Middlebury 17 -
Just a
quick note as we have just pulled back into town and it is late. In
the previous two seasons Matt Dunn made a huge statement in his first
practice back after hockey. This year he waited until his first game to
make the statement. I don't have the official stats yet, but he was in
the
ball park of 7 goals and 4 assists. He was dominant. I have no idea
why,
but they put a short stick on him early in the game (possibly because
scouting reports did not have anything on him yet because of hockey). He
shot great and also had several great feeds. Dave Seeley was exceptional
as
well. Those two clearly looked like the elite at their positions in the
country. Seeley could have finished better and would have had a bigger
night, but he was exceptional anyway. Greg Bastis
and Mike Frissora gave us
the transition game we wanted and a glimpse into future possibilities as
they improve throughout the year. Bastis ran by
a bunch of people but
didn't shoot particularly well, so he ended up with only one goal, albeit a
great one when we were struggling a little.
The game was not as close as the score indicates. We were up 5-0, 10-5 at
the half, and we got up to 17-7 (or something close to that) before we
subbed everyone and gave up some late goals. It was tough for the guys
coming in off the bench against the Springfield starters when they had been
sitting in the cold all day watching.
I think Springfield will be a tough team as the year goes on. Their
middies
were a handful and provided tough match ups. Their attack was average and we
tried to put a short stick on an attackman to get an
extra defenseman in the
midfield. We probably could have put two short sticks down and 3 long
sticks in the midfield.
They played a lot of zone after giving up a lot of goals early, and that
slowed our tempo down a little after halftime. We were getting pretty
good
shots, but the goalie made some saves he didn't make early and we tightened
up a bit. We loosened up by the end of the third and into the fourth.
We have some work to do, but we looked good for an early season game. We
certainly look like we can put a lot of points on the board!