HUDSONVILLE - The Reeths-Puffer hockey team is in a bit of a slump, at a very tough point in the season.
The Rockets fell to Rockford 5-2 on Friday at Griff's Georgetown Ice Arena, in the second game of the O-K Conference tournament.
It was their third straight loss, coming on the heels of a hot streak a few weeks ago, when they won six of seven and seemed to be peaking.
Now, with the season rolling toward the one-loss-and-done state tournament, R-P is struggling.
R-P's Jordan Benkert celebrates a goal. Photo/Nick Fuller
R-P head coach Bill Zalba, whose team beat Rockford by the same score in the season opener in November, was obviously unhappy with the loss, but was even more upset with the way his team performed.
“We lost on every end of the ice,” Zalba said. “We lost in our end, we lost in the neutral zone, we lost in the offensive zone. We talked about intensity, consistency and accountability, and that went out the window today.”
The Rockets were again playing without senior forward Eli Cuti, one of their biggest point producers and playmakers, who was injured last weekend.
While having a big gun like that out of the lineup hurts, Zalba said it was not an excuse.
R-P's Connor Anderson rips a shot. Photo/Nick Fuller
“In any season you go through, and especially one that's condensed into four months, you have injuries,” the coach said. “You have guys that come in and out of the lineup. You can have as many excuses as you want.
"You can blame the refs, you can blame the injuries, but when it all comes down to it, it's look in the mirror.”
R-P, now 12-10-1 on the season, will play West Ottawa on Saturday at 11 a.m. in the final game of the conference tournament.
The Rockets had to play come-from-behind throughout the game and never quite got it done.
R-P's Bear VanDyke makes a save. Photo/Nick Fuller
Rockford circled the net right away in the first period, itching for a goal. R-P freshman goalie Bear VanDyke kept the Rams off the scoreboard for a while, stopping several attempts, including a few breakaway shots.
Rockford finally cashed in with a goal from Jonah Packard with about nine minutes left in the first period.
The Rams made it 2-0 when Hayden McRell scored with 1:56 left on the clock.
VanDyke started the second period with a few more timely saves, then R-P junior Jordan Benkert scored an unassisted goal about four minutes into the period to make the score 2-1.
Anderson moves the puck out of the R-P zone. Photo/Nick Fuller
“I saw a lot of space,” Benkert said about his goal. “I could have passed it, but I had the whole top right corner open, so I decided to let it go. It felt great, it felt like everybody was getting hyped up after I scored. I felt like we were going in the right direction.”
That was as close as R-P would get, however.
Rockford added two more goals in the second period, from Hudson Shore and Packard, and led 4-1 heading into the third.
The Rockets tried to start a late comeback when Rohan Moyer found the net with eight minutes left in the game, making the score 4-2.
R-P's Dom Switzer lets a shot fly. Photo/Nick Fuller
“I just seen space and I took it,” Moyer said. “I thought it would give us a little bit of energy, kind of bark a rally back. We could have brought more energy to the table.”
There was no more scoring until the closing seconds of the contest, after R-P pulled VanDyke for an extra attacker.
Rockford took advantage, getting an empty-net goal from Brody Raguckas with 15 seconds remaining.