Johnston/North Providence fell to the West Warwick/Exeter-West Greenwich Co-op 4-2 on Saturday night at Levy Rink in Burrillville.
Goaltending for JNP was Dave Kelly and for WWEWG it was Joe Marfeo. Kelly saw 27 shots on net while Marfeo saw 32.
It didn’t take long for WWEWG to get on the board. Center Alex Ventura scored on a backhand, 47 seconds into the first period. The goal was assisted by defenseman John Duquette.
Then, WWEWG winger Nick Pecchia fired a shot on net, but it was kicked away by Kelly. Soon after, teammate Corey Andrade had a shot stabbed by Kelly. WWEWG would continue to keep the puck in the JNP zone. Senior center Brendan Sheridan deked, then missed a shot on net, before Jacob Ellis tried to tap in the rebound, only to get blocked by Kelly.
Next, Pecchia missed a slap shot wide before JNP defenseman Shawn O’Brien was able to clear away WWEWG’s pass in front of the net. However, WWEWG kept on the attack, but Andrade’s next shot was denied by Kelly and Ventura couldn’t put in the rebound.
With just under 10 minutes to play in the first period, JNP gained a man advantage when Andrade was called for a hooking penalty. That didn’t stop WWEWG from staying aggressive. Ventura still charged the net before being stopped by a JNP defender.
Finally, JNP was able to get a solid attack on the net. Brandon Tanguay’s first shot went wide before forward Michael Flori had his slap shot swallowed up by Marfeo. Next, the goaltender followed it with a spectacular glove save on Tanguay.
Down the other end, Ventura’s backhand went high over the net. Then, Tanguay couldn’t capitalize on a breakaway for JNP, struggling to control the puck.
Then, with 3:39 to play in the opening period, JNP’s Brian Iannuccillo scored on passes from Justin Gomes and Jacob McCollough to tie the score at 1.
JNP’s Kelly closed out the first period with a sensational save on a wraparound attempt by Ventura.
The second period started with a slap shot from JNP’s Shawn O’Brien, which was denied by Marfeo. The goaltender would block another shot in front from Justin Harvey.
With 11:07 left in the second, WWEWG’s Jared Olson was thrown in the sin bin for roughing. With the man advantage, JNP attacked, but it came up empty. Tanguay and McCollough both shot wide before JNP’s Gomes was penalized for holding. Harvey gave JNP another chance during a breakaway, but his shot too was stopped by Marfeo.
JNP could not stay out of the box, especially during the second frame. Iannuccillo suffered a five-minute major misconduct and had to sit in the bin for five minutes. WWEWG’s Andrade also suffered a penalty, his was for hooking, but it wouldn’t matter. During the 4-on-4 battle, WWEWG winger Zach Magiera scored a goal on an assist from Brendan Sheridan with 3:38 to play in the period to put his team up 2-1.
The disaster would continue for JNP. Gomes was thrown in the bin for holding, leaving his team shorthanded with 2:40 left in the second. WWEWG extended its lead when Pecchia scored on a wrister to go up 3-1 just before the end of the period.
JNP’s Harvey had a chance to start the third period, but his shot was blocked by Marfeo and the goalie covered it up just before Harvey could get off another shot. Then, McCollough had a chance, but his shot went off the goaltender’s stick and out of play.
With 10:35 to play in the game, WWEWG’s Ventura scored on an assist from Magiera to go up 4-1. Moments later, JNP’s Nathan Nye scored off an assist from Zach Morin to pull the Panthers within 4-2.
JNP couldn’t capitalize when it had a 5-on-3 man advantage with 4:50 left, though, and eventually it ended when Tanguay was thrown in the sin bin, which put the teams at an even 4-on-4. Nathan Nye had a chance to cut the deficit to one, but his shot was denied by Marfeo with 17.8 seconds to play.
JNP head coach Manny DaCosta felt the biggest issue was that WWEWG scored on the power play and that his own team couldn’t stay out of the box.
“We lead the league in penalties and it hurts,” DaCosta said. “The second period killed us... We have been getting a lot of penalties and they gotta learn.”
JNP will look to get back on track when it takes on Warwick Vets at Thayer Arena at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.
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