RallyNorth.net

Sat, Mar 01, 2008 04:00 PM @ Neutral Location

Team	1	2	3	OT	Final
Playoff Game Division 1 North -Quarterfinals
Andover	1	0	0	0	1
Austin Prep	1	0	0	1	2

Andover blanked in shootout, eliminated from tourney

Saturday, March, 01 By Dave Willis
Staff writer

WOBURN | Andover captain John Hyslip did his best to look on the bright side.

"I think we played great tonight," said the senior, holding back his emotion. "Both teams played great and I am very proud of this team. The young kids stepped up and we played together."

After 53 minutes of dead-even competition, Austin Prep scored on its second of five attempts in the shootout. The No. 3 Golden Warriors could not respond and fell to the No. 6 Cougars 2-1 in the second round of the Division 1 North tourney yesterday at an O'Brien Arena packed with about 1,000 very vocal fans.

The loss was the second in a row for the Golden Warriors (13-4-4) on the heels of a 14-game unbeaten streak that went all the way back to Dec. 28. The other loss came in the game that decided the Merrimack Valley Conference/Dual County League Division 1 title.

Austin Prep went ahead 1-0 2:08 into regulation when a shot was redirected past Andover goalie Dan Abreu. Andover responded with 38 seconds left in the first when defensemen Riki Retelle blasted a slap shot in from the blue line for only his second goal of the year.

The game remained scoreless though the final two periods of regulation and the eight-minute overtime. Then, by MIAA rules, the game went to a shootout.

"You try to look at a goalie's tendencies," said Andover head coach Mario Martiniello. "We know the goalie (Rob Pappagianopoulos) is a big goalie that covers a lot of the net. So we tried to get him moving. But he did a great job of taking away the ice and we couldn't get it over his pads."

Pappagianopoulos did not crack during the shootout, turning away all five Andover skaters and allowing Austin Prep's one shootout-goal to stand up.

"It's too bad the game had to end like that," said Hyslip, who assisted on Retelle's goal. "It's a shame it couldn't be decided in sudden death (overtime)."

Outside of the shootout, Abreu was every bit Pappagianopoulos' match. He made 26 saves, including the save of the night when he stopped two straight blasts from point-blank range, causing the crowd to erupt in a chorus of "MVP." He made 4 of 5 saves in the shootout.

"You can't say enough about what Nick did," said Martiniello. "He's been our backbone all year and he gave us everything we could ask of a goalie. We lost this game, and he still only allowed one goal."

Andover was playing short-handed. Starting forward Cam Smith, the team's No. 3 scorer (11-7|19) separated his shoulder in the final game of the regular season while starting defenseman Mike Taylor and third-line center Alex Patti each missed the game due to illness.

The Golden Warriors were also struck with a case of back luck. In the second, George Flanagan pounded in a goal that was disallowed after the referee lost view of the loose puck and blew the play dead. In the third, Kevin Hitchko fired a shot that rang off the left post and bounced away.

"When we sit back in a few days and look back we will be pleased with the season," said Martiniello. "In our first year in Division 1 we were in consideration for the Super 8. But so was Austin Prep, and it was a tough draw in our first game."