The Reeths-Puffer hockey team did not get off to the start it was hoping for in the O-K conference tournament.
The Rockets played Caledonia even for more than two periods on Tuesday, but gave up a pair of late goals and lost 4-2 in their tournament opener at Griff’s Georgetown Ice Arena in Hudsonville.
Reeths-Puffer lost its second straight game and fell to 12-9-1 on the season.
The first period was scoreless, then the teams exchanged goals in the second.
Tyler Cuti
Caledonia's Ty Lewandowski struck first, finding the mark less than two minutes into the second period.
R-P’s Tyler Cuti answered with a power play goal later in the period, with assists from Hayden Taylor and Rohan Moyer, and the teams were tied 1-1 heading into the third.
Lewandowski scored his second goal just under three minutes into the third period, putting the Fighting Scots up 2-1.
Taylor scored about five minutes into the period, with an assist from Cuti, making the score 2-2.
Hayden Taylor
Caledonia’s Harmon Esch scored the winning goal just six seconds later, however. His teammate, Gabe Supak, added a late goal to finish the scoring.
“The guys battled hard,” said R-P head coach Bill Zalba. “We ran into a hot goalie. I am proud of our effort and compete level. We talked about playing with a playoff mindset, and I feel as if we did that for the most part.
“Going forward we will have to elevate and execute at a higher level.”
The Rockets will play Rockford on Friday in Hudsonville at 2:30 p.m. in the second round of the tournament.