ROCKY RIVER, Ohio – Call it 2020 vision. After going 2-3-1 over their last six games in December, the Pirates have flipped the calendar page. And the script. And, after a dominant 6-2 win over Hudson on Saturday, Rocky River is 4-0 in January. Undefeated in the new decade.
On Saturday at Hamilton Ice Arena, the Pirates continued to display depth in their ability to find the back of the net. Five River skaters combined to score the team’s six goals on Saturday, and the contest marked the sixth straight game with the Sons of Blackbeard scoring six or more goals.
In Saturday’s Greater Cleveland High School Hockey League Red Division affair, the Pirates and Explorers exchanged goals over the opening seven minutes of play. Senior defenseman Ethan Routenberg notched his fifth goal of the season at the 10:35-mark of the first. On an offensive zone possession kept alive by Logan Fortune and James Byall, Routenberg settled the puck just inside the blue line and his lefty shot was a well-placed one – through traffic and past the Hudson netminder. Hudson answered with a power-play goal at 8:35 of the same period. Rocky River struggled early on with its defensive-zone exits, and senior goaltender Ethan Mylett was under duress over the front part of the first. Sophomore defenseman Parker McClain was especially impactful in steadying the effort from the blueliners. His crisp passes and effective exits got the Pirates on a roll. McClain would finish the game with an assist, a blocked shot and three takeaways.
The Hilliard Road Buccaneers and their visitors from Hudson
(9-9-1, 3-4-1 GCHSHL Red) looked to be headed for a 1-1 tie through the end of
a physical, penalty-ridden first frame. But a Logan Fortune goal 26 seconds
before the buzzer lifted Rocky River to a 2-1 lead. The short-handed goal came
on a Danny Asmar assist and after an Asmar blocked shot at the other end of the
ice.
After the first intermission, the Double-R penalty killers
finished their work on the carry-over infraction from the first, and then the
Pirate offense went back to work. At 13:52 of the second, Hayden Weaver notched
his 13th goal of the season – and sixth of 2020 – off his own takeaway and a tape-to-tape game of catch with Asmar. Less than a minute-and-a-half later, Zach Pejeau planted a goal on assists from Ethan Routenberg and Dillon Bandi. That goal came after the Pirates logged extensive possession time in the offensive zone. The River lead stood at 4-1.
Pejeau’s opposite number, Mack Clark, cut the Hudson deficit to two (4-2), when he took a pass from the left wing and found twine from the low slot at 6:23 of the second. The Pirates got that goal back at 1:03 – 31 seconds into a River power play – when Logan Fortune landed his second of the game on assists from Aiden Dempsey and Routenberg.
Rocky River’s 5-2 lead would hold until the 4:44-mark of the final period, when Danny Asmar registered his third point of the game on season goal No. 18. That goal – assisted by Weaver and McClain – was scored moments after a Pirate power play ended. For the game, Rocky River went 2-of-5 with an extra skater. The Pirate penalty killers went 4-for-5.
Ethan Mylett was sharp in making 16 saves in the game. Early
on, he was taking plenty of Explorer shots to the crest of his Double-R
sweater. But, especially over periods two and three, the senior cage-keeper
turned aside numerous well-placed shots otherwise destined for all four corners
of the goal frame.
The Pirates (13-5-2, 4-1) outshot the Explorers in every
period and finished with a 35-18 edge. In allowing just two scores on Saturday,
the River defense has now allowed just three goals over its last three games
combined.
The Pirates extended their home record to 6-1-1. They will
put that mark on the line in a non-conference game against Holy Name on
Wednesday (8 p.m., Hamilton Arena). That contest will mark an opening round
game in the 2020 Cleveland Jesuit Classic.
CANNON FIRE …
WHAT’S YOUR 20?: With his two goals and one assist, Logan Fortune hit the 20-point mark for a second straight season. The senior winger has registered 10 goals and 10 assists in River’s 20 games. Fortune scored 25 points a year ago and is just two points away from 50 for his career.
IN DENIAL: The Rocky River defense has yielded just 50 shots on goal over the team’s four-game win streak. The streak marks the Pirates’ second-longest this season. River opened the 2019-20 season with five consecutive victories (Nov. 23-30). … Ethan Routenberg single-handedly thwarted a chunk of would-be Hudson shots on Saturday. Routenberg led the Pirates with four takeaways.
CIRCLE OF TRUST: After going 6-10 on 16 first-period faceoffs, Rocky River went 27-12 the rest of the way. Senior center Luke Mallett went 10-5 at the dot for the game.
by Skip Snow
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