Rough Riders Sweep Foes in Winning Tournament Championship

“Re-focus and and have a positive mind set” were the goals Kent Roosevelt hockey coach Ben Barlow set for his team during the practices leading up to the Rough Rider Holiday Ice Hockey Tournament played at the Kent State Ice Arena this past weekend.

His Rough Riders responded to the challenge by completing a sweep in the tournament, culminating with a 10-4 victory over the Normandy Invaders in the championship game Sunday evening.

In advancing to the championship game, the Rough Riders defeated Normandy 9-4, Mayfield 7-1 and Benedictine 4-1 in round-robin play.

Barlow commented on the cohesiveness of his team’s play throughout the weekend, stating “We got contributions from quite a number of players. Unselfish play and good puck movement in front of the net resulted in giving players opportunity to score goals.”

Indeed, the Rough Riders scored goals. Their offensive effort resulted in a total of 30 goals in the four games played.

Defensively, the Rough Riders allowed only 10 total goals throughout the tournament.

"There was a great atmosphere on the bench among the lines, there was positive communication with teammates encouraging each other to get the best from their line mates,” Barlow said.

Rough Rider senior captain and tournament Most Valuable Player, Tom Fisher, accumulated 11 points (6 goals, 5 assists) during the tournament. Senior Bob Danner also accounted for 11 points (9 goals, 2 assists). Danner opened tournament play with a hat trick on Friday evening against Normandy.

In all, thirteen of the Rough Riders tallied on the tournament score sheets.

“We’re getting some production from everyone” an elated Barlow said. “I mentioned to the players how exciting that is, everyone contributing, everyone understanding their role, everyone feeling like they had a part in four wins in three days.”

Special team play for the Rough Riders was also impressive throughout the tournament.

Kent’s penalty killing units stymied their opponents on 15 of their 17 opportunities, and the Rider’s capped off their victory in the championship game by netting two short-handed goals in the final 3:51 of play.

While on the power play the Rider’s scored on six of thirteen advantage situations.

Defensively, the benefits of off-season conditioning were apparent once again. Rotating four defensemen for a majority of the weekend, the defensive unit successfully protected their assigned areas.

“Maybe only two to three goals by the opponents were breakdowns in defensive coverage," Barlow said. "I like where we are with that. Obviously, we can’t become complacent with it. We will keep working on it.”

When commenting on the play of his goaltenders, Barlow said that sophomore Nate Grootegoed continues to make big strides since the beginning of the year. 

“He’s pushing himself to get better," Barlow said. "He (Grootegoed) settled in after the first night and I thought he got better as the tournament went. Each game he played he made some real significant saves.

“It was great to get Jared Fischer some time (in goal) and he got some experience and made some saves,” he said.

Blue line notes

The Rough Riders next home game is Thursday, Dec., 22nd at 7:15 p.m. against league foe North Olmsted at the Kent State Ice Arena.

The efforts of several underclassmen on the team during the tournament were recognized as sophomores Jared Fischer, Nate Grootegoed, Gordie Fisher and freshman Gabe Smith were awarded the “Teddy Roosevelt Rough Rider Hat” during the tournament. This recognition is bestowed on the winners by their teammates as a reward for excellent effort and team play.