Lincoln hopes to even D-II series
PAWTUCKET — Providence Country Day/St. Raphael/Wheeler Co-op head coach Kevin Sullivan wouldn’t call it his squad’s most impressive, thorough win of the campaign, but – considering its importance – he wasn’t about to downplay it, either.
In the opener of this bestof-three R.I. Division II Tournament semifinal series against gritty sixth-seeded Lincoln High School, the Knights controlled most of the tempo throughout and collected a more-than-satisfying 2-0 triumph before a stoked, packed crowd at Lynch Arena on Friday night.
Wheeler senior Aidan Beckett converted feeds from St. Raphael junior Drew Andella and PCD senior starter Ben Kaihler midway through the final stanza, while Warriors’ junior Mike Barone added an empty-netter with 34.0 seconds remaining in regulation to lift PSW to the 1-0 series lead.
Because of Saturday’s snowstorm, Game 2 has been moved to 4:20 p.m. today at the R.I. Sports Center in North Smithfield.
“It was a hard-fought game, but that’s no surprise; Lincoln always plays us
tough,” Sullivan stated afterward. “We had a lot of good opportunities (through the first two stanzas), but nothing was going in. Our process was right, everything was going as planned, and we couldn’t get discouraged, but we just couldn’t convert.
“We had to keep doing what we were doing and know that, eventually, they’d go in,” he continued. “All the credit has to go to the kids – they played a heckuva game … No, this wasn’t the best game I’ve seen us play. When we played Ponaganset (in the season’s penultimate contest), now that was pretty darn good. We were up, 4-0, and we were pretty complete in that one.”
Still, to be fair to the Lions, PSW’s eventual game-winning tally did come with some controversy. Following two scoreless periods, not to mention Lincoln’s ability to kill off most of sophomore Kevin Degnan’s tripping penalty (with 16.5 ticks left before the Zamboni’s final appearance on the ice), officials whistled junior winger Matt Riendeau for goalie interference with 10:12 remaining in regulation.
“I honestly thought the puck was still loose – and we think (Matt) was pushed into the keeper, but – regardless – they scored and ended up winning it,” offered LHS mentor Mike Forrest. “I thought we played alright; we’ve had some sickness going through the team, so we looked a little tired.”
He indicated junior co-captain Colby Acciardo and classmate Spencer Smith, two of his top scorers, seemed a little sluggish, that “they haven’t played together for the past three games, so the guys are a little off right now.
“It was really an even game through two periods, and I thought it was tilted their way a little bit in the third, penalty or not,” he added. “I thought (sophomore keeper) Matty Pierce was excellent in net and kept us in the game. The way I view it, it was a 1-0 game with an empty-net goal at the end. Whether it was 1-0 or 2-0, we didn’t score.”
The Knights didn’t give Lincoln much time to maneuver throughout the final stanza, as Kaihler registered two terrific tries on the cage in the first 1:22. On the first, he smoked a wrister from just inside the blue line at Pierce, who needed a quick glove snag to stop it. And, on the second, he whistled another wrister at the cage, but Pierce used the same piece of equipment to corral it.
PCD junior Bennett Hicks offered another try from the right circle with 2:44 elapsed, yet the goalie flashed his right pad to steer it aside, but that’s when the refs issued the infraction on Riendeau.
Exactly 96 seconds after the go-ahead score, the Lions’ Smith stickhandled down the middle and unleashed a shot at PSW sophomore Jeff Pimental, yet he smothered the puck. Lincoln never had another promising attempt on net.
“My message to the kids after the game was, ‘You hear those (PSW students and fans) hoopin’ and hollerin’? They have every reason to do that! They won a big game,’” Forrest said. “But I also told them a series is not one game, that you don’t win with one win. That’s why they call it a series. I told them that, on Sunday, we were going to come ready to play and try to take care of business, then come back here on Monday.”
Stated Sullivan: “I give Lincoln a lot of credit; they clog up the middle of the ice and make it very hard to move the puck through the neutral zone. It’s a tough thing to overcome. Once we got through the neutral zone, then we were fine, but getting there was hard.
“My thoughts were short and sweet,” he added of his post-game speech. “I told the guys it was a great character win, and we did a great job of sticking with the plan, and doing exactly what we knew we could.
“We knew it would eventually go in.”