1/10/05
Rhinos Slay Another Dragon
Salisbury, Conn. -- #8-ranked Taft School continued its roll over higher-ranked teams Monday, handing #2 Salisbury a 5-4 defeat in a hard-fought match here. Shane Farrell led the Taft offense with a hat trick.
The Taft victory was not a one-sided one, however, as Salisbury outshot Taft 36 -24 in the game.But the Taft defense, led by junior goalie Alex Kremer, proved to be the difference in the game -- just as it was Saturday when Taft upset #1 Avon Old Farms by a 1-0 score.In that game, the Taft goalie was sophomore Andrew Margolin.
Taft took a 1-0 lead at 15:40 of the first period when Farrell scored on a shot from just above the left face-off circle that somehow eluded Salisbury goalie Jeff Mack. It was the only score in the period.Taft outshot Salisbury 9-8.
But the Salisbury offense kicked into high gear when they opened the second period with 1:50 remaining on a power play.During that span, Salisbury pumped off five shots on the Taft goal but Kremer stood up to the test.At 4:52, however, Salisbury senior Tyler Quinn took a shot from approximately the same spot that Taft scored on in the first period, and this time Taft goalie Kremer let in a goal that he probably should have stopped.
For the rest of the second period, the two teams traded power play goals.
With just over seven minutes left in the second period Salisbury took a penalty, and Taft capitalized quickly on the power play when Charlie Townsend pumped in a shot from just outside the left face-off circle at the 12:36 mark.Almost immediately after that goal, however, Taft took a penalty, and, at 13:37, Salisbury responded with a Will Ortiz power play goal on a tough-angle shot from the left of the goal. Less than a minute later, Salisbury got caught with too many men on the ice, giving Taft yet another power play. With 1:31 remaining in the period, Max Pacioretty fed Sean Carty with a perfect pass at the left post, and Carty put the puck home.At the end of the period Taft had a 3-2 lead, even though Salisbury had outshot Taft in the period 16-11.
The power play seesaw continued as the third period opened.This time it was Salisbury's turn when Taft's Jake Davis was sent off the ice with a penalty. Ortiz picked up his second goal of the game when he poked in a rebound of a shot by Mike Biega (whose brother, Alex,sat out the game with an ankle injury) at 4:33.That tied the game at 3-3.The game intensified from that point on, but Taft broke the ice at 8:59 of the period off a 2-on-1 rush.Farrell took the shot from just outside the right face-off circle, and scored when the puck caromed off the left post into the net. Just over two minutes later, at 11:06, Jeff Beck fed a perfect pass through the Salisbury defensemen to Farrell, sending him in on a breakaway.Farrell scored on a shot into the upper left corner, giving the visitors a 5-3 lead.
Salisbury pulled its goalie in the final minutes, and it paid off when Jeremiah Cunningham stuffed home a rebound in front of the net with 8.3 seconds left on the clock.
But time ran out for Salisbury, and Taft had its second major upset of the week.
-- T.M.
