Spring Break
Men's lax looking sharp in opener
Issue date: 2/28/08
"You never want to give up a goal late in a quarter because it gives the opposing team a lot of momentum going into the break," senior defenseman Matt Bocklet said. "We did not want to let the team down after that especially since the offense was doing their job."
As Bocklet alluded to, the Jays wanted to avenge that final goal. And judging by the play of the Hopkins defense in the second quarter, it showed that they were on a mission. Despite only scoring one goal in the second quarter, on a shot by senior Kevin Huntley 80 seconds in, the Hopkins defense did not allow Albany a single goal. After allowing the Great Danes 12
shots in the first quarter, the Blue Jays held the Danes to just three in the second quarter, while also leading in ground balls 10 to five and forcing six turnovers. Gvozdon also chipped in, recording three saves.
Fifth-year senior and co-captain defenseman Eric Zerrlaut acknowledged that the defense realized the need to step up in the second quarter.
"Our offense took a little while to get rolling, so it helped to motivate us to not let the rest of our team down," he said. "When one side is having a tough time, we've always counted on the other side to help out. We knew it was only a matter of time before our offense started rolling in the second half."
The Blue Jays scored the first two goals after halftime. Doneger scored his second goal of the game on an assist from Huntley just over two minutes into the second half; at 7:49, Rabil scored on an unassisted laser shot from 30 feet out to give Hopkins a 6-2 advantage.
"Feels good," Rabil said about getting his first points of the season. "Albany's coach [Scott] Marr did a good job with their defense, and for us it was really just a matter of trying to play around their system."
That goal turned out to be the eventual game winner, as Albany would be held to three goals for the rest of the game. But the game itself was far from over. The Great Danes would score three of the next four goals, the first by Joe Pompo on a man-up advantage after a penalty on Hopkins junior defenseman Michael Evans off of a hard body check. The goal was Albany's first in over 27 minutes. Hopkins answered shortly after with Huntley's second goal of the game, but Albany's twin brothers Steve and Mike Amman scored twice early in the fourth quarter at the 12:48 mark and the 12:10 mark respectively to put Albany within two goals at 7-5.
As Bocklet alluded to, the Jays wanted to avenge that final goal. And judging by the play of the Hopkins defense in the second quarter, it showed that they were on a mission. Despite only scoring one goal in the second quarter, on a shot by senior Kevin Huntley 80 seconds in, the Hopkins defense did not allow Albany a single goal. After allowing the Great Danes 12
shots in the first quarter, the Blue Jays held the Danes to just three in the second quarter, while also leading in ground balls 10 to five and forcing six turnovers. Gvozdon also chipped in, recording three saves.
Fifth-year senior and co-captain defenseman Eric Zerrlaut acknowledged that the defense realized the need to step up in the second quarter.
"Our offense took a little while to get rolling, so it helped to motivate us to not let the rest of our team down," he said. "When one side is having a tough time, we've always counted on the other side to help out. We knew it was only a matter of time before our offense started rolling in the second half."
The Blue Jays scored the first two goals after halftime. Doneger scored his second goal of the game on an assist from Huntley just over two minutes into the second half; at 7:49, Rabil scored on an unassisted laser shot from 30 feet out to give Hopkins a 6-2 advantage.
"Feels good," Rabil said about getting his first points of the season. "Albany's coach [Scott] Marr did a good job with their defense, and for us it was really just a matter of trying to play around their system."
That goal turned out to be the eventual game winner, as Albany would be held to three goals for the rest of the game. But the game itself was far from over. The Great Danes would score three of the next four goals, the first by Joe Pompo on a man-up advantage after a penalty on Hopkins junior defenseman Michael Evans off of a hard body check. The goal was Albany's first in over 27 minutes. Hopkins answered shortly after with Huntley's second goal of the game, but Albany's twin brothers Steve and Mike Amman scored twice early in the fourth quarter at the 12:48 mark and the 12:10 mark respectively to put Albany within two goals at 7-5.
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