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Greely justifies top ranking with victory in boys' hockey

The Rangers use a short-handed goal in the third period to answer a challenge from York, 3-2.

By GREG REID Special to the Press Herald

FALMOUTH - Freshman center Mitchel Donovan had a hand in all three Greely goals Thursday night -- including an unassisted short-handed goal with 9:31 to play -- as the Rangers edged York 3-2 in a Western Class B boys' hockey game at Family Ice.

The game lived up to its playoff-caliber billing.

Greely (8-3-1) entered the game ranked No. 1 in the Western Class B Heal point standings. York (6-5-2) was ranked No. 4.

With six of the top 10 scorers in Western Class B on the ice, three per side, odds were good it would be a high-scoring game.

Greely didn't disappoint, scoring twice in a span of 34 seconds midway through the first period.

Donovan put the Rangers ahead 1-0 at 10:53 when he finished off a slick two-on-one with junior defenseman Tim Storey, beating York goalie Jared Posternak (22 saves).

Thirty-four seconds later, Ted Hart won the faceoff to Posternak's right. Donovan sent the puck back to defenseman Brendan Trelegan along the boards. Trelegan's shot inside the far post put Greely up 2-0.

"That gave us a lot of energy," Storey said. "We played hard after that."

After a physical second period, the Wildcats tied the game in the third with two quick goals of their own.

Tyson Bernard broke through at 5:16 and beat Kyle Kramlich (15 saves) to cut the deficit to 2-1. Jackson Mitchell and Derek Neal assisted.

Jared Clauson tied it 16 seconds later off a pass from Conor O'Brien.

"That got us fired up and we responded well, scoring that goal short-handed," Storey said.

York looked poised to strike again as Greely's Aidan Black was called for boarding.

That's when Donovan collected a loose puck and skated in alone on Posternak to regain the lead, 3-2.

"It came right off the faceoff, Ted poked it through the kid's legs, I ended up getting a little chip," Donovan said. "I brought it in and scored. I was thinking, 'Just get a shot off.' "

"I have no complaints. I was pretty pleased tonight," said York Coach Mike Vessey. "We've played every game this year short-handed.

"We had three starters missing tonight. We're just looking to get healthy. All I wanted tonight was a good, competitive game and we got that."

The game was hard-fought right up to the final horn, when a melee along the boards in the Greely zone resulted in disqualifications for Greely's Kenny Richards and York's Clauson. The players will sit out their next game. Clauson, Vessey said, could miss more because he also was disqualified from a holiday tournament game.

"I thought the boys really were able to bear down and played well over the last seven, eight minutes of the game with the score tied," said Greely Coach Barry Mothes.

"Obviously we got a huge effort on that penalty kill with Mitchel getting that goal to put us ahead on a great individual effort."