FRUITPORT TWP. - Pretty much everyone in the big crowd at Lakeshore Sports Centre on Friday night thought the Reeths-Puffer hockey team’s season had run its course.
Everyone but the Rockets themselves, and their inner confidence, even in a very tough spot, ended up making all the difference.
The Rockets, riding a 10-game winning streak into the opening round of Division 1 regionals, found themselves trailing a very good Rockford team 3-1 with less than two minutes left on the clock.
It was a desperate situation, indeed.
But R-P gave one final push as time was running out, and that last-gasp effort produced some dramatic results.
R-P's Croix Klint brings the puck up the ice along the boards. Photo/Tyler Lirones
Eli Cuti scored a goal with 1:47 remaining, pulling the Rockets within a goal. Then Jaxon Stone popped the puck into the Rockford net with 1:24 remaining, sending the game to overtime.
The incredible comeback was finally completed with 2:33 left in the second OT when R-P senior Avery Freeland found the net with a pretty crazy goal.
He had the puck along the goal line, directly to the left of the Rockford net and a few feet away from the boards. He lofted a shot from that impossible angle that somehow found its way past the goalie’s left ear and into the net, giving the Rockets an amazing 4-3 comeback victory.
“I just came around from behind the net and I just knew I had to get the puck out in front with a quick shot,” Freeland said. “It just happened to find the back of the net.
“It always has a chance of going in. When you throw pucks at the net you never know what’s going to happen. I don’t think (the goalie) even saw it. It just went past his ear and hit the crossbar and went in. At that moment it was just a big shock, and I had to go celebrate with the team.”
The win sends R-P, now 18-7 on the season and the winner of 11 straight games, to next Wednesday’s Division 1 regional championship game against Sparta at Muskegon’s Trinity Health Arena.
The Rockets celebrate a goal. Photo/Tyler Lirones
The Rockets and the Spartans finished the regular season tied at the top of the O-K Conference Fischer Division standings, but Sparta was awarded the division title due to a superior goal differential and Reeths-Puffer is eager for a little revenge.
“The guys are going to take it a little more personal and come with everything they’ve got,” said R-P Coach Dustin Langlois.
When asked how far he thinks his team can go in the state tournament, Langlois said “I think we can go as deep as the guys want to take it, as long as they stay disciplined and stay out of the penalty box. We can make an absolutely deep run.”
Most of Friday’s game was frustrating for the Rockets, a powerful offensive squad that just couldn’t seem to get its scoring machine going, despite outshooting the Rams 21-17 in regulation. R-P really struggled on the power play, going 1-for-6 with a man advantage (or in one instance, a two-man advantage) and wasting a lot of opportunities.
The Rockets played solid defense all night, and were strong on the penalty kill, holding the Rams to one power play goal on four opportunities, including a huge kill midway through the first overtime period, when Rockford could have scored and won.
R-P's Jaxon Stone gets ready to pass the puck. Photo/Tyler Lirones
R-P goalie Huck VanDyke was also strong, making several big stops at key moments to keep the Rockets in the game.
But the lack of offense from R-P seemed like it would end up being the story of the night.
Coach Langlois and his players never stopped believing, however.
Langlois noted that the Rockets were in a similar situation last week against Forest Hills Eastern, battling back from a pair of three-goal deficits to win in overtime.
“We did it last week,” the coach said. “The grit and resilience these guys have is amazing. I’ve been saying all season long - I believe in every single one of them. We had to ride our horses a little harder tonight, but they rose to the occasion and got it done.”
Rockford opened the scoring less than two minutes into the game on a goal by Jayden Miller.
R-P tied the game with a power play goal by senior Croix Klint with 1:42 left in the first period, then Rockford answered with a power play goal of its own by Michael Silvis with 30 seconds left, giving the Rams a 2-1 lead at the first break.
R-P's Buckey Aney (12) outskates a Rockford player. Photo/Tyler Lirones
Rockford pulled ahead 3-1 with 1:18 remaining in the second period on a goal by Michael Mead, and the situation started to get scary for Reeths-Puffer.
The Rockets came out firing shots in the third period, but nothing was finding the net.
R-P had a great opportunity when Rockford was called for a penalty just over five minutes into the period, then another one before the first one had expired.
That gave the Rockets a two-skater advantage for 41 seconds, and a power play totaling more than three minutes, but they couldn’t capitalize.
“That Rockford team does a good job of clogging up the middle and they block a lot of shots,” Langlois said. “They don’t let a lot get through, and that’s where your breaf and butter is. They didn’t give us any opportunity whatsoever.”
R-P finally pulled its goalie for an extra attacker with just under two minutes remaining, then Cuti scored his goal just a few seconds later, making the score 3-2.
R-P's Tyler Cuti, who started the late comeback with a goal. Photo/Tyler Lirones
Cuti’s goal was much like Freeland’s game-winner, coming from a very difficult angle almost directly to the right of the Rockford net, and suddenly the Rockets had a glimmer of hope.
“All we could do is throw the puck and the net and try to score,” Cuti said. “I was looking for Stone at one point, then I just threw it at the net and it went in. I was very stunned!”
Stone, Reeths-Puffer’s leading scorer, followed up with the game-tying goal just 23 seconds later. Several Rockets were crashing the net in a desperate attempt to score, and Stone found himself with the puck just a foot or two away and tipped it past the Rockford goalie to make the score 3-3.
“The puck was behind the net when my teammate came in and got it,” Stone said. “He saw me, I yelled ‘Hey, hey, hey,” he did a no-look pass and I just tapped it in.
“That was fun. I will remember that one, for sure.”
R-P's Ricky Wiggins (6) approaches the Rockford net from the side. Photo/Tyler LIrones
Both teams had several good scoring chances in the two overtime periods before Freeland finally ended the game with his goal, sending the Rocket players spilling onto the ice in celebration and the R-P crowd roaring in the stands.
Langlois admitted the situation was worrisome as the clock wore down, but said once his players saw a little daylight, there was no stopping them.
“It was kind of like beating a dead horse at one point, but once you get a little momentum, the team kind of feels it, and we just told them to keep it going," the coach said. "We’ve been there before and we know how to grind out these wins. We never stop believing.”
