Sound Tigers Squeak Past T-Birds



Former Minnesota Gopher star scored the game-winning goal for the

Sound Tigers in just his third game as a professional.

                                                            (courtesy Puck Stopper Photography)

By Bob Phillips
Editorial Director, InsideCTSports

BRIDGEPORT – Goaltender Eamon McAdam turned aside 19 of the 20 shots he faced, and the Bridgeport Sound Tigers edged the Springfield Thunderbirds, 2-1, before 7,012 fans at the Webster Bank Arena on Tuesday.  It was the seventh “Spring Fun 102,” an annual promotion that brings throngs of school kids in from Greenwich to Stonington—and everywhere in between.

The Sound Tigers drew first blood 11:20 into the contest when, with Springfield’s Ed Witchow in the penalty box for interference, Josh Winquist took a feed from Ryan Pulock at the high center slot and fired a laser beam  past Springfield goalie Sam Brittain’s  glove. The power play goal was Winquist’s 15th of the season, with Pulock and Tim Wallace picking up assists.

Twenty seconds later, Bridgeport’s Ross Johnston and Springfield’s Tony Turgeon did the two-fisted tango, which brought the youthful crowd to its feet. Turgeon was called for interference, while Johnston was tagged for roughing and also picked up a game misconduct for continuing an altercation for good measure. The T-Birds promptly capitalized on the situation when defenseman Thomas Schemitsch fired a wrister that beat a screened-out McAdam at the 11:36 mark. It was the first goal of the season for the five-year pro, who has split the season between the Manchester Monarchs of the ECHL, and the T-Birds—the top two minor-league affiliates of the Florida Panthers.

The Sound Tigers broke the tie 12:40 into the second period when Patrick Cullity fed Jake Bischoff just inside the blue line near the right boards and rifled a slap shot that hit the left post and slipped past Brittain to put Bridgeport in the lead, 2-1. Cullity and Ben Holstrom got helpers on Bischoff’s second goal of the season in just three pro games since signing with the New York Islanders, the Sound Tigers’ parent organization. It would ultimately prove to be the game winner.

“Every game’s important,” said Bischoff, the former University of Minnesota star who was named the game’s No. 1 star. “There aren’t many games left, so we have to go into every game with the mindset that we’ll do whatever it takes to win.”

Playoffs In Sight

Truer words were never spoken. The win, the Sound Tigers have five games remaining in the regular season, and need a total of eight points to assure themselves of a postseason appearance. Bridgeport has qualified for the playoffs just once—last season—in the past four years, and has not won a postseason series since the 2002-03 season.

Next up for the Sound Tigers, who currently own the fourth and final playoff slot in the AHL’s Atlantic Division, will be a home-and-home series with the third-place Providence Bruins, whom they trail by a mere point. Bridgeport trails the second-place Lehigh Valley Phantoms by one point, and lead the fifth-place Hershey Bears by four. (The Sound Tigers own a game in-hand with both Providence and Lehigh Valley, while Hershey has a game-in hand over Bridgeport.)

Bridgeport will conclude the regular season next weekend with a two-game road trip—Friday night to Springfield, for a re-match with the Thunderbirds, before heading to Pennsylvania for a season-ending match-up with the league-leading Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. All Sound Tiger games are streamed online at www.ahllive.com.

—with staff reports

Bluefish To Conduct Job Fair

BRIDGEPORT – The Bridgeport Bluefish and Centerplate, the new hospitality provider of The Ballpark at Harbor Yard, will be hosting a job fair this coming Saturday, April 8 for summer jobs. The team will be accepting applications and interviewing candidates beginning at 12 p.m. for game-day staff during the 2017 season. All applicants must be 16 years of age or older.

 

Available positions include ushers, customer service, security, ticket takers, merchandise, parking lot attendants, box office assistants, cleaning crew, and clubhouse assistants. CLICK HERE to download the Bluefish game day staff application. Centerplate will also be interviewing candidates for the following positions: concessions attendants, warehouse employees, suite attendants, bartenders, and cooks. CLICK HERE to download the Centerplate game day staff application.

 

The job fair will last until 2 p.m., and those in attendance will receive first consideration for employment. For efficiency purposes, the Bluefish and Centerplate ask that anyone planning to attend the job fair please fill out the application ahead of time and bring it with them to the job fair. For more information, please email info@bridgeportbluefish.com or call 203-345-4800.

—Staff Reports

Black Wolves Edge Toronto

Black Wolves captain Sean Evans led the way with a three-goal, one-assist
effort to lead New England to a 15-14 victory over Toronto.

UNCASVILLE – Evan Kirk tied his own franchise record with 56 saves, and the New England Black Wolves took another step toward qualifying the National Lacrosse League playoffs, edging the Toronto Rock 15-14 at Mohegan Sun Arena on Sunday. It was the seventh one-goal game of the year for the Black Wolves, who are 5-2 in those contests.

Kirk, the reigning NLL Goaltender of the Year after setting a franchise record with 620 saves in 2016, was under siege throughout the match, facing a franchise record 70 shots. He had 50 saves on 58 shots through the first three quarters, coming up with one big stop after another.

Six different Black Wolves’ players had at least two goals, with Shawn Evans (three goals, one assist), leading the way. Evans, the overall No. 2 pick in the 2005 NLL Draft by the Rochester Knighthawks and perhaps the top box lacrosse player on the planet, picked up his fourth consecutive hat trick—his seventh of the season.

Teammates Kevin Crowley and Kyle Buchanan each added two goals and three assists, while Jay Thorimbert had his most productive offensive game as a member of the Black Wolves, finishing with two goals and two assists while also winning 18 of 33 face-offs. Daryl Veltman and Sheldon Burns each had two goals. Kevin Buchanan had one goal, but also collected four assists, giving him 38 on the year. That ties his single-season career high.

Toronto goalie Nick Rose—who began the day with an NLL-best 9.93 goals-against average—was pulled after surrendering goals to Burns and Reilly O’Connor in the last 1:06 of the third quarter. Rose was beaten for 11 goals on 35 shots. Burns and O’Connor’s tallies were followed by fourth-quarter goals from Kyle and Kevin Buchanan, pushing the New England lead to 13-8. But Toronto would not go down quietly, scoring six of the last eight goals in the contest—three by Reid Reinholdt in the last 2:11 of regulation.

The Black Wolves stopped the bleeding, however, when Burns converted a long outlet pass from Kirk sandwiched in-between the Reinholdt tallies—and that 15th goal proved to be the difference in the game.

Tom Schreiber led the Toronto with four goals and three assists, while Stephan Leblanc added three goals and three assists, and Kieran McArdle chipped in with three goals and one assist.

With the victory, the Black Wolves improved to 7-7, and put some distance between them selves and 5-5 Buffalo and 5-9 Rochester–both of whom lost on Saturday–in the race for the third and final playoff spot in the NLL East Division. The win also allowed New England to keep the pressure on second-place Toronto (8-7), by completing a two-game season sweep of the Rock.

Next up, the Black Wolves will entertain the Georgia Swarm on Friday night. Game time is 7:30 p.m., and it will be Native American Heritage Night at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

—Staff Reports

Buzzer Beater Squashes Huskies’ Dreams

By Bob Phillips

 

Blair Schaefer (left) and Breanna Richardson storm the court after
Mississippi State's upset victory over UConn in the national
semifinals at American Airlines Center in Dallas Friday night.

DALLAS—Payback’s a bitch. Ain’t it though?

All season long, Geno Auriemma kept telling anyone who would listen that this year’s version of the Huskies wasn’t all that... to which everyone would nod and think, “Right, Geno,” as his team kept winning and winning and winning. Well, last night his words became prophetic as a 15-foot jumper by Morgan William beat the buzzer as time expired in the first overtime lead Mississippi State to a 66-64 win over Connecticut, ending the Huskies’ quest for an unprecedented fifth consecutive national title.

The Lady Bulldogs, whom the Huskies embarrassed by 60 points in last year’s Bridgeport Regionals, certainly brought their “A” game to Dallas. The Huskies, meanwhile, did not—particularly early in the contest. Indeed, this game raised the question whether these Huskies were able to play well away from the cozy confines of their home state, certainly on such a big stage. UConn was seriously challenged just three times this season, by very good Florida State and Maryland teams (two- and six-point victories, respectively), as well as a mediocre Tulane squad by three. In fairness, it must be noted that the Huskies were double-digit winners over a Notre Dame team that finished the season 33-4 and lost to Stanford by just one point in the Lexington Region Final. But the Notre Dame game was played at the XL Center. The aforementioned three close contests were played on the opponents' respective home courts.

''We had an incredible run, but we came up against a much better team tonight,'' Auriemma said after the game.

Connecticut trailed by a deuce, 15-13, with 3:04 remaining in the first quarter when Mississippi State went on a 14-0 lead to assume a commanding 29-13 lead, which put the young Huskies in uncharted waters. It was the biggest deficit UConn had faced not only this season, but throughout their historic 111-game winning streak.

The Huskies went on a 12-0 run of their own, fueled by seven points from senior Saniya Chong, to cut the Mississippi State lead to four, 29-25, with 3:44 left until halftime. But the Lady Bulldogs collected their composure, and went into the locker room leading by eight, 36-28, at intermission.

The Huskies rallied in the third quarter behind their trio of All-Americans, Gabby Williams, Napheesa Collier and Katie Lou Samuelson keying a 12-3 run to start the third period. A bucket by Collier gave Connecticut its first lead of the game, 41-40, with 4:29 remaining in regulation, and many fans were wondering if the roof was about to fall in on the Lady Bulldogs. William answered that with a layup a little over a minute later putting Mississippi State back up by one, but Connecticut responded with a trey from Kia Nurse, and the drama became palpable.

A layup by Williams gave the Huskies a three-point lead, 59-56, with 2:30 remaining, but a free throw by Victoria Vivians followed by a missed jumper by Collier and a trey by Vivians gave the Lady Bulldogs a 60-59 lead with a buck 14 left in regulation.

Next, William stole the ball from Chong, but missed her shot and Collier was fouled on the rebound, setting up a chance for the Huskies to win it in regulation from the line. But Collier was only one-for-two from the charity stripe, and it was onto the extra session.

“Obviously, you know, when you get to this point in the season, and you lose, it's the worst feeling imaginable,” said Auriemma. “The excitement that was in Mississippi State's locker room, we've been there. We've been there lots of times. We've experienced that probably more times than normal.

“Today, you know, they deserved to win,” he continued. “They beat us. We had our chances. I mean, they beat us. They took us away from the things that we like to do. We didn't have the kind of maturity that you need to win at this level at this time of the year.”

With all the winning this team did, tied into a history of winning and unparalleled excellence, people forget that this team wasn’t supposed to be where it was last night.

“Some of our young guys got a little bit ahead of themselves,” observed Auriemma. “That's okay. We went in the locker room and we experienced some of the things that a bunch of other kids have experienced against us.”

But Auriemma was resolute on how he feels about this group of young women.

“I'm proud of our team; I'm proud of our kids,” he continued. “Maybe we're just not ready for this. Maybe we were ready for everything else, but maybe we're just not mature enough for this,” he said. “Maybe all our young kids needed to experience this [losing] so that we can come back and really be ready for this.”

So now the Huskies can relax. No more historic winning streak to protect, no more perfect seasons to be concerned about. Back to reality.

The Huskies will return next season with a team that graduates just one senior starter (Chong), and which adds much-needed height and depth. They will seemingly have everything—including Final Four experience—under their belt.

Watch out, world.

Payback’s a bitch. Ain’t it though?

—with Staff Reports