Bengals hang tough, but Heights prevails

The reality as a White South team taking on a Red South opponent is — more instances than not — a lot of time is going to be logged in the defensive zone.

Benedictine nearly made it work Jan. 13 during the NDCL Winter Invitational against upper-division Cleveland Heights, but the Tigers weren’t going quietly into the bitterly cold night.

Andrew Schiffer had two goals, including a tying tally with seven minutes left, but Heights answered through Justin Rink 11 seconds later and a cushion from Owen Lang with 2:42 to go for a 5-3 win.

“A good effort by the guys who were out there,” Bengals coach Joe Primiano said. “It’s always tough with a short bench, but they were able to get ready to play Heights. Unfortunately, they bested us by a little bit. We’ll get them next time.”

The Bengals (7-9-1) were outshot, 51-17, but kept within striking distance for much of the proceedings. Sophomore goaltender Tristan Cotter had a fine 20-save second period as Benedictine exerted a lot of energy on the backcheck.

Down, 1-0, approaching the first intermission, Bengals junior Mike Iammarino jumped on a loose puck in traffic and put away a wrister five-hole.

Schiffer briefly opened a 2-1 lead early in the second with a look at the left bar, but a hooking penalty put the Tigers (9-10) on the man advantage 61 seconds later.

Heights’ Calvin Gray slotted a quality one-timer from the right circle top shelf to tie the game at 2.

The Bengals spent 4:32 on the penalty kill and Cotter was peppered, but they managed to keep it a 2-2 game going into the third.

The Tigers’ Ned Trivisonno struck at the right bar off a nice feed from Justin Rink 40 seconds into the third.

Schiffer tied it at 3 off an unusual sequence at 8:00 of the third, with a puck that trickled off a back, down and in. But the equality lasted 11 seconds, as Rink responded and then Lang had a highlight-reel strike through the neutral zone, keeping the puck wide on a wrister.

“We’ve notoriously started a little bit slow, and we know that’s an issue of ours,” Primiano said. “We’ve talked about it, and we came out and did it again tonight. But I think, once they realized they could play with this team, that was a little bit of added motivation to go out and give it a little extra effort.”

More to come

For more from this game, as Primiano discusses the Bengals’ young players performing in key roles, read high school hockey notes Jan. 15 online and in the Jan. 16 print edition.