WEST WARWICK Without looking at the standings, you would never think that Coventry was winless with how they played against South Kingstown on Saturday.

The Oakers took advantage of nearly every mistake by the Rebels and won 6-5 in overtime. Coventry held a lead at the end of the first and second periods, finding ways to score despite SK dominating puck possession. Then, they outshot SK and won nine of 14 faceoffs in the third period before scoring quickly in overtime to win it.

SK had a 3-1 Division II record heading into the road matchup at Benny Magiera Ice Rink but traveled home feeling like it could be a low point in the season.

We took them lightly early on and it showed. The result is there, SK head coach Anthony Simeone said. Every team needs that one loss to motivate you the rest of the way. I told them to let tonight be the loss that pushes us the rest of the season.

While SK controlled possession for most of the first two periods, the formula for Coventry was simple throughout: dont waste their rushes. Coventry scored five of their six goals as a direct result of a break into the zone rather than a continuous possession.

The Oakers have a tiny roster of just 14 skaters, but theyre filled with speed. Goal scoring wasnt the reason they entered Saturdays game with an 0-4-1 D-II record, it was the fact that theyd allowed 7.6 goals per game in that stretch.

We beat them in the Christmas tournament and they gave us a good game, Simeone said about SKs 4-1 win on Dec. 27. They have a few really good kids on their team and they've got a great coaching staff that keeps them motivated. It just felt like the bounces went their way tonight, and they played a good game, but that's hockey.

SK went up 1-0 at 4:27 in the first period when Rebel sophomore Aaron Jarbeau scored on a tip-in on a pass by senior Michael Peters from behind the net, but that was the Rebels only lead of the night and it only lasted for a minute and a half.

Coventry broke into their offensive zone and got their first shot of the night on SK goalie Lucas Gordon who froze the puck to force a faceoff. The Oakers won the draw and got the puck to Collin King in the opposite faceoff circle who wristed it past Gordon.

Just over a minute and a half later, King stole the puck during a lengthy SK possession, skated all the way behind the net at the other end and passed to teammate Jack Horsman who one-timed it in for a goal.

Peters tied the game shortly after with a snipe from the slot on a rush of the Rebels own, but Coventry took the lead back before the end of the period with a powerplay goal at 11:21 by King on a rebound chance.

SK outshot Coventry 14-5 and won 14 of 24 faceoffs in the first period, yet Coventry had the momentum and led the game 3-2.

I think that's a good statistic that shows we had defensive breakdowns, Simeone said about allowing three goals on five shots. We had the puck in their zone most of the time and we just did a bad job getting back on defense, or covering their defensemen, or covering the guy who had the puck. We took too many penalties that led to them having odd-man rushes. When they shot, they scored because they just had those 2-on-1s or 3-on-2s; nobody was covering them.

SK dominated play early in the second period as well, at one point leading both shots and faceoffs 8-1 each, but that eighth faceoff win went to Rebel senior Ethan Hood who wristed it off the post. King received the puck for Coventry and went coast to coast against one defenseman who was unable to stop him from scoring his hat-trick goal to go up 4-2.

Hood got his revenge just 53 seconds later when he scored a goal on a wraparound. Rebels leading scorer Nolan Quirk sniped one top blocker shortly after to tie the game, but again Coventry retook the lead before the period ended. This time the goal came on a continuous possession where Gordon made two tough saves in a row before Coventrys Matt Horsman put the puck in the net on a third chance.

Our guys need to do a better job of helping Lucas out, Simeone said. I'm telling [Gordon], Don't be afraid to get in your guys' ears as well. I know you're trying out there and I'm going to get the guys to figure it out defensively. It's not his fault. We're just having breakdowns which is leading to them scoring. It happened the whole night. We have to be better defensively.

The third period was nearly the opposite of the first two as Coventry controlled possession for a chunk of time and outshot SK 11-7 but didnt score, while SK tied it up to send the game to overtime. Gordon stopped all 11 shots he faced in the period.

Quirk scored the tying goal on a penalty kill, shooting the puck from near the corner at an odd angle and ending up in the net. For a player who kills penalties and made a host of good defensive plays on Saturday, it was Quirks eighth goal of the year which is second in the entire RIIL.

We feel that he's one of the best players in the state of Rhode Island because he does it on both ends, Simeone said about Quirk. He's been tremendous for us in both aspects. When he goes defense to offense it really rallies the guys for us.

With 28 seconds remaining in regulation and the score tied at 5, Quirk got caught in the middle of a team-wide scuffle and got sent to the penalty box along with Coventrys Jack Horsman. The Rebels, however, took an extra penalty on the play as Sean Dwyer, who also kills penalties, went to the box for slashing to send Coventry to the power play which carried into overtime.

Without Quirk or Dwyer on the ice for the overtime 4-on-3 penalty kill, Coventrys Evan Rogers drove into the zone and backhanded the puck past Gordon at 1:01 in overtime for the victory.

On the night, SK took eight penalties while Coventry took four. The Rebels outshot the Oakers 32-26. Faceoffs were dead even at 31.

The message in the locker room was to use this to come together as a group, Simeone said. Tonight there was a lot of back-and-forth talk amongst each other, kids being kids, but I didn't think we played a bad hockey game thats not why we lost; we had about 30 shots on net and we dominated time on attack. I said, Use this loss to come together as one. We know how good we can be and we just need to commit to building from this, learning from this and not letting this distance one another.

Next up for SK is a Friday night match at Boss Arena against Cranston (3-1). It's a chance to prove the loss was just a fluke while maybe turning it into a spark that ignites them the rest of the way. Another loss, on the other hand, could mean the start of a spiraling losing streak. Puck drop is at 8:15 p.m.

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Boys Hockey: Rebels dealt gut punch; look to use it as motivation - The Independent