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Newburyport displays lack of discipline in loss

Monday, December, 24 By Jim Sullivan
Correspondent

Things got ugly at the Graf Arena Saturday night where a combination of a 5-3 loss to the Wilmington Wildcats, a myriad of penalties and near rumble left Clippers coach Paul Yameen none too pleased.

Saying his team displayed "a total lack of sportsmanship," a fuming Yameen said, "I've never seen a display like this in the five years I've been here. The way we played, the way we acted."

Things started off on the wrong skate as Wilmington's Eric Siegel drew first blood with a wrap-around goal in the first five minutes. Clippers goalie Brendan Doherty kept his cool though, skillfully deflecting two tough shots soon after. With less than five minutes left in the period, Port's Kyle McElroy slipped one in for his first goal of the season. The deadlock was short-lived, however, as Wilmington's Andrew Goossens lit the lamp just 27 seconds later.

The second period began with a two-goal lead for the Wildcats as Siegel assisted Captain Ernie Mello at the 12:36 mark. Seven minutes later, the Clippers' Corey Ruane scored on a wrist shot assisted by Kevin Holmes, leaving the score at 3-2.

"It felt good to finally drop one in," Ruane, a junior, said of his first goal of the season.

Siegel and Mello teamed up again along with Max Wilkins for Siegel's second goal of the night at the tail end of the period, extending Wilmington's lead by two.

With less than five minutes remaining in the third, the Wildcats put the game out of reach as Jon Kincaid scored Wilmington's fifth goal, assisted by Nick Robarge, and tempers began to simmer on Port's side of the ice.

Things then got out of hand as a scrum behind the Wildcats' net caught Clippers captain Derek McCoy in a tete-de-tete with one of his opponents.

The two exchanged choice words, the jostling began and fists became cocked. Soon both teams were pushing and shoving. More words were exchanged between the skaters | none of which were "Merry Christmas" | with the officials finally stepping in.

Order was restored and the game ended without incident. With the team's record now 1-2, Yameen summoned his players into the locker room where he read them the riot act on on-ice-behavior that didn't end until long after the arena's lights had gone dark.

"I'd like to apologize to the fans and to Wilmington," Yameen said. "This will not be tolerated."

The Clippers will hit the ice again today in a make-up game against Pentucket. The puck drops at 12:30 p.m.