The Norwich Sea Captains met the Northeast Generals for the fourth consecutive game on Tuesday afternoon, November 22. The Generals doubled up the Sea Captains 4-2 to earn the victory at the RoseGarden Ice Arena in North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) action. Andry Guy and Brian Essing each scored for Norwich and Andrew Yocum made 33 saves in the loss.
After a scoreless first period Northeast solved Yocum twice in the second period. At 5:23 of the second the Generals took advantage of a shift where they applied strong offensive pressure before a shot screened by his own defenseman eluded Yocum. The second goal of the period was scored on a Northeast power play at the 11:56 mark to double the lead.
Guy got Norwich on the scoreboard when he buried a puck to complete a two-on-one rush with Teagen Beier 7:05 into the final period. Sava Makarenko started the play with a smart chip to Beier to create the odd man rush. Northeast reestablished their two goal lead 11:44 into the third when they scored a rush goal with the teams playing four skaters aside due to coincidental penalties. Essing’s goal with 1:26 left to play capped another excellent offensive rush. Darrell Smith caused a turnover in the Norwich zone that Jacob Begich was able to collect before his rush through the neutral zone. Begich’s pinpoint pass was jammed through the five hole by Essing to get Norwich within a goal late in the action. However, Northeast was able to seal their 4-2 win when they buried a long shot after the Sea Captains pulled their goaltender for the extra attacker looking for the equalizer.
Northeast scored a key power play goal in four attempts while Norwich was not able to convert on two opportunities. The Generals also scored the game-winning goal while the teams were playing four on four.
“I think we played made some critical mental mistakes today that opened the door for Northeast, especially in the second period. To their credit, the Generals made us pay for our errors. I was very pleased to see us battle back and get within a goal twice in the last thirteen minutes. One thing that we can hang our hats on is that we will not quit on ourselves,” commented Head Coach Kevin Cunningham.
The Sea Captains will host an Open House for prospective players on Saturday, November 26 at 12:30 PM. Interested players can find further information and register HERE. The team will return to game action after their Thanksgiving break when they travel to Long Beach for their first meeting of the year with the Sharks on Saturday, December 2 at 5 PM. Norwich will return to the RoseGarden on Friday, December 9 when they will host the Bay State Bobcats at 12 PM.