Southwick Comes Back to Edge Penalty-Prone Blue Devils
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – For 22 minutes on Wednesday night, the Drury hockey team saw too much of Southwick keeper Andrew Morris.
For the next 23 minutes, the Blue Devils saw way too much of the penalty box.
The Rams scored with 4 minutes, 23 seconds left in regulation to complete a come-from-behind, 2-1 win over Drury at Peter W. Foote Vietnam Veterans Memorial Rink.
Drury was up, 1-0, midway through the second period when it took its first penalty of the night, a boarding call.
It took just eight seconds for Southwick’s Joey Jubb to score with an assist from Kingston Goodman.
The Blue Devils went on to take six more penalties and give the Rams four more opportunities on the man advantage.
“We lost discipline,” Drury coach Derek Durocher said. “We didn’t deserve to win that hockey game with our effort in the third period.”
Four of Drury’s penalties came in the final 15 minutes, including three in the last four minutes with the Blue Devils needing a goal to force overtime.
That was because Tommy Whalley scored the game-winner moments earlier.
That goal spoiled a solid performance from Drury keeper Chase VanderWould, who had four saves during Southwick’s final power play of the game to keep the Blue Devils alive.
But most of the offensive pressure was at the other end of the ice, where Morris was a stone wall for the Rams.
The only crack came about five minutes into the game, when Drury’s Cam Taylor went top shelf from high on the right wing to give his team a 1-0 lead.
After that, Morris stopped everything that came his way, including a number of short-handed opportunities in the second period.
“Hats off to that kid,” Durocher said. “He saw a lot of pucks the first period. He gave them a chance to win. He did a nice job.”
Drury (1-3) goes to Greenfield on Saturday.