The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Comets capture Cup with rally in the third
Amherst wins in second season since its return to the ice
Amherst is not a team used to coming from behind.
Now, it’s just another thing that makes the Comets more dangerous.
Trailing, 4-2, early in the third period, Amherst sophomore Jacob Kramer scored three unanswered to give the Comets
a 5-4 Baron Cup II title victory over Olmsted Falls on Feb. 11 at Brooklyn’s John M. Coyne Recreation Center.
The Baron Cup is the fourth in Amherst history and comes in the second season since the Comets return to action.
“It’s great,” Kramer said. “Coming back and winning SWC and then the Baron Cup? This feels great and it shows that we have a great team effort. I’m so happy right now.”
Amherst coach Steve Morris said that the comeback win showed the heart of his players.
“It was an interesting position for us,” Morris said. “We didn’t start off very well, whereas Friday we played really well right off the bat. They came out with more intensity and really took the game over in the first period.
“This is a good group and they didn’t panic. It says a lot about them.”
The game appeared to be in Olmsted Falls’ favor after junior Dom Conte scored on a scramble in front of the net 32 seconds into the third period to make it a 4-2 Bulldogs’ advantage.
Five minutes and a pair of Kramer goals later, it was knotted at 4-4 and things were about to get interesting.
With 7:58 to play, Olmsted Falls was called for a hand on the puck in the crease penalty. The result? A penalty shot for Amherst.
Kramer calmly took the shot and beat Olmsted Falls goalie Angelo Hanson to give the Comets their first lead of the game.
“That was my first one (penalty shot) this year,” Kramer said. “I had in my mind that I was going to go backhand, but I just, like, panicked and went forehand because I just felt better with that. I was just able to slide it under his (Hanson) pad.”
Olmsted Falls coach Zach Walczak, while not taking anything away from Amherst’s comeback, said he wasn’t a fan of the call.
“That’s a great team and there’s a reason that Steve was named the coach of the year,” Walczak said. “I’m going to watch what I say here, but I hate to see the game being decided on a penalty shot. I don’t think that call has been made once this year. We’ll leave it at that. I hate to see the Cup come down to a penalty shot like that.”
But the excitement was not done.
The Bulldogs pulled their goalie with just under a minute remaining for a man advantage, leading to the longest moments of Amherst freshman goalie Brady Grove’s life.
“I was going nuts,” Grove said. “I, like, just couldn’t keep myself calm. I was just really nervous. But our defense is very solid, so I had to trust them and they trust me back.”
The comeback victory is one that Grove said he knew his team could do.
“There’s a banner in our school and it says that 2012 is the last time we’ve won the Cup,” Grove said. “We weren’t playing as a whole and were making some mistakes. I knew we could come back, so I wasn’t too worried.”
Prior to the third period, though, the game was all Olmsted Falls.
The Bulldogs netted a pair in the first period from freshman Brady Fitzpatrick and junior Max KirthGruszczynski to take a 2-0 advantage into the first break.
Amherst made a bit of a comeback in the second period behind a pair of power play goals from Nathan Harmych. The Comets never got the lead, though, as Fitzpatrick notched his second goal of the game between the Harmych scores.