BY WAYNE WITKOWSKI
Staff Writer
Not many coaches come away happy with a tie, especially after giving away the lead to a team with only one victory.
But Brick Memorial hockey coach George Kiernan was satisfied that his team, battling hard for an NJSIAA tournament berth two weeks to the cutoff, held on to a 2-2 tie with cross-town rival Brick Township on Sunday night at Ocean Ice Palace.
“We’ll take it,” said Kiernan, whose 7-7-2 team was on the threshold of beating Brick Township for only the second time in history, that lone victory a 2-1 triumph two seasons ago. Brick Township (1-13-1) snapped a five-game losing streak since its 4-1 victory over St. John Vianney.
“I’m absolutely pleased. We’re down so many defensemen with injuries and they (Brick Township) play great competition every night,” said Kiernan
Mike Farr scored both goals for Brick Township, the equalizer coming with 3:42 left when he took a pass from Alex Gorden and beat Justin Ferguson low. He has eight goals this season.
It came just 35 seconds after Matt Miller, who had scored his 100th career point in his previous game, deflected in a shot by Bill Giersbach off a pass from Matt Baker that beat goalie Rich Philpott for his 13th goal this season (he also has 17 assists).
A year ago, Brick Township redeemed a struggling season with a 6-2 victory over Brick Memorial, and looked like it was on its way to another triumph over the Mustangs when Farr struck first just 1:53 into the second period. It came off a pass from Mike Guimma, who had played on an all-freshmen second shift line of Andrew Ball and Mike Guarino who put in some quality minutes.
“The thing is that we’re not scoring many goals because we’re just so young, playing 12 freshmen and sophomores, which makes a difference playing in the league (Gordon Division) that we’re in,” said assistant coach Chuck McCabe.
Matt Baker tied it five minutes later when he took a long clear from Ferguson and beat Philpott into the lower left corner. Baker was moved back from forward to defense when yet another defenseman went down with an injury — Tom Brow with a broken collarbone when he was knocked into the boards midway through the first period.
“I thought Matt Baker played unbelievably with a makeshift defensive crew we had back there with four guys out. He took control when he was moved back there and kept us going,” said Kiernan, who had taken Baker off his top line with Giersbach and Miller.
But the Green Dragons came out flying at the start of the third period and kept Brick Memorial on its heels, aside from a few face-offs Chris James won from Farr.
“I think this will help the younger kids who played against their rivals at Brick Memorial for the first time and give them a lot more confidence,” said McCabe.
Brick Township had a 40-31 edge in shots on goal but Kiernan said “Ferguson kept us in the game” with some superb saves.
Brick Memorial had beaten first-year program Southern Regional, 8-4, as Miller scored two goals and had two assists, including his 100th career point. He has 39 career goals and 61 assists.
Nick Colangelo stopped 29 shots, stepping in goal to give Ferguson a rest, and made up for a defense that missed Brett Eker, Frank Ryan and Joe Alvarez with injuries.
All of them were out while Brick Memorial had dropped its three previous games to Middletown North, Montgomery and St. Augustine’s Prep. In fact, the Mustangs had seven players who lead the team in ice time out against Montgomery, a team Brick Memorial had beaten earlier in the season. The missing players included Baker, Miller and Giersbach, who were on a club team playing in the Silver Sticks showcase in Canada.
“Before this stretch, we had won every game we were supposed to win,” said Kiernan, whose team has four more games before the Feb. 14 cutoff for state tournament selection, including Middletown South, St. Joseph’s (Hammonton), Old Bridge and Point Pleasant Borough.