North Olmsted senior T.J. Murphy celebrates one of his four goals in the Eagles’s 7-6 White Division clinching victory over Rocky River. North Olmsted had leads of 4-0 and 7-4 in the game, but the Pirates never gave up. (Photo by Larry Bennet)

In a game for the ages, North Olmsted holds off River, 7-6
By Zachary Dzurick
Sports
Published Feb. 2, 2006

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If you weren’t there, the final score does not do this game justice. In the end North Olmsted defeated Rocky River 7-6 for the White Division Championship in a game that will talked about as long as hockey is played in the two communities.

Before some fans were even in their seats. North Olmsted led 3-0. It took just ten seconds for the first goal. North Olmsted senior captain T.J. Murphy won the draw, got the puck back from fellow captain Tom Laws, then found sophomore Sam Dejoy wide open in front of the net. Dejoy buried it and just like that it was 1-0.

Just over two minutes later, the Eagles scored on their second shot of the game. This time freshman Chad Murphy found his older brother wide open in front of the net. T.J. Murphy capitalized as well and was 2-0. Before the announcer could barely catch his breath, the brothers combined once again in the exact same manner as North Olmsted shocked River with three goals in just three minutes and 14 seconds.

Rocky River had to fight off the last 1:09 of penalty to start the second period. They killed that power play, but North Olmsted got another man advantage soon after. This time, it took the Eagles just 13 seconds to capitalize as T.J. Murphy made it a hat trick with an unassisted goal.

“The other night Jeff Norris came back from mono and had a hat trick,” Coach Tim Murphy said. “We were hoping for the Mono dividend from Chad as well. All season T.J. and Chad have had a little chemistry and magic and it opens up Sam Dejoy as well. It is all about confidence with Chad and Norris out, we weren’t as confident.”

“T.J. and I have never played together before,” Chad Murphy said. “But we play a lot alike and we know where the other will be so it just works.

The score was 4-0 and Rocky River appeared to just be waiting for the coroner to call the time of death. Then North Olmsted was called for hooking penalty with 11:04 remaining in the second period. The Murphys had a short-handed chance but the pass was deflected. Then North Olmsted was called for a second roughing penalty. The Eagles fought off the 26 second two man advantage, but with just seven seconds left on the second penalty, Rocky River sophomore Austin Blackwell scored with assists coming from junior Kevin Andrews and senior Sean Moran.

A minute and half later, Rocky River sophomore Tom Gipper picked up a puck with a full head of steam, raced down the ice and beat North Olmsted junior goaltender Dan Patterson to make 2-1. Assists were awarded to Andrews and sophomore Eric Fahrenkopf.

It was almost exactly another minute and half later when Rocky River sophomore Bill Evans took a long pass from Blackwell, made a nifty move around a defender and beat Patterson to make it 4-3. While North Olmsted had early scored an amazing three goals in 3:14, the Pirates had answered with their own trifecta in two minutes and 59 seconds.

The goal rush seemed to help the confidence of River senior goaltender Matt Fahrenkopf, who made several key saves to keep North Olmsted off the board. Then with 1:16 left in the period, Andrews tied the score thanks to an assist senior Jeff Bartolozzi. North Olmsted coach Tim Murphy did not wait for the intermission as he sent junior goaltender Terry Legg into the game.

While both teams took ten shots in the period, River had scored on four of them to tie the score 4-4 at second intermission.

Rocky River trailed 4-0, but came back to tie the score at the end of the second period. They again fell behind 7-4, before nearly tying the game late. (Photo by Larry Bennet)

North Olmsted regained momentum quickly in the third period. Just 2:38 into the period, junior Greg Kanis got the lead back on an assist from Tom Laws.

Then came controversy. With 10:52 left in the game, Moran was called for checking from behind. It happened right at center ice. He was given a two minute minor and ten minute misconduct. Rocky River’s bench was incensed and adding to the misery just 36 seconds later, a second two-minute minor was called. It took just 18 seconds of the two man advantage for T.J. Murphy to score his fourth goal of the game on an assist from Laws. Fahrenkopf made a nice save to kill the second penalty but just 25 seconds after it ended, Dejoy tallied his second goal of the game, this time unassisted. Just like that, the score was North Olmsted 7-4.

River used their timeout to regroup and started their second comeback from life support. With 5:34 left, senior Kegan Christian scored from the left wing on an assist from Evans. Rocky River continued to pressure the North Olmsted end, but Eagle defenseman junior Bobby Heine made several strong plays to stop potential scoring rushes including breaking up a two on one.

“I like two on ones,” Heine said. “I think I play them well. I just read their eyes. I take it personally when our defense gives up a lead. It makes me play even harder.”

“Bobby played a great third period,” Coach Murphy said. “He made some good decisions and stepped up when we needed him.”

River was given new life when Dejoy and Chad Murphy picked up tripping penalties seven seconds apart in the final two minutes. With just one minute remaining, Blackwell picked up a loose puck and scored to make a one goal game.

With 24 seconds left, River had one last chance to score, but Legg came through with a big save to end the threat.

While Rocky River lost the game, they won the respect of the North Olmsted Eagles.

“Games like that are not fun for coaches,” Coach Murphy said. “I give a lot of credit to Jonathan and that team. They got better and better every week. He has done a great job. Down 4-0, they got a little jump from that power play goal and they never gave up. I am glad we won our division, but they stretched us to our max. It was good to have all of our guys back on a day we needed them.”

“I give a lot of credit to River,” T.J. Murphy said. “They have a lot of heart in them and I didn’t think they had that in them. They came out flying and I have a lot of respect for them. My hats are off to them. They deserve to play in the Baron Cup. They only lost to us and they are right there with us. I think the White Division is a lot better than most people in Cleveland think.”

Coach Murphy believes River should be playing in the Baron Cup as well.

“The way River is playing and the way Kent Roosevelt is playing, both are certainly worthy of the Baron Cup,” Murphy said. “Maybe the better solution would have been to have our own. It is unfortunate that a team like River will be sitting while the rest of us play a tournament.”

River coach Jonathan Johnson was not satisfied with almost.

“Coming out of the gate 4-0, there was no effort,” Johnson said. “You don’t know what to say to them. We knew we were better than we were playing. To get the switch turned on was the big thing. We knew we could score goals when we needed to. We knew we could skate with them. Guys didn’t pick up guys early. We started slow and they took advantage.”

After battling back into the game, Johnson was not a fan of the third period penalties

“I don’t want to take anything away from North Olmsted. They won the game,” Johnson said. “But this was an important game for both teams and the officating was inconsistent for a game of this level. It is tough to call a checking from behind call at center ice at that time of the game. That call is not normally made and I don’t think he did check from behind. We lost an important player for the rest of the game and for our next conference game as well.”

North Olmsted, by winning the White Division, earned the eighth and final seed in the Baron Cup. They will take on Red North champion and number one ranked Lake Catholic.

“We are looking forward to playing Lake Catholic,” Coach Murphy said.