Sabers stray from defensive plan

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Photo by Jodie Andruskevich^^Souhegan's Ben Rafferty tries to break away from John Stark's Cam Stewart in Monday's game at Conway Arena in Nashua.

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Photo by Jodie Andruskevich^^Souhegan's #8 Ben Raffety fires a shot on John Stark goalie Brad Hannon a little high of the net in Monday night's game at Conway Arena.

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Photo by Jodie Andruskevich^^Souhegan's Joe Stacy battles John Stark's Bob Galli for the loose puck as John Stark goalie Brad Hannon tries to cover up the puck in Monday night's game at Conway Arena.

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Photo by Jodie Andruskevich^^Souhegan's Conor Casey tries to skate past John Stark's Hunter Goss a make a break for the goal in Monday night's game at Conway Arena.

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Photo by Jodie Andruskevich^^Souhegan's Ben Rafferty skates past the John Stark defense to get a shot on goalie Brad Hannon in Monday's match up at Conway Arena in Nashua.

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Photo by Jodie Andruskevich^^Souhegan's Ben Rafferty gets past the John Stark defense for a shot on goal in Monday night's game at Conway Arena.

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Photo by Jodie Andruskevich^^Souhegan's Ben Rafferty tries to break away from John Stark's Cam Stewart in Monday's game at Conway Arena in Nashua.

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NASHUA – For the better part of two weeks, the system was working perfectly for the Souhegan High School boys ice hockey team.

But on Monday night, the Sabers strayed from that system, at perhaps the worst possible time. Souhegan’s 6-5 loss to John Stark of Weare at Conway Arena may have ramifications down the road.

“I told them the difference between winning and losing this game could be third to seventh place (in Division III),” Souhegan coach Ed Viola said. “The tough thing is, you win it, and you’ve got your fate in your own hands. You’re up there, in the top four, and somebody’s got to come and take it from you. Whereas now you’ve got to get some help from other teams (to finish in the top four). Hopefully we get that, we just have to do our job and hope for a couple of breaks.”

The loss drops the Sabers, who had won four straight and five of six, to 8-5, but more importantly it gives the Generals a 9-3-1 mark and some separation on the edge of the division’s upper echelon.

“This game was a big game,” said John Stark coach Dave Saball, who sat his starting goalie, Tyler LaRose, for disciplinary reasons. “We knew going in we had a lot on our plate against a good quality team.”

The Generals were without LaRose, took nine penalties, gave up three power-play goals, were down 5-on-3 twice and 6-on-3 in the final minute, and still came out on top, getting two goals and two assists from one of the league’s top point-getters, sophomore forward Nick Saball.

Sophomore backup goalie Bradley Hannon stopped 17 Sabers shots. Stark’s one power-play goal, off the stick of senior defenseman Robert Galli, gave the Generals the lead for good, 5-4, just 3:25 into the third period to snap what had been a 4-4 deadlock through the first 30 minutes.

What happened? The Sabers got away from the defensive emphasis they had stressed the last couple of weeks, when they had allowed just five goals in their four previous games.

Too many Generals were in deep for tip-ins or point blank shots on embattled Souhegan netminder Erik Hayden (22 saves), especially in 5-on-5 situations.

“We didn’t have the jump tonight,” Viola said. “But at the same time we had our opportunities. The issue tonight was what we’ve been harping on since the beginning of the year – defense. The previous four games we played that perfectly, today we didn’t. You go in the locker room and you say ‘Let’s learn from it’. You can see the difference, one or two goals (allowed) versus five or six. Simple as that.”

Souhegan got a pair of goals and an assist from Ben Rafferty, as well as a goal and three assists from Quinn Carroll.

The Sabers, who also got single tallies from Joe Stacy and, in the final minute, Carson Burke, led 2-1 after one period.

However, after giving up two goals to Generals’ Pat Signer and Dylan Payea in a 43-second span early in the second period, Souhegan was basically playing catch-up the rest of the way. Saball’s second goal, a wrister at even strength at 11:52 of the third period, made it a 6-4 game.

There was hope in the final minute when Stark foolishly took two penalties with 54.3 seconds remaining, and Hayden was pulled. But the Sabers could only manage Burke’s power-play goal.

“We got lucky,” Dave Saball said. “Wouldn’t be the way I’d script it, but I’ll take it.”