Crosstown Rivals Square Off On The Ice As Hockey Season Begins

After dominating puck possession, shots and the physical game, Brick's two high school hockey teams found themselves tied at one with four minutes and forty eight seconds remaining. Brick Memorial's captain Jayson Francesini's shot had evened the score for the first time since Patrick Kearns gave the Dragons the lead with 5:29 to go in the first. It did not take long for the Dragons to answer.

One minute and 20 seconds later, David Kearns scored a goal to give the Dragons the lead for good. "They showed a lot of character, bouncing back so quickly to answer the goal," said Dragons coach Bob Auriemma. "You're always at risk when you're controlling play, yet only up by one."

The Dragons held a 34 - 14 lead in shots and spent the majority of the game in the Memorial zone. Brick's first line of Matt Gumina, Brendan Dowd, and Tyler Martin peppered Memorial's goaltender, Kevin Talty, with shot after shot, who turned away all but two. Defensemen Pat Kearns goal was a blast from the point off a screen in front; David Kearns buried his shot in the slot off a pass from the corner.

 "When these two teams play, it doesn't matter who is better. Talent and record go out the window, it's all about desire." said Auriemma.

The desire was on display for both teams. Brick came out very physical and continued in that fashion all game long. Memorial blocked a large number of shots and managed to hang around - despite being outshot by more than a 2- to-1 ratio.

"We were sloppy tonight. We got caught chasing the puck around a lot and just weren't able to get a flow going," said Memorial coach James Bruce. 

Fitting on a night their coach describe as sloppy, the Mustang goal came on a broken play.  Memorial had dumped the puck into the corner with both teams trying to move the puck. Memorial eventually won possession and took a shot blocked by a Dragons defender. The puck slid right to Francesini who fired a shot top shelf for the goal.

Francesini's goal was the only shot they could get past Brick goalie Eddie Rafferty, who saved 13 of 14 shots.

"For the first game of the year, I was satisfied. Hanging with a tough Brick squad; however we made some mistakes and we're going to try and correct them," said Bruce.