This author had the fortune of attending a game worth at least 10,000 words on Sunday as goaltenders Genevieve Lacasse of Providence College and Florence Schelling of Northeastern University pushed a 1-1 arm-wrestling bout through overtime and an epic 13-round shootout.
After combining for 65 saves in 65 minutes, all those two did in the one-on-one marathon was push it through 10 sudden death innings and repel a combined 23 of 26 attempts before PC’s Christie Jensen ended it on a top-shelf flipper above Schelling’s trapper.
In three head-to-head showdowns in their still-young careers (they’re both sophomores), Lacasse has a 2-1-0 upper hand, but both of her wins have required overtime. In one home-and-home weekend set last February, Schelling stopped 95 out of 100 aggregate shots faced. And before there was any evidence of a now-plain personal rivalry, Schelling had previously stared down a since-graduated Danielle Ciarletta and posted her first career shutout, 1-0, on a 31-save performance.
With all they had done in so few encounters as rookies –especially the Friars’ come-from-behind 3-2 overtime win last February 6- Sunday was the only passable encore for the heavyweight card between PC’s Scarborough Save-ior and NU’s Swiss Save-ior.
Established and prospective fans alike might as well accept this as the epitome of the obsessive-defensive, ultra-competitive Hockey East pennant race. Out of 20 league contests so far, 11 have either been decided by a single goal or required a shootout. There have been four shutouts –including two by Schelling and one by Lacasse- and on only seven occasions has a team scored more than three goals.
If one will recall, this is just a steady carry-over from the climactic weeks of last season. A steady buffet of New Jersey Devils intrasquad scrimmages, except with a heavier bushel of shots on goal.
And, despite all the adages that carry a bias for offense, what exactly is wrong with that? The way Lacasse and Schelling have engaged in such battles of brinksmanship with one another and with other Hockey East adversaries, I’d say you don’t have to fill the net to fill the stands.
Or, more accurately, you shouldn’t have to live out on offense alone. The reported attendance at Schneider Arena last Sunday was a rail-thin 190, but if only more locals were enlightened to this league and its perpetual forecast for high drama…
Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems baseball buffs never gripe about the eventuality of everyone’s bats going numb because Zack Greinke is slated to take the mound against Roy Halladay. Rather, they go to the park salivating for a pungent pitcher’s duel.
Offensive elegance has its merits, but so too do marquee names. And in hockey, there is no individual more magnetic for publicity than the last line of defense.
And the WHEA offers a nice abundance of celestial masked ladies right now. Lacasse and Schelling –and, to an extent, New Hampshire’s Lindsay Minton- made for an appreciable freshman class in their position last season. This year, the likes of Boston College’s Corrine Boyles and Maine’s Brittany Ott are promising to do the same. Not to mention, they are filling the Cyclopean pads of Molly Schaus and Genevieve Turgeon, respectively.
As of this week, strictly within league action, 10 different stoppers –at least one for each team- have a save percentage of .900 or better. Most any time a given pair of those 10 cross paths, you’re most likely in for a defensive doozy, which means the first goal ought to send the fandom of one team into anticipatory (yet cautious) jubilation, the other into a fidgety fright. After all, a second goal, never mind a third, ought to be the dagger if there is an exemplary goaltender backing the team in the lead.
On the other hand, if there is a capstone crease custodian in the trailing team’s net, what are the odds of the hole getting that deep? And even if there’s less than a minute to spare on the clock, there’s still potential to reverse those dramatic sentiments.
Either way, the greater the implications of the first goal, the greater the implications of the second.
Bottom line, when this happens, there is next to no chance of an instant runaway romp. No three- or four-goal leads sculpted within the first 10 minutes of the first period. No loss of hope so severe that it leads to utter indifference for the losing faithful and no inflation of confidence that lets the winning fans make a recliner out of their seats.
Now that would be much more boring than a string of stereotypical soccer scores. Thanks be to the hockey gods that is not the case and does not look to be at any time on the horizon.
Coaches and players of all positions in this league have regularly told this author that, when it comes to winning games, “It starts from the goal out.”
Well, the same goes for winning publicity.
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