1/24/04
Schneider Comes Up Big in 2-2 Tie
Andover, Mass. -- Putting the puck past Andover goalie – and BC recruit -- Cory Schneider is no small task, and Nobles, despite having put nearly 50 shots on him, still found themselves trailing their hosts, 2-1, as today’s game came down to its final minutes.
It looked like Schneider was going to steal a W, but then, with 3:11 remaining, Nobles senior Joe Cappellano, diving across the top of the crease, managed to get some wood on a loose puck and knocked it by Schneider. Chris Poli and Erik Pridham assisted on the goal.
The game went into overtime, and Nobles kept up the pressure on the Andover defense and Schneider. Mark Fayne, Poli, Matt Nelson, and Dan McGoff all had good opportunities in OT, but Schneider held the fort, allowing Andover to escape with a 2-2 tie.
It was the second straight day Andover, ranked #9 in this week’s USHR Div. I poll,played to a 2-2 tie, as yesterday Schneider came up big as Andover tied Thayer 2-2. Nobles was playing its second game in two days also, having lost to Lawrence Academy, 3-2, yesterday.
In the first period, with Nobles on a powerplay, senior defenseman Phil McDavitt beat Schneider through a screen to give the visitors their only lead of the day. Chris Poli picked up an assist on the play.
Andover tied it up at 1-1 when Jed McDonald, a PG defenseman out of Hingham High, barreled through the neutral zone, crossed the blue line relatively untouched, and broke in alone on Nobles senior goalie Rob Horgan. McDonald’s shot hit the post and came to rest on the goal line behind Horgan. Senior forward Stephen Russell, trailing the play, nudged the puck over the goal line with 1:09 left in the period.
In the second period Andover took a 2-1 lead when big sophomore defenseman Hunter Thunell fired a shot on net, and sophomore forward Paul Engelhardt knocked home the rebound at the 10:40 mark.
In the third, with about nine minutes remaining in regulation, Andover had a nice chance to go up 3-1 when Russell had a breakaway against Horgan but failed to get a good shot off.
A little over five minutes later, Nobles tied it up at 2-2. Despite a Nobles-dominated overtime, that’s how things ended.
The shots on goal total we were given was Nobles 56, Andover 26. We’re not sure if it was quite that many, but the point remains: Andover will go as far as Schneider takes them. On any given day, he can steal a win, and he came very close to doing that today, having to settle instead for stealing a tie.
Notes: In other games involving top ten teams, the scores we have so far are Taft 7,Canterbury 2; Cushing 7, Conn. Clippers 1; Belmont Hill 6, St. Paul's 1; Thayer 9, Milton 2; Trinity-Pawling 4, Hotchkiss 1 (which we report on below); and, in the day's biggest shocker, #1 and formerly undefeated Avon Old Farms lost at Berkshire, 5-3. One more: Salisbury played a night game at Kent and won 10-1. GDA and St. Seb’s were both idle today. Please check the box scores above for more.
