Feehan comeback puts Vineyarders on ice

Feehan comeback puts Vineyarders on ice

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Vineyard Goalie Mike Sylvia kicked away a shot by Bishop Feehan's Max Johnson. — Photo by Ralph Stewart

The Martha’s Vineyard boys varsity hockey team let one slip away against unbeaten Eastern Athletic Conference rival Bishop Feehan at the Martha’s Vineyard Arena, Saturday night. The Shamrocks came from behind twice in the third period to clinch a 5-4 win.

The Vineyarders played nearly flawless for two periods. They skated hard, and repeatedly caught the sluggish Feehan defense on odd-man breaks. They also finished their checks, made crisp passes, and forechecked tirelessly.

All of that hard work led to three Vineyard goals. Colby Gouldrup scored two minutes into the game on a backhander after faking the goalie right, then left. Max Davies earned the assist. Tyler Araujo scored at 2:09 of the second period and put in another at 4:12 by poking a loose puck into an unguarded goal. Max Davies and Bobby Perry assisted.

Feehan answered only once and the Vineyarders took a 3-1 lead into the second intermission. Then, the game got away from them.

Fifteen seconds after the puck dropped in the third period, Max Davies went to the penalty box. No harm was done, but it was the first of three bad penalties the Vineyarders would take and a harbinger of things to come. Four minutes later, the Shamrocks scored a cheap goal. Two minutes after that, M.V. had a defensive lapse and the Shamrocks tied the game.

Nelson Dickson quickly put the Vineyarders back in front, 4-3, on a bizarre blooper from inside the blueline that floated over a half-dozen bodies and into the back of the net, but the lead was short-lived.

Feehan equalized with 3:42 to play and won it two minutes later when Max Johnson scored a power-play goal with Bobby Perry in the sin bin for a roughing penalty.

It’s not that the Vineyarders played badly in the third period, they simply didn’t do things as well as they had in the first two periods. They also lost their discipline, leading to the little mistakes and letdowns that often spell the difference in a game against strong teams.

Feehan was out of sync in the first period, sorely outplayed in the second, but resolute in the third and clinched a berth in the state tournament, with an 8-0-4 record.

The Vineyarders left the ice at 2-8-1, with their fourth one-goal loss of the season behind them.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: February 5, 2011

Max Davies and Bobby Perry assisted on Tyler Araujo’s goal at 4:12 of the second period, not Tyson Araujo and Shay Hill as the print version of this story reported. Tyson and Shay assisted on Nelson Dickson’s goal at 7:43 of the third period.