Late Penalty Shot Trips Up Drury

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- Kouji Ishida converted a penalty shot with 16 seconds left in the third period to break a 2-2 tie and send the Amherst hockey team to a 4-2 victory over Drury on Saturday night at Peter W. Foote Vietnam Veterans Memorial Rink.

 

Ishida went five hole to spoil a gutsy performance keeper Corey Callander and the Blue Devils, who had rallied back from deficits of 1-0 and 2-1 to twice tie the contest against the unbeaten ‘Canes (6-0).

 

But in a scramble in front of Callendar as time wound down, a Drury skater was whistled for covering the puck in the crease, giving Ishida a chance to be the hero.

 

Nick Foster tacked on an empty-netter from his defensive zone eight seconds later to put the game out of reach.

 

Callendar stopped 35 shots -- 12 in the third period alone.

 

“Corey was solid in net,” Drury coach Kevin Ellingwood said. “Very, very solid. Kept us in it, gave us a chance into the third period.”

 

In fact, Ellingwood was happy with the effort from his Blue Devils across the board -- after they shook off the first-minute doldrums that allowed Amherst to take a 1-0 lead 14 seconds into the game.

 

“We’ve played five games, and that’s happened to us three out of the five games,” Ellingwood said. “It’s clearly a problem for our team, not being awake in the first minute of the game so we have to dig out of that hole. It’s not new for us.”

 

But dig Drury did.

 

Midway through the first, Mitch Andrews battled for a puck behind the goal and sent a pass into the slot for Corbin Rumbolt, who finished to make it 1-1.

 

That is where it stood for most of the game, despite Amherst getting three power play opportunities in the span of 15 minutes between the first and second periods.

 

The Hurricanes finally found broke the tie with 3 minutes, 13 seconds left in the third.

 

Brandon Peritz centered a pass from the left wing board for Ishida, who lit the lamp to give Amherst a 2-1 lead.

 

But Drury needed just 23 seconds to get the equalizer, off the stick of Toby Ellingwood, and it looked like the Blue Devils would escape with a well-deserved tie.

 

“It was a good effort,” coach Ellingwood said. “Just a good finish.”

 

Drury hosts Chicopee Comp on Wednesday.