Amherst Comets: My Site News

Most people grow tired of Ohio’s sub-freezing temperatures and mounting snow drifts but members of the Amherst Comets Hockey team took advantage of the cold weather last Saturday with a game of pond hockey at Amherst’s Outdoor Life Association.

“We’ve been doing this for several years now”, commented Dr. Ron Watson, a member of Outdoor Life and one of the organizers the event. “This year even the coaching staff came out and joined the fun.”

Senior varsity team members Brandon Watson and Ryan Orseno used snowblowers to clear almost a foot of snow from the frozen pond that had plenty of room to accommodate a regulation hockey rink. The temperature dropped into the low 20s making it perfect hockey weather for the many players, hockey alumni and family members who participated in the day long event.

“It was nice to see some past members of the team come out and join us”, said head coach Steve Morris as he laced up his skates to take the ice with assistant coach Jack Kramer.   Scott Ross prepared hot dogs over an open fire and beach chairs and blankets filled the sidelines as the snow flurries continued to swirl through the air.

“You don’t even think about the cold”, said senior Steve Stropko. “It’s not often you can take the puck to the net while skating into blowing snow.” Many players stayed until after dusk when it became too dark to skate but there was still time to talk around the fire about the day’s game. “I guess when you have a bunch of guys with sticks and a frozen pond a hockey game is sure to break out”, commented junior Drew Ashton as he finished off a hot dog. “When can we do this again?”

The next league game for the Amherst Comets is Friday, January 22, when they host the Normandy High School Invaders at 7:30 p.m. at Lakefront Arena, 5310 Hauserman Road in Parma.

The first game of the Southwest Conference Hockey Tournament kicked off on Friday, January 15 at 5:30 p.m. at the North Olmsted Recreation Center with the Amherst Comets facing off against the Shoremen of Avon Lake.

Ross is in goal for the Comets starting with Shelby Neidert #28, and Shamus Sorrell #17 on defense with center #9 Sean Hunt and forwards Kyle Bilancini #12 and Drew Ashton #36. Hunt wins the opening face off and Bilancini skates the puck to the Avon Lake net. A scramble in the corner prohibits Bilancini getting off a shot as Hunt wait’s at the net. A fight for the puck results in a whistle, the ref claiming a hand pass and the puck goes all the way back for a face off at the Comet net.

But the Comets are quick to take possession. Jaron Smith #6 skates up ice with a perfect pass cross net but no goal. Connor Morris #22 takes the face off at the net, Paul Miller #25 recieves the pass and shoots, the goalie stomachs the shot. Josh Bobkovich #14 picks away the puck from the Shoreman skater and rockets in an unsuccessful slap shot from the blue line. The Comets play shorthanded after an interference call against #20 Brandon Watson but Ross fills the net and the power play ends scoreless.

Now it’s Bilancini and Hunt trying to cycle the puck behind the net. Neidert comes in for a pass to Sorrell who takes a hefty slap shot that drives wide. Smith is back in, speeding to the net he sends over a cross ice pass but the offense can’t keep up and no goal. Now Caleb Gannelli #19 fights along the boards to get back in the zone. A pass to Kevin Burgett #11 gets caught in the goalie’s pads and the whistle signals another face off.

Now it’s the Comets turn for a power play as a high sticking call sends one to the box just midway through the period. Drew Ashton #36 comes in from the bench just in time to take a pass off of Bobkovich and relay back to Bilancini who scores and puts the Comets on the board, 1-0, with five minutes to go in the period. Then with just seconds left to play, Avon Lake draws a tripping penalty to set up yet another Comet power play to start the second period. The Comets out shoot their contenders with 8 shots on goal this period, holding the Shoremen to just 3 shots.

The second period finds Avon Lake struggling with penalties drawing a roughing penalty again soon after the face off. Play concentrates around the Avon Lake net but Shoremen goalie, Ben Sherman, is holding tight. Now there’s a pile up as the shot count escalates with Miller, Burgett, and Morris trying to dig out the puck in the corner. Sorrell at the blue line drives in a hard shot that deflects wide left. Smith fights for the puck along the boards but Avon Lake recovers and sends a high lob pass attempting to get the puck out of the scoring zone. But Sorrell holds up his stick to bat down the pass. There’s another pile up at the net and the ref whistles the play dead as they pick off the players from the mound. Shots from Watson and Neidert don’t find their mark and the Shoremen take it down to the Comet net where Ross covers the puck. A skirmish breaks out over a late hit on the Comet goalie as the adrenaline pushes players to the limit.

Watson is sent to the box for a cross check and with one minute left in the second period the referee lines up players for a face off at the Comet net. Avon Lake takes the puck, passes back, and shoots, an arcing high puck and Ross reaches out and cans the corn, a great save. Another face off, this time Sorrell manages to tip the puck away and out of the zone. Ashton drives one to the net, shoots, deflected. Avon Lake gets the puck and lines up for an assault on the Comet net and it looks like a breakaway as the Comets are caught in a line change. Bobkovich moves quickly and takes out two players on the blue line resulting in a cross check penalty for the Comets but a great defensive play. Now Avon Lake has a two man advantage with just seconds to play but the forward swings and misses and the buzzer signals the end of two. Amherst racks up 12 shots on goal during a heated period of play compared to Avon Lake’s 4 shots.

Period three starts off with the Shoremen at a 5 to 3 man advantage. Morris takes the face off but it’s Sorrell on defense who disrupts the offensive drive. Now Amherst returns a man to the ice but Avon Lake is yet to get a shot off in the power play.

The Avon lake offense is regrouping for a play, skating behind the net, but Ashton picked the puck away and flips off a nice back handed pass to Smith who flips it in the net making it 2 on the board for the Comets. An off sides call on Amherst slows the action but just momentarily as the Comets fight for the puck. Steve Stropko #5 gets tangled up with an Avon Lake defender and they lock skates and careen into the boards. Ryan Orseno #8 makes a nice pass to Smith to set up a scoring opportunity but nothing is coming easy today as Sherman continues to battle at the crease. Miller to Morris, a shot ricochets back to the net, the puck finds the back of the net, the crowd is on their feet. But the net is off, the ref whistles to stop the play and the Comets are robbed of a score.

Avon Lake gets off a hard shot on Ross and the puck pings off the post. Orseno flips the puck down to Smith, but there’s a pile up, a Shoreman is down at mid ice. Stropko lands on top and slides down ice. Smith draws back to shoot, he has an opening but it looks like an Avon Lake player has a glove inside the top corner of the net as he skates around and suddenly the net is off right as Smith sends in a shot. The whistle stops the action once again and there’s also a hooking penalty that will set the Comets on another power play with just under six seconds left to play.

Morris and Miller cycle the puck looking for an opening. Bobkovich sends the puck flying, a rebound, the goalie is down and the back door is wide open but no score. The pace is feverish as Avon Lake is looking to score. A line change brings Hunt back on the ice, he flips the puck to Sorrell, he takes two strides and shoots…and scores. The fans are pounding on the boards as the scoreboard shows the Comets with an unanswered three goals.

Avon Lake is making clean passes, moving the puck down ice, but now more players are down as desperation takes over and with less than three minutes to play the ref moves to center ice for a face off. Neidert and Smith are battling for control along the boards, Bartizol stands guard at the blue line and knocks the errant puck back into the zone and with 2:22 to play the Avon Lake bench calls for a time out.

It’s a face off next to the Shoremen’s net. Morris takes the face off and #18 John Reid fires off a shot on goal but Sherman knocks it aside. Another whistle and the Comets are called for tripping setting up an Avon Lake advantage for the last two minutes of play. Orseno, Stropko, Bobkovich and Neidert on the power point defense but one minute later Avon Lake goes on the board with an unassisted goal by #22 Justin Housley that keeps the Shoremen from a shutout.

The final scoreboard shows the Comets over the Shoremen 3-1. Shots on goal totaled 34 for the Comets, 11 for Avon Lake.

The loudspeaker shouted out the rallying cry, “Let’s Get Ready to Rumble”, on Friday, December 11 at 7:30 p.m. as the Comets faced off against the Pirates of Rocky River on Amherst’s home ice , Lakefront Lines Arena in Parma. A stillness had settled over the region as the much anticipated snow storm never arrived but the thundering crowd cheered on the brewing contest that was about to unfold on the ice.

Starting for the Comets was #2 Adam Ross in goal, #17 Shamus Sorrell, #28 Shelby Neidert, #9 Shawn Hunt, #12 Kyle Bilancini, and #36 Drew Ashton. The Comets came out strong keeping pressure on the Pirate net with most of the minutes played in Pirate territory.

Penalties and resulting power plays opened up scoring opportunities with Rocky River scoring first when #17 Sorrell was sent to the box for interference. Minutes later the Comets find themselves short again when freshman #25 Paul Miller draws a two minute roughing penalty for a late hit. But #6 Jaron Smith gets control of the puck and skates ahead of the defense to attack the net. One Pirate player throws himself prone on the ice stretching out his stick to block the shot, but Smith skates behind the net to take his own rebound and while the goalie is down he scores on a back door shot to tie up the score 1-1 with a short-handed goal.

#26 Kyle Hill checks a defender hard against the boards to open up the field for Ashton, Burgett and Miller to crash the net with a furious class of sticks, the net is loose but the Comets are battling. A whistle stops the action and sends one Pirate to the box opening up another power play for the Comets. Ashton sends two passes cross net sending off another storm of sticks and once again the play is stopped for loose net.

Both teams are at full strength with seconds to play, #8 Ryan Orseno, knocks down a high pass at mid-ice to keep the puck in Pirate territory. But a breakaway play by Rocky River sends in a shot that scores with three seconds to play putting the Pirates ahead 2-1 at the end of the first period.

Amherst’s offense continued to dominate, taking advantage of power plays and setting up scoring opportunities. Smith scored early in the second period off a pass from Orseno from Bilancini to tie the game. Bilancini kept the rally alive scoring off a pass from Ashton and Hunt to put the Comets back in front. As the River penalty ended and the team returned to full strength a River player jumps on the ice right in front of the puck and breaks out in front of the Comet defense , scoring on an errant shot to tie up the game 3-3 at the end of two.

Amherst scored again once in the third period, Ashton passes to Bilancini who hands it back to him and Ashton slips it in the net less than three minutes into play. #14 Josh Bobkovich gets off two shots on goal but Pirate goalie, Bridget Gipper, is all over the net. River scores on a short-handed goal to tie the score once again. The Comets are all over the ice, their depth this year giving them added power as they keep the Pirates out of the scoring zone. It’s a wild shot from Rocky River that Sorrell bats down with his glove at the blue line to keep the puck in play, but the whistle blows and play is stopped as the ref calls it a hand pass and the puck is taken down for a face off in front of the Comet net. The Pirates score with a pass off the face off with just seconds left to play.

The Comets lose the contest 4 – 5, even though they out shot the Pirates 33-15. The Comets host the first ever Lorain County Hockey Tournament this weekend with the first of the four game series taking place Friday, December 18, at 7:30 p.m. on their home ice. The Comets take part in both the Parma and Kenston Holiday Hockey tournaments during the break and face off in their next league game against Holy Name on January 2, at 4:14 p.m. at the Brooklyn Recreation Center, 7600 Memphis Avenue.