Things didn’t go exactly as planned for the Brooklyn Aces last night, but they held on for 60 minutes against a tough New Jersey Rockhoppers team and eventually came out victorious 5-4 after a Tony Resendes goal in overtime.
With Andrew Scampoli arriving late from Holland and Vladislav Kouroedov having problems with league paperwork, Resendes and Brent Ozarowski were the Aces’ only new additions in the lineup last night.
Nevertheless, the two combined for two goals and four points and fueled perhaps the team’s biggest victory of the season.
“It was a big win,” said Aces head coach Chris Firriolo. “We had some breakdowns early and if things like that continue to happen, we’re going to run into trouble, but we’ll take it. I’m happy that we came out hard when it counted.”
While the Aces were in fact the far better team offensively in the first, out-shooting the Rockhoppers 22-12, New Jersey goaltender Nick Niedert [44 saves] was again uber solid. Kyle Bozoian opened up the scoring with a powerplay goal in traffic at just 0:35, beating Aces goaltender Eddie Neville and giving the Rockhoppers a 1-0 lead. Brooklyn wasted no time getting back into the game however, as a C.J. Tozzo one-timer from the slot after a beautiful pass from Kyle McCullough at 2:21 tied the game at 1-1.
“We were just making smart decisions and we took advantage,” said Tozzo. “Things get easier out there when simplify your game.”
The Aces’ top duo continued to marvel throughout the period, as McCullough tallied on the powerplay at 7:18, this time on a pass from Tozzo, giving them a 2-1 lead. The next few minutes were quiet offensively, but Aces forwards Mike Thomson, Chris Holmes and Matt McGilvray were busy on the boards, nailing several quality body checks. It wasn’t enough to frazzle the Rockhoppers though, as a Logan Bittle snapshot after a Dustin Henning shot from the point at 13:19 tied the game at 2-2 to cap the period’s scoring.
What the second period lacked in offensive prowess, it surely made up for with intensity. With both goaltenders on their games, both teams began to get frustrated, but couldn’t induce any offense, keeping the game 2-2 going into the third period.
Things changed quickly in the third though after Ozarowski lit the lamp at 3:15 on a nasty wist shot that beat Niedert glove side and gave Brooklyn a 3-2 lead. New Jersey tied it up 4:28 later on another goal from Bittle and got the lead just 79 seconds later, Matt Tyree put them ahead 4-3 with a goal of his own.
Firriolo called a timeout soon after and the Aces responded in grand fashion. With just 2:23 remaining, McCullough laced a one-timer past Niedert to tie the game at 4-4 and send the game into overtime.
Once into the extra period, the Aces got several quality opportunities, but didn’t come through until Resendes found the back of the net on a mini-breakaway attempt at 2:57, inducing a 5-4 Aces win.
“God blessed me with some good legs,” said Resendes, who ironically missed two months with a knee injury before last niht. “I knew I had a chance if I just skated hard, so that’s what I did.”
With the win, Brooklyn stretches it’s lead to 11 points over the Rockhoppers, with only 14 games remaining.
“This was a humongous game for us,” said Tozzo. “Everyone really worked hard out there and pulled through. We made some mistakes and they capitalized because they’re a good hockey team, but overall, we were able to come back as a group.”
Notes-
Firriolo announced after the game that Andrew Scampoli will be in the lineup today against the Danbury Mad Hatters. Mike Christensen could also be in the lineup, but is currently questionable.
Firriolo also announced that once Rob Miller rejoins the team on the ice on Thursday, he will be named the team’s fourth captain this season.
Ozarowski had three points and was a +4 in his Aces debut.
Neville made 33 saves on 37 shots.
The Aces powerplay was one for three.
Attendance for the game was 1,033.
Photos by Patrick Hickey Jr.
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