The Sailors defeated Rockford in a 5-4 come-from-behind win on Feb. 22 in the Division 1 regional semifinals at Lakeshore Sports Centre.
(Photos courtesy of Eric Sturr)
LocalSportsJournal.com
MUSKEGON - Overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds in a playoff scenario is where many an athlete’s dreams are made.
When the season’s end is looming, but somehow finding the grit needed to pull off the “impossible,”—that’s a hope almost any sports’ fan can identify with.
Mona Shores’ hockey has now given every future Sailor a new benchmark for determination and belief after pulling off an epic comeback story. The Sailors defeated Rockford in an incredible 5-4 come-from-behind win on Saturday, February 22 in the Division 1 regional semifinals at Lakeshore Sports Centre.
To simply call this a comeback doesn’t quite do justice to what Mona Shores accomplished against the Rams to keep its season alive in the MHSAA state playoffs.
Trailing 3-0 after a scoreless first stanza and then a three-goal second period by the Rams, the Sailors looked all but finished. After all, the team had failed to capitalize on plenty of chances thus far to be on the scoreboard with Rockford.
“I thought we had a lot of good chances in the first and second (periods),” Mona Shores Coach Chris Benedict said. “We were just hoping to get one and they’d start coming in bunches and we got one and you saw what happened after that.”
The Sailors had shots on the doorstep, power-play opportunities, but they just could not find the back of the net in the first two periods. But when there’s a whole period still to be played, hope lives on in the hearts of players and fans alike.
A pump-up speech from Coach Benedict might have been expected as the source of the Sailors’ third-period inspiration, but Benedict said it was Captain Eli Habetler who really got the guys thinking they had enough hockey left in them to pull out the win.
“I just told the guys, saw a lot of guys with sullen faces, ‘look, we have 17 minutes remaining, that is so much hockey left,’” Habetler said. “We can go out there, we can score three goals, we’ve done it before, they just did it to us in the second period, so much time left. So I just went in there and pumped them up.”
Joey Griffes-Castonia posted the win in goal for Mona Shores which outshot Rockford 31-26.
Cooper Nellis was the first Sailor to strike in the third period with just three minutes ticked off the clock. Vaire Vanderwalle assisted on the play that put the Sailors on the board for a 3-1 deficit.
Next came a Gavin Collins goal barely a minute later. This time Ben Warren had the helper. Mona Shores now trailed 3-2 with a new hope pumping in its veins and all the momentum.
But Rockford responded soon after on Jonah Packard’s second goal of the game for a 4-2 Rams’ lead.
Many teams may have sunk in that moment after again falling behind by multiple goals with only 12 minutes left in the game. But not these Sailors.
A Rockford penalty 58 seconds later opened the door back up for Mona Shores.
Junior forward Quinn Addicott made his presence in the period known, finding the back of the net on a one-timer for the first of his two power-play goals of the period. Vanderwalle and Nathan Tilden were credited with assists on the goal.
“Right time and right place I guess,” said Addicott about his first power-play goal. “Puck bounces to me, I’m going to bury it every time.”
Now trailing 4-3, Mona Shores desperately needed to find the game-tying goal to send its players and fans into pure pandemonium. But the clock was not in the Sailors’ favor.
Time continued to wind down and it looked like Rockford was going to withstand the Sailors’ rush. But the Rams committed another infraction on the ice for another Mona Shores power-play opportunity.
With exactly two minutes left to play, Addicot was able to tie the score at 4-all when he tallied his second power-play goal of the night off the assist from captain Eli Habetler.
Next came a Gavin Collins goal barely a minute later. This time Ben Warren had the helper. Mona Shores now trailed 3-2 with a new hope pumping in its veins and all the momentum.
But Rockford responded soon after on Jonah Packard’s second goal of the game for a 4-2 Rams’ lead.
Many teams may have sunk in that moment after again falling behind by multiple goals with only 12 minutes left in the game. But not these Sailors.
A Rockford penalty 58 seconds later opened the door back up for Mona Shores.
Junior forward Quinn Addicott made his presence in the period known, finding the back of the net on a one-timer for the first of his two power-play goals of the period. Vanderwalle and Nathan Tilden were credited with assists on the goal.
“Right time and right place I guess,” said Addicott about his first power-play goal. “Puck bounces to me, I’m going to bury it every time.”
Now trailing 4-3, Mona Shores desperately needed to find the game-tying goal to send its players and fans into pure pandemonium. But the clock was not in the Sailors’ favor.
Time continued to wind down and it looked like Rockford was going to withstand the Sailors’ rush. But the Rams committed another infraction on the ice for another Mona Shores power-play opportunity.
With exactly two minutes left to play, Addicot was able to tie the score at 4-all when he tallied his second power-play goal of the night off the assist from captain Eli Habetler.
Addicott spoke highly of his confidence in the third period, but he also reminded his teammates about what happened last season in the regional semifinals against Traverse City West.
Nathan Tilden’s backhand shot is just deflected wide by the Rockford goalie.
“We were talking about a similar situation last year when we were playing our first game of the playoffs against Traverse City West,” said Addicott. “We were beating them 4-1, and they had come back with three goals and beat us in the third period, so we thought if they can do that last year, there’s no doubt in our mind we can do that, too.”
Two minutes is not a lot of time left, but when the game is tied, it’s all the time in the world for a team mounting an incredible comeback. Finally with 48 seconds left in regulation, Habetler crowned the heroic Sailors’ performance by finding the back of the net off a Nathan Tilden assist for a 5-4 lead and the eventual victory.
“I’m just glad it wasn’t a tying goal with 48 seconds left and you have to regroup and get ready for overtime,” Benedict said.
The nearly impossible win propelled Mona Shores into the regional final against Sparta on Wednesday March 26. The regional final was nearly as epic as the win over Rockford. Unfortunately, the Sailors fell in a double-overtime battle that fans will be pondering for many years to come.
The Sailors fought to a 0-0 tie through two periods of action.
The third period is once again, where things heated up for Mona Shores. The Sailors scored the game’s first goal even. However, the tally was waived off due to the goal coming off its posts and ruled a dead play.
Sparta responded just a minute later and turned a Mona Shores goal turnover into a 1-0 lead.
Mona Shores’ star Nathan Tilden responded five minutes later. Tilden wristed a penalty shot goal for a 1-1 tie. The senior forward was awarded the penalty after he blazed past Sparta’s defense for a breakaway and was tripped on the play.
With the score tied at 1, Mona Shores had momentum on its side. The energy shift led to another Sailors’ opportunity and subsequent goal. But once again, the goal was called off—ruled that the puck was intentionally kicked in. The second disallowed goal of the third period.
“It is what it is. They talked about it and they thought those were the right calls,” Benedict said. “We have pretty good refs over in west Michigan. I don’t necessarily have to agree with it, but it’s what they called and it’s where we’re at.”
It was quite the contrast of third periods for Mona Shores after its regional semifinal magic against Rockford.
While the second goal that was called off could have snuffed out the Sailors’ flame, they continued to hound Sparta goalie Trevor Vance.
The two teams were deadlocked after the first overtime as both had solid opportunities to end the game.
In the second OT, Nathan Tilden was taken down on a rough hit that sent him out of the game and into the locker room. No penalty was called on the play. Sparta used the momentum shift with Mona Shores’ top forward off the ice and rallied for the game-winner. Tanner Kovich tallied his second goal of the night off an assist from Trevor Serba.
The stinging loss didn’t stop Mona Shores Coach Benedict from heaping praise on his class of seniors.
“Thank you! The program is in a better place because of them,” Benedict said about his seniors. “They laid a brick in the foundation of what Mona Shores hockey is.”
The Sailors played a near-flawless game against Sparta leading up to the third period. Backed by goalie Joey Griffes-Castonia, Mona Shores played some of its best hockey of the season.
“Joey was unbelievable tonight,” Mona Shores Coach Chris Benedict said. “We had some breakdowns defensively, but he was there to pick us up. Can’t say enough about him, I wish he’d be here about 15 more years.”
Emotions had the Sailors’ junior Captain Eli Habetler short of words but he heaped praises on his senior teammates.
“I don’t think there’s a magic word you can say to the guys (seniors) that went out tonight, but just remember these years playing for Mona Shores Hockey,” said Habetler.
“You’ll always remember this team for the rest of your lives and I know it’s not the way you wanted to go, it’s tough.”
Two minutes is not a lot of time left, but when the game is tied, it’s all the time in the world for a team mounting an incredible comeback. Finally with 48 seconds left in regulation, Habetler crowned the heroic Sailors’ performance by finding the back of the net off a Nathan Tilden assist for a 5-4 lead and the eventual victory.
“I’m just glad it wasn’t a tying goal with 48 seconds left and you have to regroup and get ready for overtime,” Benedict said.
The nearly impossible win propelled Mona Shores into the regional final against Sparta on Wednesday March 26. The regional final was nearly as epic as the win over Rockford. Unfortunately, the Sailors fell in a double-overtime battle that fans will be pondering for many years to come.
The Sailors fought to a 0-0 tie through two periods of action.
The third period is once again, where things heated up for Mona Shores. The Sailors scored the game’s first goal even. However, the tally was waived off due to the goal coming off its posts and ruled a dead play.
Sparta responded just a minute later and turned a Mona Shores goal turnover into a 1-0 lead.
Mona Shores’ star Nathan Tilden responded five minutes later. Tilden wristed a penalty shot goal for a 1-1 tie. The senior forward was awarded the penalty after he blazed past Sparta’s defense for a breakaway and was tripped on the play.
With the score tied at 1, Mona Shores had momentum on its side. The energy shift led to another Sailors’ opportunity and subsequent goal. But once again, the goal was called off—ruled that the puck was intentionally kicked in. The second disallowed goal of the third period.
“It is what it is. They talked about it and they thought those were the right calls,” Benedict said. “We have pretty good refs over in west Michigan. I don’t necessarily have to agree with it, but it’s what they called and it’s where we’re at.”
It was quite the contrast of third periods for Mona Shores after its regional semifinal magic against Rockford.
While the second goal that was called off could have snuffed out the Sailors’ flame, they continued to hound Sparta goalie Trevor Vance.
The two teams were deadlocked after the first overtime as both had solid opportunities to end the game.
In the second OT, Nathan Tilden was taken down on a rough hit that sent him out of the game and into the locker room. No penalty was called on the play. Sparta used the momentum shift with Mona Shores’ top forward off the ice and rallied for the game-winner. Tanner Kovich tallied his second goal of the night off an assist from Trevor Serba.
The stinging loss didn’t stop Mona Shores Coach Benedict from heaping praise on his class of seniors.
“Thank you! The program is in a better place because of them,” Benedict said about his seniors. “They laid a brick in the foundation of what Mona Shores hockey is.”
The Sailors played a near-flawless game against Sparta leading up to the third period. Backed by goalie Joey Griffes-Castonia, Mona Shores played some of its best hockey of the season.
“Joey was unbelievable tonight,” Mona Shores Coach Chris Benedict said. “We had some breakdowns defensively, but he was there to pick us up. Can’t say enough about him, I wish he’d be here about 15 more years.”
Emotions had the Sailors’ junior Captain Eli Habetler short of words but he heaped praises on his senior teammates.
“I don’t think there’s a magic word you can say to the guys (seniors) that went out tonight, but just remember these years playing for Mona Shores Hockey,” said Habetler.
“You’ll always remember this team for the rest of your lives and I know it’s not the way you wanted to go, it’s tough.”
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