FALMOUTH, MAINE, FEBRUARY 22, 2012 - On this Ash Wednesday morning the Morning Hockey Club Blues watched their hopes of a win over Gold go up in smoke, as Gold rallied from behind to prevail 11-7 in a fast paced back and forth contest here.
Gold jumped to a 2-0 lead on goals by Jeff Berman and Gary Ouellette. Berman, who led all scorers with a hat trick, popped the first goal within seconds of the opening faceoff. Ryan Foresman assisted on Ouellette's goal with a nice pass out front, and Foresman duplicated the move later in the contest on a goal by Mike Cousins.
Bryant Field sent a nice shot in from the point that beat Gold net minder Jim "Red Light" Secunde, who got a piece of it with his shoulder only to have it deflect into the cage. Secunde was his usual brilliant self, ending with 31 saves, many stellar, in the losing effort.
Field's goal seemed to flip a switch for Blue as his goal was followed by goals by Steve Freese (2 goals) on a nice shot to the upper corner, Matt Fitzgerald, Alec Newcomb, and Gerry Nadeau (2 goals), giving Blue the lead 5-2. For awhile it looked like Blue was in control, but in MHC play nothing ever stays the same for long. Momentum shifts often tell the tale.
Gold retook the initiative and positively peppered Blue backstop Walt "The Wall" Leland, swarming around the net. Leland was amazing, finishing the game with 43 saves, but even he could not stave off the determined Gold squad as Eric Lagios (2 goals) tipped in a Leo Iacopucci drive to make the score 5-3 and Jason Willey's goal made it 5-4.
Nadeau countered minutes later breaking in on Secunde for his second tally to make the score 6-4. Then Berman kept the puck in the attacking zone as Blue nearly broke out, he wheeled left and came in on the net to score and bring Gold to within one at 6-5. With about 29 minutes to play Gary Ouellette knotted the tally at 6-6, and minutes later Mike Cousins took a pass from Foresman to score and give Gold the lead, 7-6, which it never relinquished.
Blue fought back. Secunde stopped Nadeau three times in close to the net as Blue battled to get back level, and seconds later Leland made a beautiful save on Berman coming in on net as the back and forth action continued. The edge went to Gold as Cousins scored again after Leland stopped two Gold shots in close but could not stop the third. That was followed by goals from Berman, Lagios, and Iacopucci. Lagios's goal was the highlight goal of the match as he came in alone on Newcomb defending and stick handled right, then left, before deftly popping the disc into the upper corner past a helpless Leland. It was a remarkable move, and even Newcomb had to acknowledge he had been had.
Freese's second goal for Blue closed the scoring at 11-7 with less than two minutes to play.
Editor's Note: Hockey correspondent R. Inkrat has been on special assigment covering the current health care crisis posing as a patient. We still expect to receive occasional contributions until his return to regular hockey reporting.
