AUBURN - The phrase “nice check” is often thrown around hockey rinks. But rarely do any of them resemble the one handed out at Casey Park on Wednesday night. This one was worth $450.
Prior to the game between the Auburn Maroons and Baldwinsville Bees, Maroon captains Chris Daly and Rob Steigerwald presented a check on behalf of the team's players, coaches and families for the Bobby Conklin Scholarship Fund.
Conklin, who would have been a senior for the Bees, was killed in a car accident on his way to the first practice of the season on Nov. 10. He was 17.
“The kids are handling it as well as can be expected, but it's with us every day,” Baldwinsville coach Mark Lloyd said. “[Auburn] was certainly more than generous. We're really thrilled with what they did.”
After a moment of silence in honor of Conklin, the Maroons and Bees skated to a 2-2 tie, thanks in large part to Jake Conway. The Maroons' goaltender made 27 saves as Baldwinsville outshot Auburn 29-16.
Conway gave his team a chance to win throughout the entire game, but one unlucky break almost dealt the Maroons a loss.
“It's happened so many times - we get in tight situations and everything goes against us,” Conway said. “There'll be a bad bounce or a bad goal, and we'll end up on the losing side of it.”
Late in the third period, after the Bees created a turnover behind the Auburn net, a pass scooted across the goal mouth and deflected off a skate toward the goal. Conway slid his glove to his left and managed to cover it up just inches before it crossed the goal line, keeping the score tied with three minutes to play in regulation.
“Luckily I saw it, and I just got my glove down as quick as possible,” Conway said. “It was one of those weird bounces I was talking about. It was a routine save, but it was unexpected.”
One thing Conway did expect was a busy night, and he certainly had it.
Baldwinsville pressured the Auburn defense from the opening faceoff, creating turnovers and scoring chances left and right. For most of the first period, the Bees pinned the Maroons in their own end, but were unable to score as the Auburn defense forced Baldwinsville to work from the outside.
Despite the pressure, Auburn actually had more scoring chances in the first period, most of them coming on the rush.
But the Maroons struggled to hit the net. Rob Steigerwald sent a one-timer just wide of the left post, and J.T. Foltz fanned on another scoring opportunity in the slot.
The game remained scoreless for more than 14 minutes until Matt Chadderdon gave Auburn the lead with 43 seconds left in the first.
Chadderdon intercepted a pass in the neutral zone and crossed the blue line facing two defenders. He cut around the first and slipped the puck through the legs of the other and managed to chip a shot over Baldwinsville goaltender Jeff Krull. It clanked off the cross bar and dropped in.
“We wanted to cut down their neutral zone play and their breakout,” Auburn coach Mike Lowe said. “They look cross ice quite a bit, long and far. Chadderdon picked it off in the middle, and that's what we practiced.”
The plan didn't work as well in the second.
The Bees continued to swarm, and came out flying to open the period. Brandon Merritt tied it when he beat Conway with a soft shot from the blue line that found an opening below Conway's glove.
The Bees continued to add pressure, piling up 13 shots to Auburn's one in the first 11 minutes of the period.
Baldwinsville showed no signs of slowing down in the third period, and its work paid off early. Just two minutes in, Justin Tierney sent a pass out front from the corner to Ian Stine, who scored five-hole on Conway to give the Bees their first lead, 2-1.
Then things went from bad to worse for the Maroons.
Two minutes later, Chadderdon and Brendan Lewis took penalties 20 seconds apart, and the Bees enjoyed a 5-on-3 power play for 1:10. Baldwinsville managed two shots, but the Maroons escaped the shorthanded situation unscathed, and the defensive stand gave Auburn an offensive boost.
“Whenever you kill off penalties, it's always a momentum swing,” Lowe said. “We did a nice job of killing off penalties and then took advantage of it.”
Shortly after the second penalty expired, Auburn's Kevin Festa evened it with a low shot that beat Krull on the far side. Steigerwald and Nick Atkins had assists, to send it to overtime.
Chadderdon had the best scoring opportunity in overtime but was stopped twice - once on the doorstep by a sprawling Krull, after following his own rebound on a fast break.
Auburn moved to 2-2-3, and Baldwinsville is now 2-2-1, with both teams getting an important league point.
Conklin, who would have been a senior for the Bees, was killed in a car accident on his way to the first practice of the season on Nov. 10. He was 17.
“The kids are handling it as well as can be expected, but it's with us every day,” Baldwinsville coach Mark Lloyd said. “[Auburn] was certainly more than generous. We're really thrilled with what they did.”
After a moment of silence in honor of Conklin, the Maroons and Bees skated to a 2-2 tie, thanks in large part to Jake Conway. The Maroons' goaltender made 27 saves as Baldwinsville outshot Auburn 29-16.
Conway gave his team a chance to win throughout the entire game, but one unlucky break almost dealt the Maroons a loss.
“It's happened so many times - we get in tight situations and everything goes against us,” Conway said. “There'll be a bad bounce or a bad goal, and we'll end up on the losing side of it.”
Late in the third period, after the Bees created a turnover behind the Auburn net, a pass scooted across the goal mouth and deflected off a skate toward the goal. Conway slid his glove to his left and managed to cover it up just inches before it crossed the goal line, keeping the score tied with three minutes to play in regulation.
“Luckily I saw it, and I just got my glove down as quick as possible,” Conway said. “It was one of those weird bounces I was talking about. It was a routine save, but it was unexpected.”
One thing Conway did expect was a busy night, and he certainly had it.
Baldwinsville pressured the Auburn defense from the opening faceoff, creating turnovers and scoring chances left and right. For most of the first period, the Bees pinned the Maroons in their own end, but were unable to score as the Auburn defense forced Baldwinsville to work from the outside.
Despite the pressure, Auburn actually had more scoring chances in the first period, most of them coming on the rush.
But the Maroons struggled to hit the net. Rob Steigerwald sent a one-timer just wide of the left post, and J.T. Foltz fanned on another scoring opportunity in the slot.
The game remained scoreless for more than 14 minutes until Matt Chadderdon gave Auburn the lead with 43 seconds left in the first.
Chadderdon intercepted a pass in the neutral zone and crossed the blue line facing two defenders. He cut around the first and slipped the puck through the legs of the other and managed to chip a shot over Baldwinsville goaltender Jeff Krull. It clanked off the cross bar and dropped in.
“We wanted to cut down their neutral zone play and their breakout,” Auburn coach Mike Lowe said. “They look cross ice quite a bit, long and far. Chadderdon picked it off in the middle, and that's what we practiced.”
The plan didn't work as well in the second.
The Bees continued to swarm, and came out flying to open the period. Brandon Merritt tied it when he beat Conway with a soft shot from the blue line that found an opening below Conway's glove.
The Bees continued to add pressure, piling up 13 shots to Auburn's one in the first 11 minutes of the period.
Baldwinsville showed no signs of slowing down in the third period, and its work paid off early. Just two minutes in, Justin Tierney sent a pass out front from the corner to Ian Stine, who scored five-hole on Conway to give the Bees their first lead, 2-1.
Then things went from bad to worse for the Maroons.
Two minutes later, Chadderdon and Brendan Lewis took penalties 20 seconds apart, and the Bees enjoyed a 5-on-3 power play for 1:10. Baldwinsville managed two shots, but the Maroons escaped the shorthanded situation unscathed, and the defensive stand gave Auburn an offensive boost.
“Whenever you kill off penalties, it's always a momentum swing,” Lowe said. “We did a nice job of killing off penalties and then took advantage of it.”
Shortly after the second penalty expired, Auburn's Kevin Festa evened it with a low shot that beat Krull on the far side. Steigerwald and Nick Atkins had assists, to send it to overtime.
Chadderdon had the best scoring opportunity in overtime but was stopped twice - once on the doorstep by a sprawling Krull, after following his own rebound on a fast break.
Auburn moved to 2-2-3, and Baldwinsville is now 2-2-1, with both teams getting an important league point.
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