Austin girls hockey team survives late scare against Rockets
Published 12:57 am Saturday, January 23, 2010
Killing power plays is nothing new for the Austin girls hockey team, but they found an entirely new way to do it in a 2-1 win over Rochester John Marshall in Riverside Arena Friday.
While the Rockets had a six-on-four advantage after pulling their goalie Austin sophomore Vanessa Talamantes jumped in front of a loose puck near Austin’s goal to keep the JM from tying the game with 38 seconds left.
“I knew if I got on it they would get a penalty so I was trying to hold it in my legs as long as I could until Audrey (DeVries) could get to it,” Talamantes said. “They kept hitting at my leg and finally Audrey jumped on top of me to cover it.”
That was JM’s last chance to tie the game as Austin fought off the rest of the power play without allowing a shot attempt. The Rockets finished the night 0-for-6 on power plays.
“We’ve been doing pretty good on our penalty kill but I lost all my hair on that last one,” Austin head coach Denny Bray said. “We told the girls to stay out of the penalty box and then we end up in a six on four.”
The Packers (9-10-2 overall, 5-6-1 Big Nine) took the lead for good with just over seven minutes left in the third period when Ashley Arhart knocked one through JM’s Michelle Bonopace-Potvin’s legs on a breakaway.
Arhart, a junior, took the shot without a lot of time to think.
“A lot of times I have a plan, but when I think too much that doesn’t always work out well,” she said. “I was just trying to get a shot and maybe get a rebound for someone else. It ended up just going through her five hole so it was a little bit of luck on my side.”
The Packers tied the game in the second period when Kennedy Thompson got free on a shorthanded breakaway and she faked out Bonopace-Potvin with a glove-side score.
JM’s goal came when Marissa Bruesewitz snuck one between DeVries’ legs in the first period. DeVries had 35 saves for Austin in the net.
The Packers were pumped to get a win over the Rockets (4-16 overall), who beat Austin 5-2 Nov. 14.
“It was like life or death,” Talamantes said of the last minute. “I knew if we didn’t get (a win) practice was not going to be good. I wanted to win it for our seniors.”
JM 1 0 0 — 1
Austin 0 1 1 — 2
First period
(JM) 12:24 Marissa Bruesewitz (Paige Cook)
Second period
(A) 8:29 Kennedy Thompson (SH)
Third period
(A) 9:37 Ashley Arhart (Thompson)
Shots on goal: Austin — 30; JM — 36
Austin — 0-for-3; JM — 0-for-6