Beyond the Scoresheet

working overtime

February 20, 2006 on 11:16 pm | In game recap | Comments Off on working overtime

Two lackluster playoff games at Mennen Arena Monday were redeemed by a scintillating nightcap, as No. 2 Randolph needed overtime to escape another upset bid from Mountain Lakes. In the early games, Morris Knolls blasted Pingry 9-3 behind hat tricks from Dan Duda and Tommy Tomensky. Morristown-Beard cruised past West Morris 6-0 in the second game.

Randolph 3, Mountain Lakes 2, OT
The third game was always expected to be the best one of the night, and it didn’t disappoint. Mountain Lakes almost beat Randolph January 14, allowing a power-play goal and a deflected goal in the third period in a 2-1 loss.

Randolph looked more comfortable on this night, and although the Rams were not dominant around the net, they consistently wore down Mountain Lakes and scored in the final minute of the first (Rob Kral) and second (Derek Ranger) periods to take a 2-0 lead heading into the third period. In the third period, Mountain Lakes immediately got back into the game with a bouncing blue-line shot from Clint McDonough just 49 seconds into the period. In a bit of retribution for the Jan. 14 encounter, Lakes tied the game midway through the period on a power-play goal when Jacob Sutker’s wrist shot deflected off a Randolph stick to elude Dan Diamond.

Lakes goalie Matt Lowell, who finished with 34 saves, was strong down the stretch to send the game to overtime, the first overtime contest in the Mennen Cup tournament since 2002. The winning goal came at the 6:11 mark, as Ram defenseman Kyle Krannich – who assisted on all three goals – stickhandled into the left corner before centering the puck for Kral to bang home the winner. Randolph will face Morristown-Beard in the semifinals for the sixth time in the last eight years – the Rams are 0-5 against the Crimson in Mennen Cup play since their championship run in 1992.

Randolph 3, Mountain Lakes 2, OT

Scoring

ML	0	0	2	0	2
Ran	1	1	0	1	3

Shots

ML	8	5	5	0	18
Ran	11	10	12	4	37

1st
14:05 Ran #9 Rob Kral (#22 Ricky Roma, #21 Kyle Krannich)
2nd
14:24 Ran #10 Derek Ranger (#21 Kyle Krannich)
3rd
0:49 ML #44 Clint McDonough (unassisted)
7:41 ML #12 Jacob Sutker (#44 Clint McDonough, #21 Kyle Fisher)
OT
6:11 Ran #9 Rob Kral (#21 Kyle Krannich, #22 Ricky Roma)

Goalies
#30 Matt Lowell (ML) 37-34
#1 Dan Diamond (Ran) 18-16

Power plays: ML 1-2, Ran 0-2