GATES MILLS, Ohio -- On Saturday, Rocky River played its season opener in a slowed-down defensive struggle -- a 1-0 game -- against the Mentor Cardinals. Sunday's contest -- against the Hudson Explorers at Gilmour Academy's Floyd Stefanski Ice Center in Gates Mills, Ohio -- was a high-octane, seesaw affair, one with goalies under duress and both teams flipping the switch on several momentum swings. The result was a 6-5 loss for the Pirates.
Ty Koerbel got things going with a goal for Hudson midway through the opening period. An Alec Dickens a minute-and-change later lifted the Explorers to a 2-0 lead. Rocky River battled back, though, getting two goals over the final 2:10 of the first (Teddy Lord, Owen Toole) to knot things up at 2-2 by the end of the first. Lord's goal -- his career first -- marked River's first score of the season.
Hudson reclaimed the lead at the 3:10-mark of the second with a Tommy Rischitelli goal. Two minutes later and for a second time in the contest, the Explorers got themselves to a two-goal cushion when Sam Zulandt found twine.
Again, the Pirates (0-2) battled back. A Ben Greenfield goal at 6:21 got the Maroon & White within one (4-3). But the Explorers got that one back when Ian Ludwig tallied a marker at 11:30, and they would head into the second intermission leading 5-3.
Hudson got a big lift in the second minute of the third period when Dickens planted his second of the game to vault Hudson to a 6-3 lead. Grayson Hess got Rocky River within two (6-4) with a goal at the 5:14 mark.
The Pirates then got within one at 11:19 when Luke Skapoulas finished on an assist from Toole and Jack Davis. But that would be the final netfinder of the 11-goal game.
River's five goals marked the program's most in a loss since Feb. 7, 2020 (6-5 loss to Mentor). Sunday's loss snapped an 11-game unbeaten streak (10-0-1) against Hudson.
Rocky River and Hudson were whistled for a combined 14 penalties in the game. The Pirates outperformed the Explorers in the special-teams minutes that followed. The River power play went 3-for-4, and Pirate penalty killers went 4-for-5. Rocky River's three power-play goals marked the team's most in a single game since the 2019-20 season.
CANNON FIRE ...
SERIES RENEWED: Sunday's Rocky River-Hudson game marked the first meeting between the Pirates and Explorers since Jan. 25, 2020. With the setback, River is now 34-9-2 versus Hudson since 2000. The Pirates had been 10-0-1 against the Explorers since 2017.
TOOLE BOX: Junior defenseman Owen Toole logged a thee-point game for Rocky River. Toole finished with a goal and two assists, notching career points 12, 13, and 14. Sophomore defenseman Luke Skapoulas (goal, assist) and senior defenseman Ben Greenfield (goal, assist) also had multi-point games for the Pirates.
STICK TAP: Sunday's points logged by sophomores Teddy Lord (goal) and A.J. Ritvo (assist) marked career firsts. .
by Skip Snow
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