MUSKEGON — Reeths-Puffer answered the call from coach Bill Zalba to "hunt or be hunted" in Wednesday night's game against Grand Rapids Christian, scoring a goal almost immediately after the opening face-off. In the end, though, the hunt came up empty for the Rockets, who ultimately lost a 5-4 battle in overtime.
While the result was painful, the process was an improvement, the coach felt, from a lopsided defeat the previous Saturday against Troy United.
"They went out there, right from the start, and scored right away," Zalba said. "We made mistakes where we gave up some goals, and that's going to happen. We had a bad bounce in overtime, but we had opportunities. I was more upset about the last game because of the lack of work ethic and opportunities that we gave ourselves. Tonight we gave ourselves opportunities and a chance to win. I was happy with them, and I told them to not hang their heads."
It was Hayden Taylor, a force last year, who poured in the opening goal just after the first face-off, but as it turned out, that was just the first of a high-scoring battle in which every goal scored either tied the score or gave one team the lead.
Some of those goals came as a result of penalties - if not on the power play, then right as a team returned to full strength. Such was the case with the Eagles' first goal, scored by Theo Partridge just after a Christian penalty expired. The second period in particular was a parade to the penalty box by both squads, though the Rockets (1-2) had the only goal in the period. That came from Dom Switzer and was his second of the game, coming off a beautiful pass from Rohan Moyer to center him up for the shot. It gave R-P a 3-2 lead at the time.
The penalties, though, were certainly an issue worth monitoring for the Rockets and have been a running storyline for multiple seasons now, perhaps a symptom of the team's physical identity.
"Sometimes we can help them and sometimes we can't," Zalba said of the infractions. "I will never blame a game on a referee or anything. We have to be better in that situation. Guys get tired and sometimes they take some penalties and it is what it is. We definitely have to cut down the penalties."
The third period saw the lead ping-pong back and forth, with three goals scored in less than two minutes. The visiting Eagles tied the score 3-3 with 12:50 to go, only to be followed 18 seconds later with a goal by Thomas Grasman from the point. It was the second great scoring chance in a row for R-P, and this one was cashed in. However, the Eagles tied the score again with 10:59 to go.
That sent the game into overtime, and the teams played six minutes with few scoring chances either way until Cash Laufer put in the winner for Grand Rapids Christian.
There have been defensive struggles at times in the past two games - the Rockets have allowed 14 goals in that span - but that should improve with time. Captain Connor Anderson leads an otherwise inexperienced position group.
"It's a quicker game than some kids are used to right now, and they're trying to compute it and react at the same time," Zalba said. "Once they put both together, seeing things a little sooner, a little quicker, and making quicker decisions, I think we'll be better."
Despite the 1-2 start, Zalba isn't betraying any signs of concern, believing it's all a process for a team still figuring itself out.
"I just told the guys in there, and I told everybody, we're learning," Zalba said. "This isn't going to be an undefeated team. We're going out there and we're figuring out where pieces fit. I thought there was a lot of great things that happened. A lot of good opportunities. We just didn't bury our opportunities. If we do, it's probably a totally different game."
