Shut out in that preliminary-round game, the Knights finally broke through against Bearden netminder Logan Baker 3:02 into the championship finale when a shot by James Lynch trickled through Baker’s pads.
The power-play tally was more than just a tying goal; it showed that Baker was not going to be invincible on this day.
“The goalie was not as good this time,” JP II coach Bjorn Svedin said. “He’s still a great goalie, but he was not as sharp as he was in Knoxville.”
Indeed, the Knights broke the game open in the second stanza on goals by Matt Wear and Ben Lafrancois and a pair from Ryan Sterrett. The final score was 5-1 Knights.
“There was never doubt in my mind that we could lose,” team captain Chris Bourget said. “I was so focused, and I’m the captain, and I’m the head of the team, so if I play really hard, everybody just takes off of me and plays hard.”
“Slowly but surely, we kept on picking at them,” Svedin said. “The bench strength of our team showed again. It’s been our game plan all year long. We got three lines where there’s no drop-off. You’ll never know who’s going to be the performing line of the night.”
“We came out focused and we worked our hardest,” Sterrett added. “It’s been what we planned all season. It was our goal.”
“I thought they came out flatter than when we played them in Knoxville, when they came out really, really fast,” Svedin said.
“They came out fast against Mt. Juliet as well, and we knew that. We kind of stacked it a little bit in the beginning to neutralize their first punch, and then after that we took control of the game.”
Bearden coach John Cox praised the Knights, saying, “They played very, very well. They’re a very deep team. We got out-shot. We got out-hustled to the puck in the second period.”
Svedin acknowledged the contributions of five freshmen who played travel hockey the year before.
“They’re five scorers. They’re all young,” Svedin said. “But I don’t make them choose. I feel privileged if I can use them. But they’ve really stepped up and like high school hockey.”
He also had the services of two Russian players, Dan and Dmitry Adams, who had to sit out the 2005-06 season due to eligibility issues.
Still, there’s no denying the Knights earned every bit of their title, with the team’s explosive offense waking up at exactly the right time.
Bourget offered up a little bulletin board material for next year when asked about Mt. Juliet: “We’ll let ’em have the region finals. We’ll just take the state. That’s fine.”
The road to the championship game was paved with short fuses.
Tempers got the best of Bearden and Mt. Juliet in the semi-final game March 16 at Southern Ice Arena, in Franklin. Two players were nailed with game misconduct penalties and two others received 10-minute misconduct penalties.
In the end, Bearden stood taller after scoring three times against Bears goalie Andrew Maines in less than two minutes during a prolonged power play early in the second period. Bearden won 7-3.
Andrew Nickels led the way with a hat trick and an assist, while Mt. Juliet’s Drew Bracey had two assists in a losing cause.
Similarly, Collierville lost a player to a game misconduct late in the third period against JP II, but by then the game was already decided. The Knights found the explosive offense they had been missing in the preliminary round, peppering Collierville with shot after shot and winning 5-1.
Chris Bourget and Jack Bradshaw paced JP II with two goals apiece, while seven Collierville players earned points in the loss.
Collierville used the consolation game against Mt. Juliet to have a little fun, playing its forwards on defense and its defensemen at forward.
In the end, the laid-back approach earned a 4-2 victory over the disappointed Mt. Juliet squad. Cameron Poindexter and Hunter Pate scored for the Dragons. |
