Tigers’ hockey bucks Rough Riders in third period

“I think it boils down to mental mistakes,” the second-year coach said. “It is an emotional grind and we just need to stay focused. A couple of them are retaliations that are really unnecessary, in-that-momenttype of thing and they just need to stay within themselves and control their emotions a bit.”

The Tigers did not commit a penalty in the final two periods and received an offensive jolt in the third to defeat Greater Cleveland High School Hockey League Blue East Division foe Kent Roosevelt 4-1 at The Pond in Auburn Township.

“At the end of the day we do not give up regardless of what the score is,” Hoberman said. “They do not stop driving throughout the game. Our mentality is we go from start to end regardless of the score and do not change that whether we happen to be up or down or whatever the case may be.”

The win further cemented Chagrin Falls’ stranglehold on first place in the Blue East Division and inched them closer to an automatic berth in the Baron Cup III tournament.

The top three in the Blue East Division automatically advance to the Baron Cup III postseason along with the top three teams from the Blue West Division, with the seventh team being determined by a play-in game between the fourth seeded teams of the Blue East and the Blue South and the final spot going to the winner of the Blue South Division.

With only two Blue East games left this season, the Tigers (10-5-0, 6-2-0) are in a good spot to clinch an automatic bid in the Baron Cup III tourney.

“We want to win every game and have two more league games left and they are hugely important for the standings,” Hoberman said. “The team understands that we have goals for the season and the only way to accomplish goals is by winning games so we are hugely excited by Saturday’s results.”

Chagrin Falls raced out to a 1-0 lead when senior forward Zech Armstrong scored with an assist from freshman forward Henry Cimperman at the 13:21 mark.

But the Tigers committed three penalties.

It was bad enough having to play short-handed for half of the period but even more difficult because Chagrin Falls was already down two skaters before the puck even dropped.

One skater was out because of illness and senior right wing Elliot Despres was absent due to a two-game suspension he received after being ejected for arguing a call in the game against crosstown rival Kenston on Jan. 8.

Continuing to commit penalties just added to the problem.

“They felt it,” Hoberman said. “They understood what it meant when he was not there. It was tough and one of those things where emotionally they felt bad but at the same time, it was game time and someone had to fill those slots.”

The Rough Riders eventually prevailed on a power play and tied the game at 1-1 when they crashed the net and sophomore forward Alex Simms flipped the puck in off assists from senior defenseman Erik Lager Lindstrom and senior defenseman Mikey Haney with 3:41 remaining in the period.

The amount of time spent on penalty kills limited the Tigers’ shot opportunities and they were outshot by an 18-4 margin in the first.

Hoberman said Chagrin Falls improved its discipline in the second, but also played passively and allowed the Rough Riders to dominate puck possession.

In the first two periods, Kent Roosevelt launched 35 shots against just 11 shots by the Tigers.

Sophomore goalkeeper Nathaniel Newton stayed ready and recorded 34 saves to preserve the 1-1 tie heading into the final period.

According to Hoberman, as poorly as his team played in the first two periods, they were inspired to pick up their sophomore netminder.

“They understood the weight that is on Nathaniel’s shoulders and they needed to be there for him as a team,” he said. “They support him regardless of what the score is and they understood the importance of being on the attack and putting pucks in the net to take some of the burden off of Nathaniel.”

The Tigers finally went on the offensive and Armstrong scored the go-ahead goal unassisted with 10:47 remaining in regulation, pushing them ahead 2-1.

Chagrin Falls added the insurance goal when senior forward Caden Smith scored off an assist from senior center Henry Westendorf at the 7:38 mark.

Hoberman noted it was nice to see Smith finally take his shot after focusing on setting up his teammates for goals this year.

“Caden tends to be very unselfish and he looks to feed and pass the puck and push the puck to somebody else on his line,” Hoberman said. “The last couple of weeks we have been focused on telling him that if he has the opportunity to shoot that puck, take a shot again.”

Kent Roosevelt stayed aggressive but could not score against Newton, who tallied 47 saves and Westendorf added another goal for good measure on an empty netter off an assist from Armstrong with 1:40 left in regulation.

“We knew going into the third period we needed to be puck-dominant,” Hoberman said. “We spent much more time in our offensive zone, which made it easier on the entire defense. And then in our defensive zone, we reacted much better to what Kent Roosevelt was doing in that third period.”

The Tigers will host West Geauga at 8:35 p.m. on Thursday, then welcome GCHSHL Blue East foe Canfield to their home ice so Senior Night at 8:50 p.m Saturday.