By DAN ZIMMERMAN
BEDFORD — Famed physicist Sir Isaac Newton’s third law of motion reads, “for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”
Applied to last Wednesday evening’s ice hockey meeting between North Reading and Bedford, Newton’s statement could be employed to describe how this non-league game panned out. It could not have been played any more evenly, from shots on net, to scoring chances, to the overtime, all leading to a 1-1 final.
Perhaps if there was any disparity to note, it would be the penalties. While the officials sent only three guilty parties from each team to the box throughout the event, again an equal count, two of the transgressions were dealt to the Hornets seconds apart, resulting in a prolonged 5-on-3 midway through the second period and ultimately, a Bedford goal. The “equal and opposite reaction” in this instance was Andrew Daley’s 11th of the season, also on a power play, to knot the game in the third period.
Lately, the Hornets haven’t been playing with the same level of intensity that led to a 7-game win streak in the first half of the season. An example would be recent games with Pentucket and Rockport, programs that possess a paltry six wins combined. While the Hornets defeated each, one required overtime and the other, a nail-biting survival. On paper, North Reading was four wins better than Bedford when they met last week at the Edge Sports Center. Most would agree a tie was not in the cards.
“This was a disappointing outcome,” said North Reading Coach Brian McAuliffe whose club is 2-1-1 in the last ten days. “I thought we played down and once again, we didn’t come out with the fire that we wanted. I’ve mentioned this before. Instead of coming out and setting the tone early, we’re just matching and reacting.”
For North Reading, the tie temporarily delayed qualification for the post-season. The Hornets (9-2-1, 2-1 CAL) have thus far earned 19-points, just shy of the required 20. In addition, the Hornets were overtaken by archrival Lynnfield for the top spot in the league (11-2 overall, 3-1 CAL). A game scheduled for this past Saturday with the 5-4 Amesbury Indians was postponed due to the weekend snowstorm.
At the 9:32 mark of the second period, Daley was sent packing for a slash. Just 35-seconds later, Cole Lopilato joined his teammate in the box, whistled for a crosscheck. It wasn’t lost on the North Reading bench that two of their foremost special teams players would be unavailable for 1:25. A third penalty dealt to Matt Ryan was signaled before the original 5-on-3 wrapped up, extending the opportunity concurrently. A drawn-out discussion ensued between the officials and the scorekeeper but the bottom line was Bedford would soon take advantage of the opportunity on a Chris Woo goal. Hornet’s goalie Blake McMeniman didn’t stand a chance as the Buccaneers closed on him via a series of precision tap passes.
“I explained to them between the first and the second period that we’re not in a position to take penalties,” said McAuliffe. “Some of the penalties we were taking were because of a lack of discipline. That’s something that certainly needs to be addressed.”
Through the rest of the second frame and into the third, North Reading sought an equalizer while Bedford pressed for insurance, but McMeniman was solid, turning aside 21-shots. McAuliffe had been alternating goalies and it was actually senior Sam Elliott’s turn between the pipes. But he felt ill so the coach turned to his freshman.
“Even though it was last minute, Blake was ready to go,” said the coach. “Once again, he turned in another phenomenal performance.”
At 12:20 of the third, Buccaneers freshman forward Derek Siwik found himself confined for 2-minutes for a roughing call. Just 8 seconds into the man-advantage, Daley gathered a feed from Lopilato and from the high slot, buried the game-tying goal behind Bedford netminder TJ Mead. Nick Albano was also credited with a helper.
A four-on-four, 5-minute overtime ensued with each team amassing – no surprise here – 3 shots apiece.
“So, we came up with a tie,” said McAuliffe. “We’re one point short to qualify for the tournament so we’ll just have to wait for the next game.”
The “next game” was a rematch against Rockport on Wednesday (results in after press time). Barring further scheduling changes, the Hornets will travel to face Lynnfield on Saturday at noon.