CRUSHING DEFEAT

RED DEVILS GIVE UP 5 GOALS IN LAST 4 MINUTES
WARD AND BAKER HAVE HOT HANDS LATE
FALCONS SHUTDOWN CLARENCE GO-TO GUYS

(HAMBURG) The Clarence Red Devils dropped an important Class A matchup to the Frontier Falcons on friday by the score of 12-7. The loss dropped Clarence to 2-2 in their league and 4-5 overall. Of the five losses this season, this one hurt the most. Playing without regular defenseman J.D. Skura and midfielder Josh Rawdin, the Red Devils banded together as a team and battled Frontier goal-for-goal through 44 minutes of action. Unfortunately, the game is played for 48 minutes. Clarence and Frontier sat deadlocked at 7-7 with three and a half minutes remaining in the contest. Sensing that the Red Devils had tired, the Falcons seized their opportunity, ripping off five unanswered goals to send the visitors home with something to think about. A stunned Clarence team was again left searching for answers. An embarrasing end to an otherwise gutsy performance.

Clarence got off to a nice start in the first quarter, jumping out to a two goal lead. Both tallies were scored by Tom Owen who again once again proved that he can get it done from out front the crease. Owen has become a rock solid addition to the Red Devils this season, scoring timely goals. His first came off a nice assist from Dan Barron. Barron spotted Owen in the crease area and the rest was history. The ball seemed to fool Frontier goalie Tom Ribarich, as it sailed out of Owen's stick and seemed to float over his head and into the goal. The tally was built on hard work in the crease area. Clarence led 1-0.

Owen scored again two minutes later. This one was a little prettier as he slashed across the crease area and pulled in a great feed by Jordan Zaprowski. Owen saw his opening and bounced a hard shot past Ribarich to make it 2-0.

The Falcons responded at the end of the quarter. Frontier attackman Aaron Ward (5g, 2a) took advantage of a Red Devil penalty and ripped a shot past Clarence goalie Ryan Duff (14 saves) from the right slot area. Duff was solid throughout, but I think he would liked to have this one back as the shot suprisingly snuck past him. The extra-man tally made it 2-1.

Ward would tie it up with about three minutes left in the first. The ball was shot hard at the Clarence goal. Duff was able to get a piece of it. However, it deflected to the front of the crease. Ward quickly picked it up and backed his way in towards the crease. With his back to the goal, he unleashed a low, hard shot that Duff did not expect. The ball found its way in and the game was tied at two.

Clarence once again responded for two goals in the second quarter. Just about two minutes in, Jordan Collins-Hartwig put Clarence ahead. The shot came off a quick cut into the Falcon defense. Behind the net, Dave Colicchia (2g, 1a) spotted the cutting Collins-Hartwig and fed him the ball. Jordan quickly retrieved the pass and fired it in the bottom corner of the net. The Red Devils regained the lead at 3-2.

The next tally was my favorite of the day. It started with a bit of hard work by Dan Barron outside the box. Although Barron did not score a goal all day, he continued to do the little things that allowed his team to compete. Outhustling the defender to a groundball, Barron quickly scooped it up and fed Dave Colicchia. Click is not necessarily known for his hard shot, but this one was impressive. Gathering in the pass from Barron at the right slot, Click quickly turned and launched a missile past Ribarich to put Clarence up 4-2.

Just as they had done in the first, Frontier responded with two of their own. The Red Devils struggled with the quick, accurate passing of Frontier throughout. The play developed off the stick of all star defender Clay Del Prince. Deep in the Falcon zone, Del Prince legged a clear to midfield and then quickly found Joe Smith. Smith left the Clarence defense out of position as he quickly passed the ball to Josh Baker (5g, 1a). The sophomore attackman finished off a fine passing play and Frontier closed to 4-3.

With just under two minutes remaining before halftime, the Falcons tied it. Junior attackman Paul Chudzik picked up the goal on a bit of hard work in front. Chudzik outhustled several Clarence defenders to a groundball and then fired a shot from the right crease that beat Duff. The halftime score read 4 to 4.

The first half was a pretty decent effort by the Red Devils. Both Dave Gallegos and Zack Metzger filled in for the missing J.D. Skura and helped to limit the Falcon scoring chances. Ryan Connolly and J.J. Hughes fought hard in the defensive midfield to make up for the injured Rawdin. Duff was solid, recording 9 of his 14 saves in the first two quarters. Duff has been the most consistent player at this point in the season. Game in and game out he has given his team a chance to win with several key saves. Caleb Higgins battled hard in the midfield, picking up 11 groundballs throughout the contest. Besides several problems clearing the ball, Clarence seemed to be playing well.

The third quarter was difficult for the Red Devils defense as Clarence picked up five penalties during the twelve minutes. Clarence would generate some offense of their own, but the resulting wear on the defensive midfield would doom the Devils in the end.

In what was probably the most impressive team effort of the day, Dave Colicchia would pick up his second goal in transition. Tayler Swanson used his speed and athletic ability to create, then quickly fired the ball down to Zaprowski. Zap completed the play with a quick pass over to Colicchia who finished it off for the go ahead goal. The Frontier goalie had no chance. Red Devils up 5-4.

Josh Baker tied up for the Falcons 30 seconds later. Aaron Ward created the play at X. Baker beat his defender and cut through to the crease area. Ward hit Baker with a beautiful pass and fired it past Duff to tie it at five.

The Red Devils penalty woes caught up with them this time, as the Frontier registered the go ahead goal on the extra man offense. Brian Kmidowski scored off another nice pass from Ward. Kmidowski's shot was a bouncer from the right crease area. Frontier went ahead for the first time in the game by the score of 6 to 5.

Several minutes passed as both teams transitioned the ball back and forth with little result. With just over three minutes to play in the third, Dan Salvatore came alive, scoring two huge goals before the end of the quarter. The first was a nice hard bounce shot from about 20 yards off the left of Ribarich. The goalie struggled with the velocity of Salvatore's shot. Clarence now had knotted it at 6-6.

Salvatore wasn't finished just yet. With a minute left in the quarter, Clarence benefitted from an extra man situation. Salvatore set up shop in the exact same spot. This time, Salvatore ripped a well placed shot across the goalie in the opposite bottom corner of the net. Clarence had retaken the lead once again at 7-6.

The fourth quarter started out very similar to the third as both teams patiently waited for the other to make a mistake. Several minutes passed before Aaron Ward registered the tying goal at the 8:17 mark. The Red Devils were man down once again and the wear began to take its toll. Duff made a nice save and was looking to clear the ball. Aaron Ward pressured Duff on the ride and was able to pick off the clearing pass. Ward made it count with his quick stick. The game was now tied at 7-7.

That would be the way it stayed until the 3:26 mark of the fourth quarter. Clarence was continually being pressured by the revitalized Falcons. They had great difficulty clearing and maintaining pressure for any period of time. Ward picked up the game winner on a cut through the Red Devil defense. Josh Baker set him up with a nice feed and Frontier was now on the good end of a 8-7 lead.

It was here that the roof caved in on the Red Devils. Losing several faceoffs towards the end, Clarence failed to maintain possession. One minute later the Falcons would seal it with a nice transition passing play up the field. With little defense, Ward beat Duff for his fifth goal of the afternoon, making it 9-7 in favor of Frontier.

The Falcons smelled blood and the Red Devils were in the midst of a breakdown. The last three goals were scored by Josh Baker. The Clarence defense provided little resistance for the first two as he simply dodged from behind the cage, inside rolled and popped it past Duff. The final topper was with just 34 seconds remaining as Chris Burke won a groundball and quickly passed it to Baker. Duff was caught helpless out of the crease and Baker worked around him for an easy open net goal. Final score 12-7 Falcons.

Wow, What an ugly way to lose! Where does this team go from here? The glass-half full person in me admires a really good effort for almost four quarters against a good opponent. A much better showing in the midfield than earlier in the week. Some brights spots mixed in with some critical mistakes that you can't make if you expect to beat a quality team.

The glass-half empty person inside me focuses on the team's inablity to play mentally tough in big games. It is a hurdle we must overcome before the playoffs begin. The team can nail down a home field playoff game with wins against two struggling teams; Williamsville North (Monday) and West Seneca West (Wed). Will this team take care of business in the coming weeks as they play against weaker competition, or will they shy away at the first sign of any adversity? Will they figure out yet another way to "not win" in an important game? Your guess is as good as mine at this point. I guess we'll have to wait and see. I'm still going with the glass-half full!