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Lincoln skates past Barrington, 7-4 |
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Saturday, 15 December 2007 |
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By BRENDAN McGAIR Times sports writer
PAWTUCKET – A changing of the guard is currently under way for the Lincoln High sextet. Gone are the senior-laden clubs that littered the scene the last few seasons. Taking their place is a fresh wave of talent, many of whom have wasted no time in becoming contributors.
Lions of varying degrees of age and experience were on display Friday evening at Lynch Arena. And because of these multiple sources, Lincoln skated away with its first win of the season, a 7-4 verdict over Barrington High in a Division 1A contest.
Co-captain Kyle Dagesse netted two first period goals while junior Brendan Sullivan also found the back of the net twice. Sullivan’s second goal came with less than six seconds remaining in the second period when the center drilled a shot after winning the face-off.
Dagesse and Sullivan were hardly alone in the contributing department for the Lions, now 2-1.
Juniors Nathan Duquette and Alexander Murray both scored a goal in the third period while senior Corey Martone, one of the key holdovers from the past few winters, finished off the scoring with 50 seconds remaining.
Those are the names that appeared in the scoring sheet, but as co-coach Dennis Riel said afterwards, plenty of Lions left an impression on the coaching staff.
“We’re really in the teaching mode with these guys right now. We’re coming off two seasons of senior-dominated teams,” said Riel. “As we develop we’ll start to build up some team chemistry. This is a very young team, so these games present excellent teaching opportunities.”
Barrington roared out of the chute to a 2-zip lead in the first period on goals from Rui Pereira and Patrick Murphy. Then it became Dagesse’s time to carry the load.
Dagesse cut the deficit in half when he muscled his way through a pair of Barrington defenders, unleashing a back-hander that netminder Harry Holland (16 saves) had no chance of stopping.
“[Kyle] is our captain for a reason, and has great hands,” said Riel. “Sometimes he takes himself out of scoring position, but he’ll score some goals for us this year.”
Dagesse light the lamp 31 seconds later after flinging the puck towards a surprised Holland, given the little reaction he displayed. Lincoln completed the momentum swing
when with 40 seconds remaining in the opening period, Sullivan, who missed the opening two contests, teed up a rocket that rocketed past Holland. Martone started the play when he fired a shot that Holland directed right to Sullivan.
After Barrington fought back to knot the score at 3-all early in the second, Sullivan was Johnny-on-the-spot with time winding down. He cleanly won the draw and in one swooping motion found some twine with 3.6 seconds left.
“[Brendan] is our center of energy, there’s no doubt about that. He explodes out there and makes a real difference,” said Riel. “That was a big goal he scored late in the second. He makes thing happen for us.”
Riel likes the makeup of his team for a few reasons. First the Lions have enough offensive threats that they really don’t feature a true top line. Second, there’s plenty of interchangeable parts to spare.
Take Martone for example. After starting the game as a defenseman, he moved up to natural left wing position in the third period.
“We have eight or nine forwards that we can play,” Riel said. “We have two pretty equal lines.”
Lincoln is also counting on a pair of freshmen in William Nesbitt and Ryan O’Dell.
“William was able to give us some significant minutes,” said Riel. “Ryan came to us with a big reputation. We require the most out of our centers which is where he plays.”
Lincoln netminder Mark Bushy stopped 22 shots.
“If he’s not the top goalie in the division, then he’s certainly up there,” said Riel. “He doesn’t give up many rebounds.” |
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 18 December 2007 )
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