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Taft Ties Up Hotchkiss, Remains Undefeated -- Sat. February 26, 2000 at Lakeville, Conn. By John Riley A Ryan Shannon goal – his second of the game – with just 2:14 remaining lifted #1-ranked Taft into a 3-3 tie at Hotchkiss today. Despite trailing 2-0 at the end of two, and later 3-2 with less than three minutes to go, Taft showed tremendous character and poise as they refused give up, and found a way to preserve their undefeated regular season. The game, played in front of a full house, started slowly but gained momentum as it wore on. With both teams utilizing conservative 1-2-2 forechecks, the play was tentative. Things got lively when, with just under six minutes remaining in the period, Taft forward Dan Welch, who did not have the puck, drove the net hard during an offensive rush and barreled into Hotchkiss goalie Kyle McNulty. A small scramble ensued – as well as a power-play for Hotchkiss. However, they were unable to convert. Shortly thereafter, Shannon had his first of many offensive chances when, after a clean shot at the net, he corralled and followed with his own rebound, but was denied by McNulty. The first period ended scoreless, with the shots even at seven. The second period clearly had more life to it as both teams had a fair amount of quality scoring chances. It was the Bearcats however, who capitalized first, at the 8:29 mark. Off a long dump in – and waved icing – Taft’s Ryan Sochacki retrieved the puck in his defensive zone and attempted a long cross-ice breakout pass. Unfortunately for Taft, it was intercepted by Hotchkiss’ Adam Foote, who was stationed in the high slot. Foote corralled the puck and calmly rifled a low, hard shot through the legs of Taft netminder Mark Spadaccini, giving the home team a 1-0 lead. Peculiarly, immediately thereafter Hotchkiss changed goalies, inserting senior Eric Smith in place of the unscored-upon McNulty. Right away, at 8:43, the dynamic Shannon, alone in the slot, tested Smith with a blast. Smith, despite coming in cold, made a terrific instinctive save. Just under a minute later, at 9:17, Hotchkiss -- and Foote -- struck again. Off a dump-in and forecheck, Chris Swon created a turnover in the left offensive corner. The scrappy Swon corralled the puck and slid it to Foote in the slot. Foote backhanded a shot past Spadaccini – again through the five-hole – to give the home team a seemingly commanding 2-0 lead. The third period slowed back down to the pace of the first as Hotchkiss worked to protect its two-goal lead. This seemed to work – for the first seven minutes, anyway. Then Taft struck – and quickly. On the forecheck, Taft third line junior Taylor Leahy created a turnover and then threw the loose puck towards the Hotchkiss net. Nobody was there -- except Hotchkiss defenseman Brian Phinney. The errant pass struck Phinney’s skate and deflected past a stunned Smith to cut the Hotchkiss lead to 2-1. Just fifty seconds later, Shannon tied the game. Showing his tremendous offensive ability, the diminutive junior from Darien, Conn. picked up a loose puck in his defensive zone and virtually stick-handled through the entire Bearcat team before letting go a soft shot from the right offensive face-off dot which found its way past Smith. With 7:10 remaining, the game was tied 2-2. Hotchkiss rebounded, however, and began to generate some offensive pressure of their own. Their number one line of Swon, Brent Robinson, and Foote had a great shift in which they cycled and created a few threats. Off the ensuing face-off and line change, the forechecking continued until Hotchkiss junior Chris Brooks corralled the puck behind the net and walked out untouched, sliding the puck – again through the five-hole – past Spadaccini to give the hosts a 3-2 lead with exactly three minutes left on the clock. This set the stage – again – for Shannon. As was the case with his first goal, Shannon picked up a loose puck in his defensive zone and raced through the neutral zone before blasting a slap shot as he reached the blue line and was met by a gapping Hotchkiss defenseman. Smith got a piece of the puck – but not enough – as it zipped past him to tie the game at 3-3 and ultimately send it into overtime. Taft outshot Hotchkiss 3-1 in the overtime. However, there were no real scoring threats at either end. Taft ends the season at 20-0-3 and enters the tournament as the #1 seed in the west. Hotchkiss is likely the #3 seed and will most likely travel to Deerfield on Wednesday.
Scoring Summary: USHR Three Stars
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