Lions not done just yet
Acciardo nets game-winner 33 seconds into OT as Division II semifinal series against SK heads to Game 3
SOUTH KINGSTOWN — A slap shot to the leg didn’t keep Spencer Smith down for long.
There was a celebration to join. The Lincoln High School senior blocked a shot in overtime and teammate Colby Acciardo skated away with the loose puck en route to the game-winning goal and a hat trick as Lincoln evened its Division II semifinal series with a 4-3 win over South Kingstown on Monday night at Boss Arena.
The winning sequence capped a comeback from a 2-0 and 3-1 deficits as the Lions kept their season alive. Game three is scheduled for tonight at 8:15 p.m., at the Rhode Island Sports Center, with a trip to the championship series on the line.
“I think it’s just the heart, showing the heart,” Lincoln head coach Mike Forrest said. “They just kept on battling.”
Acciardo pulled the second-seeded Lions within striking distance on a goal late in the second period then tied the game early in the third. An incredible save by goalie Nathaniel
Beals kept the score tied and sent the game to a sudden-death extra session.
No. 3 South Kingstown, which had taken the series opener 5-1, was on the attack early in the overtime period, but Smith stopped the push in its tracks when he got in front of a shot from the blue line.
He went down and stayed there, but Acciardo swooped in for the puck and took off down the right wing. As a defender caught up, he stayed on his line and buried a shot past South Kingstown goalie Ricky Mather for the game-winner.
Acciardo skated the other way, celebrating teammates trying to catch him. Smith stayed down for a few moments but was up for the handshake line. He hopes to be OK for game three.
“Great block by Smith to get out. He set up the whole thing,” Forrest said. “Colby had an amazing goal. He’s an amazing player.”
Long before the late drama, the Rebels started fast, putting six shots on goal before Lincoln’s first and grabbing the early lead. Bennett Sousa skated down the slot, took a pass from the right corner and buried a shot just 1:51 into the first period for the 1-0 edge.
Curtis Granville and Andrew Gibbons assisted. Just over six minutes later, the Rebels struck again, this time on the power play. Eison Nee redirected a one-time by Gibbons to make it 2-0 with 7:45 remaining in the first.
The Lions steadily turned the tide, evening out the early disparity in shots and capitalizing on a golden opportunity to get on the board.
Twenty-nine seconds into a 5-on-3 situation, Kevin Degnan drilled a shot from the left point to make it 2-1 with 3:51 left in the period, on an assist by Kyle Costa.
The smaller deficit didn’t last long for the Lions as Ryan O’Donnell scored a pretty, short-handed goal on a breakaway for the Rebels with 2:53 remaining to restore the two-goal lead.
South Kingstown remained in front 3-1 for most of the second period, but Lincoln made its move late. With 1:26 left, Nathan Turcotte blasted a shot from the right circle that hit the crossbar and bounced straight down, where it hovered around the goal line. Acciardo followed it in, making it 3-2.
“When we got it to 3-2, we said
in
k
v
the locker room, ‘We’re in a one-shot game. Let’s see if we can tie it up and then we can go for the win,’” Forrest said.
The Lions pulled even early in the third period, with Acciardo doing the honors again, this time knocking home a rebound to make it 3-3 with 11:26 to go. Landon Forrest and Costa assisted.
Both teams had chances from there, with Mather and Beals stopping everyw thing. The toughest save came on a rebound, with South Kingstown’s Granville getting a good look at the net in front. Beals somehow made the stop.
“I don’t know how he stopped it,” w Forrest said. “I was looking at it saying, ‘Oh, we’re screwed.’ Next thing I know, I see his glove. I just said to him, ‘I don’t know how you made that save.’ Probably a little lucky, but it’s better to be lucky than good sometimes. He played really well tonight.”
Beals made 23 saves and Mather had m 16 for the Rebels.
“We’ve got to get the fourth goal and we didn’t. We had multiple opportunities,” said South Kingstown coach Toby Gibbons. “It’s all on us, nobody else. [Lincoln] competed hard. They had their backs against the wall, number two seed.”
t
h
t
p