Falcons and Bruins Ice Hockey Battle to 5-5 Tie

Story and photos by Colin A.J. Murphy
@SPVoiceSports

You know what it’s like, you athletes, you fans. The season starts, you take a look at the schedule, and you make note of when you play your biggest rival. Ignoring any coaching pleas to “take it one game at a time,” you foresee only victory, maybe to extend your school’s streak in the series, or get revenge for last year’s loss.

But a tie? There’s a reason they say ties are like kissing your sister—you don’t even want to think about it.
Of course, that was the result for the Severna Park and Broadneck ice hockey teams on January 2 at Navy Ice in Annapolis, as the Falcons and Bruins battled to a 5-5 outcome in a thoroughly entertaining match that left hundreds of fans from both schools wanting more and players from both sides simmering with frustration, itching for an overtime that wasn’t going to come.

“It’s a tough tie,” said Severna Park senior goalkeeper Travis Danko, who posted 22 saves (which was, naturally, the exact same amount as Broadneck freshman goalkeeper Anrew Ehler). “A tie for us is a loss at this point. Our goal is to go 10-0, so this is a tough loss to our rival.”
Broadneck (3-1-1) was likewise less than enthusiastic about the draw, but it was a decent result for the Bruins, who never led and came back from 1-0, 3-1, 4-3 and 5-4 deficits to avoid a loss and keep pace with the Falcons (3-2-1) in the Maryland Student Hockey League East Division standings.

“I think we have another notch that we can take and be more aggressive to the puck,” said Broadneck Head Coach Kevin Rooney. “We tend to play stronger when we’re using our speed and our passing. So I think we had a good game overall, but we could definitely take it up a notch.”

The Bruins had to find an extra gear after Severna Park got off to a strong start. The Falcons pressed hard through the first ten minutes, enjoying a lopsided amount of possession. Bailey Pottinger notched the game’s first goal to give the Falcons a 1-0 lead, but several minutes later Broadneck’s Taylor Culmore intercepted a pass and beat Danko one-on-one to tie the game at 1-1.

Severna Park regained the lead with just one second remaining in the first period. After a flurry of close-range shots by the Falcons were stopped by Ehler, a rebound came to Finley Code, who beat the buzzer to put the Severna Park back ahead, 2-1.

Early in the second period, after firing a shot that was deflected by Ehler, Ryan Frey pounced on his own rebound and found the back of the net to give his side a 3-1 lead.

The Bruins had the better of play over much of the second, forcing Danko into 10 saves in the frame. A hard slapshot by Broadneck’s AJ Wood rebounded off Danko to Josh Iffland, and the freshman stuck it home to close the gap to 3-2. The Bruins equalized shortly thereafter when Alex Worgo’s breakaway speed yielded a one-on-one with Danko, and the Bruin junior went top shelf to even the game at 3-3.
Wasting no time in responding to the Bruins’ rally, Frey got his second of the game immediately on the ensuing faceoff, pushing the Falcons back ahead, 4-3. After Danko and Ehler traded outstanding saves, Broadneck’s Nathan Mousser intercepted a Falcon pass and rifled a shot into the top left corner of the net to even the game at 4-4 after two periods.

Just seconds into the third, Severna Park senior Jake Siefert wowed the crowd with a blast from just inside the blue line and over the left shoulder of Ehler for a goal and a 5-4 Falcon lead.

Midway through the third, Worgo was stuffed by Danko on a breakaway chance, but he got his revenge moments later, the puck falling to his backhand right in front of the net.

“I just basically saw a shot hit the goalie off the pad and I got it right in front and threw it at the net, and it happened to go in,” said Worgo of his second goal, which tied the game at 5-5.
Each team had its chances in the game’s final minutes, but both Danko and Ehler notched save after save to keep their sides from going down. A stick save by Ehler with 30 seconds left ignited a fast break, but Broadneck’s attempt at goal was thwarted by Danko, and the game ended in deadlock.

At 3-1-1, the Bruins believe their position is strengthening to start 2013.

“Our goal is to make the playoffs, go far, and hopefully win states, win a championship for Broadneck,” said Worgo.

Rooney agreed, saying that his squad’s steady improvement has been encouraging.

“We have the talent on the team to really go a long way, I really believe that,” he said. “Our defense has been phenomenal and our leadership is solid on the team. So if our positioning continues to increase, watch out for us, because we’re really strong and we’re really deep.”

As a co-op team featuring several players who attend Severn, Severna Park is coming off a provisional season in which they went 11-0 and finished ranked first in the state. Their hopes are high for this season, when unlike last year, they will be eligible for the playoffs.

“The strength of this team is our senior leadership,” said Gaudet of his squad, citing the play of Siefert, Danko, Jake Seibel, Tom Sheldon and Joe Weadon. “I think we were the better team on the ice today, and the 5-5 score – we’re not happy with it, but I guess we’ll take it. Winning this game and making the playoffs are our number one goals every year.”

Since the rivalry game: Severna Park came out hot in its next contest on January 4, blanking Easton 6-0 on goals by Frey, Pottinger, Code, Seibel, Nick Bondra and Jesse Kuhlman. Traditionally a very strong program, Easton had previously won all three of its games this season by double digits, but this is the second straight year they have fallen to the Falcons.

Broadneck likewise continued its strong play, shutting out Fallson 5-0 on January 4 on two goals by Wood and one each by Worgo, Culmore, and Nathan Mouser.

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