Friday, Aug. 01, 2008

Dragons Good Enough to Better the Best

Carroll Hockey Loses in OT to Marcus Red, Expects Improved Outcome in Playoffs

By Zach Warner

Staff Writer

Carroll’s second head-to-head matchup with top hockey team Marcus Red produced similar results: another good game, but Marcus once again came away with a win in overtime.

The 3-2 loss on July 24 dropped the Dragons (5-1-3) into third-place in the standings in the AT&T Metroplex High School Hockey League’s Varsity Gold division, while Marcus Red (9-0-0) remains undefeated and in first. However, Carroll takes away plenty of confidence and incentive as a result of the loss.

The Dragons are the only team to push Marcus Red to overtime, doing so in both meetings. Carroll coach Tom Yockey said his team’s performance against such a strong opponent makes him feel good about the chance to defeat Marcus Red if they were to meet again in the summer playoffs, which begins next week.

"Marcus had a good team last year and had a good corps coming back, so that kind of says good things for our guys," said Yockey, whose team was scheduled to finish the regular season against Coppell (7-2-0) on Thursday. "We haven’t had practices or anything, and we’ve taken them to overtime twice.

"Sometimes it comes down to not taking advantage of chances early and not getting the puck in the net," he said. "We look forward to facing them in the playoffs."

Team matchups and seeding were scheduled to take place after the final games of the regular summer season were played Thursday. Results and seedings were not available at press time.

Carroll found itself in a hole early against Marcus Red, as the team scored two goals in the first five minutes of the contest on shots by David Wirth. The Dragons answered in the second period, as Tyler Bravo put one in on an assist by Mike Bond in the first minute to cut the deficit to 2-1.

Carroll tied it up less than 2 ½ minutes later, as Blake Beall scored on a Ricky Mochulsky setup. However, neither team could find the opposing team’s net in the third period.

Heading into overtime, it took only 28 seconds before Marcus Red’s Travis Reed sealed the deal with a shot into the Dragons’ goal to drop Carroll out of second place and keep Marcus Red unbeaten.

Yockey said he felt that both losses to Marcus Red were missed opportunities for his team.

"We’ve had our chances in overtime, too," he said. "The first game, I thought we’d win for sure. We were all over them and it wasn’t even close, but they came away with the win.

"[A win for Carroll] will just hopefully happen at the right time," he said.

Yockey said that time could happen in the playoffs. The Dragons have a great shot at knocking the top team off, whether in an early playoff game or in the summer city championship game, he said.

Just as if the team were entering the fall season’s postseason rounds, Carroll intends to take every game seriously and aim for claiming the title, Yockey said.

"It doesn’t have the luster of the fall season, but it’s still the city championship," he said. "So that’s something we’re shooting for.

"To get the title, it’s as close as any time to being in our hands," he said. "We just have to earn it."

Carroll’s game with Coppell earlier this week could end up playing a part in just how challenging that road to the title will be. Defeating the Cowboys – a team the Dragons beat 5-1 in the summer season opener but which has since only lost to Marcus Red and came into the final regular season contest on a three-game winning streak – would put Carroll back in second place and Coppell in third.

A loss would keep the Dragons in third and could set up an earlier meeting with Marcus Red. Moving back to second could keep Carroll from seeing the top team until the city championship, should they advance that far.

Yockey said he likes the Carroll JV team’s chances in the playoffs as well. Alone in first place at 9-0-0, the JV Dragons need only play two games (with only four of five teams making the playoffs) for their chance at the city title.

With JV players such as Tim Henessey, who leads the entire JV division in scoring with 29 points and is already slated to play on the Carroll varsity team this fall, the Dragons could enter the fall season with several impressive players and a successful summer playoff run to boot.

"It would be nice to get double championship titles here," Yockey said. "We’re putting everything in motion for that to happen, and we look to carry that right over into the fall season."