Beyond the Scoresheet

Bridgewater-Raritan 2, Ridge 1

December 2, 2005 on 11:30 pm | In game recap | 4 Comments

well, I saw a lot more penalties today than I would have liked, but I also saw two very competitive games. I started at Bridgewater, where Mountain Lakes rallied from a 3-0 deficit early in the second period for a 3-3 tie with Pingry. Half of the game’s goals were scored on power plays.

Bridgewater-Raritan 2, Ridge 1
This was my second trip to the Rock, and it once again made me think of what I imagine Indiana high school basketball to be like … everybody parking on residential streets, the bandbox-like arena packed 20 minutes before face-off, people squeezing themselves onto the balcony, local rivals exchanging cheers and jeers, a county championship banner … a great atmosphere, to be sure, even if the spotty wireless microphone and the banging on the balcony made life tough for the national-anthem singer.

But the game couldn’t quite match the hype, to be honest. The teams combined for 16 penalties, including 9 in the first period, which prevented the game from flowing and limited both coaches’ ability to use their depth.
The sloppiness started early, with Bridgewater taking a too-many-men penalty on its first line change of the season. Before the ensuing face-off, Ridge then had to call timeout for Jon Lyons to switch goalie masks. Bridgewater eventually took an early lead, with captain Kevin Tino winning a face-off for linemate Chris Caravanos to snap into the side netting on Lyons’ stick side. The Panthers failed to capitalize on two mid-period power plays, however, and Ridge started to creep back into the game late in the period. Matt Germann rang the crossbar on a power play, which was soon nullified for a penalty. Immediately after four-on-four action ended, Greg Zambon broke into the offensive zone and, from the left slot, whipped a wrist shot inside the right post, beating Panther starter Gary Biggs to tie the game 1-1.
The barrage of power plays continued in the second period, and Ridge even had about 30 seconds of six-on-four on a delayed penalty call. With the teams a combined 0-for-10 on the power play, Bridgewater finally snapped the tie at the 10:40 mark of the second period. With a power play winding down, Caravanos and Tino broke into the zone with a two-on-one, and Tino snapped a shot past Lyons from the right slot for the crucial goal, one second before the penalty expired.

Predictably, Ridge stepped up the pressure in the third period, and Biggs responded well, although the Red Devils did not get many good scoring opportunities and were forced to rely on long stretch passes late in the game. Biggs had to make only one save down the stretch, and when Caravanos cleared the zone for the last time, Bridgewater celebrated (with plenty of emotion) its first victory ever over Ridge in eight total meetings (1-6-1).

The game was played like a season opener – sloppily – but the atmosphere made it absolutely worth the trip. The two teams are not scheduled to meet again until January 13, but both squads will hope to be in the Somerset County championship game December 28.

Boxscore

Scoring
Rid 1 0 0 — 1
BR 1 1 0 — 2

Shots (my tally)
Rid 4 9 8 — 21
BR 9 8 8 — 25

1st
4:14 BR #13 Chris Caravanos (#20 Kevin Tino)
13:04 Rid (sh) #13 Greg Zambon (#8 Scott Kiliyanski)
2nd
10:40 BR (pp) #20 Kevin Tino (#13 Chris Caravanos)
3rd
none

Goalies
#45 Jon Lyons (Rid) 25-23
#23 Gary Biggs (BR) 21-10

Power plays: Rid 0-5, BR 1-7