a feed from DeLamielleure and ripped a shot into the net from 15 yards, one of the few times he had possessed the ball in front of the net all night. That made the score 7-6 in favor of Chapel Hill, and surely the Tiger fans were remembering last year's title game.

Chapel Hill Coach Glenn Estacio, possibly also with thoughts of that game last May in his head, decided to kill the clock with 6:56 remaining. For two-and-a-half minutes the Tigers passed the ball behind the net until Woods got open for an O'Conner feed to make it 8-6. Woods won the faceoff and again the Tigers went into the stall, but an illegal pick at 3:35 gave the ball to Riverside.

Coach Kirkley called a timeout and a play was set up for Coffman. He rounded on the goal from the right side and Freid got his stick on it to keep it out of the goal with 1:51 remaining. Riverside lost the ball on a bad pass and longstick middie Tim Gregory was called for a penalty with 22 seconds remaining and Chapel Hill had an 8-6 win in the first round of this Triangle classic series.

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Riverside struggled early but got its act together in the second half to defeat the Apex Cougars 11-6 on Tuesday, March 5. Cory Coffman had four goals for the Pirates, while Anthony Howard had three, Owen Ham had two and Andy DeLamielleure and Jay Whitaker had one each.

Cory Coffman: 4 goals, 1 assist

Anthony Howard: 2 goals

Owen Ham: 2 goals

The sideline looked like a scene from "Gods and Generals" as key Riverside players were nursing wounds and walking with canes. Middie T.L. Hutchins didn't play after injuring his Achilles tendon in practice on Monday, faceoff specialist Andy DeLamielleure went out with a back injury after scoring a goal early in the second period, defenseman Michael Woodard was walking with a cane after injuring himself in practice Monday, and midfielder Brian Jobe is out for four weeks.

That put a lot of young guys in the game who probably hadn't anticipated much playing time. For a while it looked like Riverside would never catch a pass or pick up a ground ball. Sloppy doesn't begin to describe the Pirates' play in the first half.

Meanwhile the Cougars, who wear colors similar to the Chapel Hill Tigers, were playing like the Tigers early on, getting to every ground ball and passing and catching crisply.

The scoring began 27 seconds into the game when Coffman scored unassisted to make it 1-0. The Cougars seemingly scored shortly thereafter but a crease violation canceled that goal out. The teams exchanged possessions for the next five minutes, with Riverside doing more dropping than catching and having trouble clearing.

At 7:33 of the first period Coach Jim Kirkley called his first high-volume timeout of the year, pointing out the error of his players' ways in no uncertain terms. The Pirates took the field and soon found themselves down two men when penalties on Coffman and Bryan Thompson overlapped by six seconds. A few seconds after the penalty was over Apex's Eric Fleischhauer scored the first of this two goals on the night to tie the score at 1-1.

The Pirates quickly went back up again when Owen Ham scored unassisted at 6:08 to make it 2-1. Then came the first of three EMO chances for Apex, and they capitalized on all three. Ham was called for unnecessary roughness and the Cougars scored during the penalty to tie the score at 2-2 when Fleischhauer scored on a Brandon Kirkland assist at 4:28.

Ham again scored, this time on an Andy Ross assist at 2:33 to make it 3-2 Riverside. Apex goalie David Hetu managed two key saves in the last 1:40 of the period, stopping close-in shots by Andy DeLamielleure and Coffman.

The second period began with a stick-check penalty of 1 minute called on Coffman. The Cougars managed again to score in the man-up as Able Shores scored unassisted at 11:06. Then, at 10:03, DeLamielleure drove to the goal and scored unassisted to make it 4-3 but injured his back, which had been bothering him for several days. That was the last action he would see, as the faceoff duties were distributed to several other players.

Hetu managed another key save on an Anthony Howard close shot at 8:04 to keep the margin at one, but Coffman's drive to the net at 5:58 made it 5-3. But, alas, a 30-second penalty was called on longstick middie Tim Gregory and, again, Apex converted as Kirkland scored on a feed from Fleischhaurer to make it 5-4. Coffman ended the scoring in the first half with an unassisted goal at 1:38, and Riverside goalie Zach Brewer made two key saves in the waning minute to preserve the two-goal margin.

In the third period Riverside scored three unanswered goals to go up 9-4 and held the Cougars scoreless during the period. Coffman scored unassisted at 3:19, Howard scored unassisted on a garbage goal at 1:22 and Andy Ross made an acrobatic shot on a feed from Coffman at 1:01 to make it 9-4 at the end of three periods.

As the final period began the Pirates let the Cougars score twice, once on a fluky play after a terrible Cougar pass dribbled over the Pirate defense and into Chad Mitchell's stick right in front of the goal, and another on an unassisted goal by Matt Holzworth. That was the last of the scoring for Apex on the night.

Riverside's final two goals were scored by Jay Whitaker on a Coffman assist at 3:47 and by Anthony Howard on an unassisted drive at 2:59 to make the final score 11-6. Brewer ended the night with nine saves. Hetu had 10 saves for the Cougars. Next up for the Pirates is Laney in Wilmington on Friday night.

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