Pierce makes 26 saves to keep Lions rolling

NORTH SMITHFIELD — Firstyear Lincoln High head coach Mike Forrest had mixed emotions about his squad’s overall performance during a 2-0 Division II victory over still-winless South Kingstown on the R.I. Sports Center ice on Saturday night.

But if there was one thing he wouldn’t or couldn’t refute? The sterling play of sophomore goalkeeper Matt Pierce, who finished with a perfect 26 stops in the triumph that lifted the Lions to 3-1-1 overall.

“He kept us in the game, made a lot of big saves for us, but we’ve seen that before against East Greenwich,” Forrest stated after wishing all of his players and assistant coaches a very merry Christmas in the dressing room. “He remains calm under pressure, and moves from side to side really well.

“Remember, he’s only a sophomore, so I hope he stays with us,” he added with a chuckle. “He’s looking to play in college, so we’ll see what happens.”

As for other aspects of Lincoln’s outing, Forrest indicated he saw both good and bad.

Naturally, he claimed being elated at sophomore Kevin Degnan and junior Spencer Smith each finishing with a goal and as an assist

“Obviously, we moved the puck well; we started to look for the guy in the center coming out of our own zone as opposed to just throwing up the boards and hoping for the best,” he noted. “We’ve been working on that, so that was good. The defense also did a good job of moving the puck, but they could have done a better job of taking the body.”

Despite the final result, the Rebels (0-4-0 overall) tested Pierce throughout the initial stanza. In fact, with 2:09 left in it, sophomore Curtis Granville ripped a wrister from the high slot at Pierce, but the latter made a superb right pad save. Seconds later, he made another on sophomore Colin McNamara.

And, with 38.7 ticks remaining, junior Zach Hupf planted a point-blank try on the netminder, who made a truly spectacular kick-away stop.

Exactly 19 seconds later, Degnan found himself in the penalty box after officials whistled him for interference, giving SK its first power-play opportunity.

The Lions survived 1:40 of a shorthanded situation at the start of the middle session, then went on the offensive. Degnan came out of the box with 13:20 on the scoreboard clock, then assisted on the first tally 41 seconds after that; on the play, he found Smith alone at the top of the right circle, and he blistered a shot past junior Rod Mather (23 saves) at 2:21.

The Rebels exhibited some frustration 33 seconds after that when refs called senior Mike Boynton for a 10-minute unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty and a two-minute minor, which freshman Ben Paskalides served. That gave Lincoln its first of two man-advantage opportunities, though it did nothing with either.

Halfway through the stanza, junior Andy Sprague fired a wicked blast from above the right circle at Pierce, who of course steered it aside, and – just over a minute later, with 6:47 left – Degnan converted feeds from senior captain Colby Acciardo and Smith for the insurance score.

Behind 2-0, SK dug itself a deeper hole when Sprague was called for a trip at 6:06, yet with just 1:26 remaining in the period, it appeared the visitors had sliced the deficit in half. That’s when Sprague lifted another up-close try at Pierce, but the latter foiled the attempt.

Pierce made seven more stops in the final session; two came in the first 1:23; the Lions, however, kept the shutout intact.

Stellar defensive outings came from Acciardo, senior captain Kyle Beck, junior Darien Carney, Smith and sophomore Aidan Forrest.

“Overall, we played a pretty decent game, but one of my problems with it was our in-game thinking – thinking in the moment, knowing the situations,” he continued. “For example, when we were up 2-0 with five or six minutes left in the second (period), I told the guys I wanted them to play a 1-2-2, but not long after they had fallen back into a 2-1-2.

“It’s all about listening, doing what coaches are telling them.”

South Kingstown 0–0–0

Lincoln 0–2–0

First period: No scoring.

Second period: L – Spencer Smith (Kevin Degnan) 2:21; L – Degnan (Colby Acciardo, Smith) 8:13.

Third period: No scoring.

Shots on goal: South Kingstown 13-6-7 – 26, Lincoln 8-10-7 – 25. Goalie saves: Rod Mather (SK) 23, Matt Pierce (L) 26.

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