BROOKLYN, Ohio- The Padua Franciscan Bruins and Rocky River Pirates both looked for a victory on Sunday, as the winner would move on to the quarterfinals to take on the winner of Strongsville/Avon Lake.
The first half of the opening frame was essentially a feeling-out process, neither team wanting to make a mistake. Padua would take control of the game with two goals in the back half of the frame. Ryan Kisel would take advantage of a breakaway opportunity and net the first goal of the game, disregarding the man-advantage Rocky River had. Padua would execute off of a late faceoff to score their second goal, as Joe Onorato would set up Joseph Borsuk and Borsuk would send the puck top-shelf for the marker with 38.4 seconds left in the frame.
Padua would open the middle stanza with their third goal of the game, as Joseph Borsuk would strike for his second goal of the game at the 3:21 mark of the frame. From there, the Pirates would seemingly swing the momentum in their favor, as they would deliver two unanswered goals. Teddy Stueber would get Rocky River on the board with a power play goal at the 10:06 mark. Stueber was set up by Sumner Mead and River Whitnable, who were both credited with assists on the marker. Tensions started to flare when Stueber would land into Padua goaltender Lynsey Wallace, causing the two sides to get into a skirmish. When the sides separated, Stueber and Padua’s Justin Eles were sent to the sin bin for slashing. Following the penalties, Freshman Aidan Dempsey would step up and land the second goal of the game for Rocky River, as he found the puck off of a second rebound opportunity at the 11:26 mark of the frame. The Bruins would hold onto their 3-2 lead heading into the final frame of play.
The Pirates would score the equalizer when Eddie Zuercher fired a shot to the back of the net thirteen seconds into the frame. Stueber would continue the attack for Rocky River, as he would put the Pirates in front with a goal at the 4:29 mark. Stueber would get the hat trick at the 9:37 mark of the frame, pushing the Pirates’ lead to 5-3. Nolan Weaver would put the finishing touches on a 6-3 win with a goal at the 11:25 mark, capping off a run of six unanswered goals by Rocky River.
After the game, Stueber credited some of the Pirates’ new found life to the disappointing loss to Cleveland Heights in the first round of the Baron Cup:
“That loss was unacceptable. We shouldn’t have lost that game. We definitely pulled it together, got a new fire underneath us to come back and win this game and the game against Elyria Catholic.”
Rocky River plays the winner of Strongsville/Avon Lake on Wednesday at 8pm.
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