JNP edged by EG in summer hockey action

For 2015 Division III Rhode Island Interscholastic League state champions Johnston/North Providence (JNP), hockey is not just a winter sport, but a summer sport as well. Like many other high school hockey teams in Rhode Island, JNP uses summer hockey as a means of developing players and staying sharp.

Entering the game with a record of 2-1, JNP faced off against East Greenwich on July 12, giving the Division II team a run for its money but losing, 6-4, in a Rhode Island Summer Hockey League game at the Rhode Island Sports Center.

The two teams played a back-and-forth game that consisted of a lot of transitional play, which resulted in the two teams often trading chances and scoring opportunities. In the first period, East Greenwich simply capitalized on its scoring chances more often, taking an early 2-0 lead on goals scored at 10:22 and 6:16. Towards the end of the period, JNP gained a little momentum, possibly from a massive body check from Justin Gomes to prevent an East Greenwich breakaway. A few minutes later, JNP’s Jacob McCullough went streaking down the right-wing boards, cut to the middle and unleashed a hard wrister off the post and picked up his own rebound only to be robbed again by the pad of the East Greenwich goaltender. It took JNP up until the last six seconds of the first period to capitalize on the sustained pressure it had put on East Greenwich with a breakaway goal scored by Tao Ishizuku to cut East Greenwich’s lead to 2-1.

Except for some heavy JNP puck possession in the offensive zone early on, the second period belonged to East Greenwich, as it scored goals coming at 11:05, 7:39 and 5:06 in the second. JNP didn’t respond until Ishizuku scored on a high wrist shot off of a wrap-around at the 2:53 mark. Even then, East Greenwich answered right back, scoring with 1:15 remaining to give East Greenwich a 6-2 lead.

Even though it was behind by four goals, JNP never quit. In fact, it dominated the third period with aggressive physical play, highlighted by a blue collar shift in the eleventh minute in which Brian Iannuccillo and Justin Gomes laid down one massive hit each.

With momentum in JNP’s favor, Brandon Tanguay scored back-to-back goals to cut East Greenwich’s lead to 6-4. The first goal was scored on the power play with a wrister from the high slot at 8:22, assisted by Mike Flori. The second goal came from a hard slap shot from the top of the left faceoff circle with 7:25 to go in the third, assisted by Amara Gibau. JNP continued to apply tons of pressure in the third period but couldn’t quite complete the comeback.

Despite the fact that JNP lost, it can look at this game as a whole in a positive light. After all, East Greenwich plays a division above JNP during the regular season so the fact that JNP outscored its opponent in the third and played such a close game against them is a good sign. According to coach Matt Petracca, the key to the team’s performance late in the game was a more aggressive style of play.

“Rather than waiting for pucks to come to them, they went after them. They went on the attack and they took it to the other team. That helped to change the momentum and made a difference in the second half of the game,” said Petracca. “I think they played a really good game. We were playing against a Division II team so it was a team that plays up a level from us. They played strong. I think they covered man-to-man pretty well. So the things that we did well were moving the puck out of our zone, backchecking hard and going to the net. We had a lot of good scoring opportunities we didn’t get goals with, but nonetheless, we created a lot of good opportunities.”

As far as improvements to be made, Petracca would like his team to, “Try to control the puck a little bit better and not make those blind passes in the defensive zone. That cost us two goals today.”

The idea of summer hockey may sound strange to some, but it is a crucial part of player development. According to Coach Petracca, “Summer hockey is great for the kids because it keeps them out there on the ice and it keeps them playing. It gives them an opportunity to play against different teams and different players, sometimes from different divisions. It’s really about staying in shape, learning more and getting better for the next season.”