 |
No. 12 Delaware Sneaks by Bulldogs, 7-6
March 18, 2006
Freshman Jeremy Sieverts scored three goals and assisted on another for Butler, but a late rally came up short as No. 12 Delaware held on for a 7-6 win Saturday afternoon in Rullo Stadium. Sieverts' final goal of the day pulled Butler within the one-goal margin, but five shots by the Bulldogs in the final six minutes of the game didn't connect. With the win, the Blue Hens improve to 8-1, while Butler drops to 1-5. Delaware took an early 1-0 lead on Beau Davis' goal one minute into the game. Junior Adam Wade tied things up with a man-up score at the 3:02 mark in the opening period. Sieverts assisted on the tally. Delaware would score late in the first period and the only goal of the second stanza to take a 3-1 halftime advantage. Butler tied the score once again on a Cliff Smith extra-man goal and Phil Brauch's second goal of the season at the 7:05 mark in the third period. The Blue Hens scored the next three goals to take a 6-3 advantage, its largest of the game. That's when Sieverts and the Bulldogs started their comeback bid. Sieverts scored goals at 14:10 and 10:36 in the fourth period to pull Butler within one at 6-5. Delaware's Davis answered with a goal a minute later to push the margin back to two. Sieverts' final goal of the day was a man-up score with 6:11 to play, but neither team would score again as the Blue Hens held on for the win. Sieverts had a game-high eight shots followed by Wade's seven. Butler out-shot the home team, 34-31. Brendan Flanagan had six ground balls to lead the Bulldogs. Seniors Steve Forsythe and Doug Mathias also added assists. Junior Ryan Kaiser made nine saves for the Bulldogs in goal.
The deciding factor in the game was that the Blue Hens controlled 14 of 16 face-offs. Alex Smith took all 16 face-offs for Delaware. Tommy Scherr made 11 saves for Delaware, including seven in the fourth period. The Bulldogs' road swing continues Friday with a 7:30 p.m. face-off at Princeton. The team remains in New Jersey for a neutral-site contest with Bellarmine Sunday. |
