The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Rocky River rolls over Amherst in Baron Cup
The Amherst Comets fell, 7-2, to the Rocky River Pirates in the Baron Cup I on Feb. 13 at John M. Coyne Recreation Center in Brooklyn.
Usually, a loss comes with a lesson learned.
For the Amherst-Steele hockey team, there was no shortage of lessons learned a year removed their Baron Cup Championship victory.
THE SCORE ROCKY RIVER 7, AMHERST 2
The Amherst Comets fell 7-2 to the Rocky River Pirates in the Baron Cup I on Feb. 13 at John M. Coyne Recreation Center in Brooklyn.
“When you play team like Rocky River who has 20 guys and a lot of seniors, it’s hard to compete with only 10 guys,” Amherst Head Coach Steve Morris said after the game. “It’s not that we can’t compete. I think we did a pretty decent job overall.
“The depth of those teams and the ability to play a little harder and smarter … we’re going to try to get to that level.”
Amherst (16-4) received a bye in the first round of the OHSAA Tournament and will play winner of Avon Lake and BrecksvilleBroadview Heights in the second round on Feb. 19 at 6 p.m.
The Comets’ four losses have come against the same two teams twice: Hudson and Rocky River.
The only advantage Amherst had working in its favor was the power play. It also worked against them too.
Just 5:26 into the game, Rocky River scored its first goal — which came on the power play. Then, the Pirates were called for a penalty, leaving Amherst with the opportunity to capitalize on the man advantage.
Amherst’s Nathan Harmych did just that and answered Rocky River’s goal 1:56 later to tie the game. Harmych’s goal was assisted by Joey Kramer and Logan Eicher.
Kramer also scored a power play goal with 5:15 remaining in the game.
For the nearly half of the opening period, both teams were knotted at one. Until the Pirates scored with 1:13 left before the break to go ahead 2-1
“I didn’t think we played that well to still be in it,” Morris said. “I said that we had to take our game another step to match their intensity and speed.”
In the second stanza, Amherst hung around for most of the period and was only down one score. Then, Rocky River’s Hayden Weaver netted his first of four goals.
The Pirates found the back of the net three times in just a matter of three minutes in the third period. Finally, Kramer stopped the bleeding with the help of Nick Ciura and Avery Winkelman.
“I thought we didn’t put all the effort we could today,” Kramer admitted. “We didn’t forecheck well at times and it pays against teams like that.”
Rocky River made Amherst pay once more with 3:26 to play to finalize a five-goal victory.
“We need to look back and build on this,” Morris said. “I told the young guys the mistakes that we made and that when you play in this division, the pace is a lot quicker. When we practice and play, we just have to do it at the same pace as them to catchup and become an opponent to these guys.”
Rain washed out the final two practices Feb. 13 before NASCAR’s season-opening Daytona 500, a potential setback for the nine drivers switching cars before “The Great American Race.”
Former Cup Series champions Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr. as well as front-row qualifier William Byron are among those forced into backup cars because of issues in the duels Feb. 11. Erik Jones, Chase Briscoe, Kaz Grala, Anthony Alfredo, Cole Custer and Ross Chastain also switched cars and will have to start the Feb. 14 race from the back of the 40-car field along with Keselowski, Truex and Byron.
“I think we proved as an industry last year that track time was a little overrated,” said David Wilson, head of Toyota Racing Development.
NFL
JAGS, STRENGTH COACH SPLIT >> The Jaguars and embattled strength coach Chris Doyle parted ways Feb. 12, a few hours after a prominent diversity group assailed the team and called the recent hiring “simply unacceptable.” Coach Urban Meyer and general manager Trent Baalke said Doyle resigned and they accepted.
Golf
SPIETH LEADS >> One swing put Jordan Spieth closer than ever to ending a long and mystifying slump, and served as a reminder that he still has a long road ahead at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Two shots behind with three holes to play, Spieth holed out with an 8-iron from 160 yards for eagle on the 16th hole, the start of a stunning turnaround that sent him to a 1-under 71 and a two-shot lead going into the final round.
MLB
CABRERA TO D-BACKS >> The Diamondbacks have agreed to a $1.75 million, one-year deal with veteran infielder Asdrúbal Cabrera, a person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press.
TEBOW IN METS CAMP >> Tim Tebow has been invited to big league spring training by the New York Mets, taking one of 75 spots after Major League Baseball limited spring roster sizes as a coronavirus precaution.
College basketball
VIKINGS WIN >> Cleveland State bounced back from a Feb. 12 loss to beat Detroit, 71-64. The Vikings improved to 15-6 (15-3 Horizon). Torrey Patton and Alec Oglesby each scored 15 points.