Clippers look to cap season
Saints confident headed into showdown with undefeated Clippers
Cumberland can complete perfect season on ice
PAWTUCKET – The players representing the Providence Country Day/St. Raphael/Wheeler Coop squad seemed in rather good spirits at their Lynch Arena practice session on Wednesday afternoon.
While coach Kevin Sullivan and his assistants ran a final training drill involving three-on-three scrimmages – a whistle indicated when another trio for each “team” should replace the others – two Knights were seen play-fighting while waiting for their turns, and others were firing longrange shots at a cage at the other end of the ice. Grins galore.
According to Sullivan, third-seeded PSW (16-6-0) will enter its best-of-three R.I. Division II Tournament championship final against topranked Cumberland (20-0-1) at 8 p.m., Friday at Brown University with plenty of confidence.
One particular reason: After dropping an ugly 4-0 loss to the Clippers back on Dec. 8, PSW looked to be headed to another before scoring two late goals to force the extra session.
The Knights eventually lost, 3-2, but the team has drawn a lot of faith from that outing. “It absolutely gives us confidence; Think about it like this, and I explained it to the team: We lost to them, 4-0, the first week of the year, but then, a couple of months later, we tied them but ended up losing in overtime,” Sullivan stated. “The fact we tied them should show that we could play with them, so – yes – it was a tremendous confidence boost, coming back the way we did.
“These kids have shown me tons of heart all year,” he continued. “I’ve never been part of a team that pulled out more last-second goals, OT wins; it’s like they never, ever give up. Their determination and will is off the charts with this team. They’re completely resilient.
“That second Cumberland game is the perfect example. We were down two with 36 seconds left (in regulation), but score a quick two, the last with six seconds left, to tie it. Now’s that resilient. But that was a really odd game (at Adelard Arena). I give them all the credit in the world, and this is not an excuse, but one of our top four defensemen (Hunter Parker) broke his wrist early on in the year, and that threw us off.
“It threw us into a tizzy, and we took a penalty right after that. Cumberland has an excellent power play, and ended up scoring. There was so much elation after tying it, then worry about the broken wrist and Tucker being out for the season, then the disappointment. There was such a confluence of emotions.
“Still, I’m taking away all the good things about it – the way we came back and never gave up.”
The Clippers nevertheless haven’t lost a contest all year; the lone hiccup came with a 2-2 stalemate against Moses Brown/East Providence/ Tolman Co-op in Burrillville back on Dec. 28.
They’ve captured 16 straight since then.
“What makes them so good is they’re very balanced; they play so well within their systems,” Sullivan noted. “They’re a very system-oriented team, and they’re very disciplined the way they play within those systems.”
Sullivan claimed goal- keeping in the set should be a wash, as sophomore Jack Byrne received first-teanm All-Division laurels and PSW senior Jeff Pimental earned the second-team nod.
“Their strength, in my humble opinion, is their defensive corps,” Sullivan said. “I think they take care of the puck really well in their own zone, but – like I said – another strength is their balance. They can run three lines and there’s no real dropoff among the three.”
When asked how his contingent will combat the productive Clippers in the opener, Sullivan shrugged, “That’s a really good question, and I’ve thought about it for a long time, but I’m just worried about us. I’m not worried about them, seriously. The previous two series we’ve been in (sweeps of Lincoln, then Ponaganset), I thought about how we should try to stop the strengths of those teams, but there’s not one clear thing to focus on with (Cumberland) because they’re so balanced.
“With them, there’s no clear thing to focus on, so the key for us is just to focus on what we do best,” he added. “We do a lot of things pretty well, I believe, so we just need to play our game … The guys have improved a ton. Our game is about speed, about skill, about creativity and precision; they play well together. They’ve got to know each other better, work with each other better.
“We’ve added some new systems along the way, but this team isn’t about systems. It’s about play making and speed and creativity … This is our first final in seven years, so this is a recognition of a lot of hard work we’ve all put in this year. I’m super-proud of the kids, just super-proud. This means a lot to me, and I know it means a lot to them.”