The Capital Times
Bears lose 3-2 in OT to Crunch
After five-game road trip, Hershey returns to home ice
by Matthew Bowman
After returning from their road
trip with an impressive record of 3-
1-0-1 spanning the five games, the
Hershey Bears fell victim to the
Syracuse Crunch with a 3-2, over
time loss Wednesday night at the
Hersheypark Arena.
It was typical Bears hockey when
Syracuse put the first point on the
board. At 5:03 in the first period,
Jan Hrdina lifted a rebound past
goaltender Marc Denis after
Syracuse's Peter Schaefer knifed
his way through the Bear's defense.
For the year, the Bears have been
outscored 66-47 in the first period
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while giving up the first goal 45
times in their 70 games.
Despite giving up the early goal,
Hershey appeared to be skating well
with better passing and overall good
play. They had several scoring op
portunities and kept the puck in the
Syracuse zone for most of the first
period by outshooting the Crunch
12-4.
A major boost for the Bears team
came early in the second period. At
2:21, the Hershey bench was called
for too many men on the ice and a
delay of game penalty giving the
Crunch a twd-man advantage for
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SPORTS
25 left in the 5-on-3 power play,
Denis made an incredible glove
save off a Dominic Pittis slap shot
that was heading for the back of the
net keeping the deficit to one goal.
As the Bears killed off the remain
der of the power play, the
Hersheypark Arena crowd of 5,306
was on their feet.
Just over one minute later,
Syracuse's Darren Sinclair was
called for hooking which gave the
Bears their fourth power play op
portunity of the game. During the
man advantage, Christian Matte
took a slapshot from the center
point. Patrick Traverse redirected
the puck past Crunch netminder
Corey Hirsch while set up in front
of the net to even the score at 1-1.
This was Traverse's 12th goal of the
season with assists coming from
Matte and Rob Shearer.
Half way through the second pe
riod, Hershey had a chance to go
ahead when they had a two-man
advantage for :31. Despite two or
three scoring chances, however, the
score remained tie.
Traverse got in on the action again
along with Yves Sarault during a
power play as ',e two combined for
assists on Eric Veil 21st goal
of the year which gave Hershey a
2-1 lead at 14:57.
Syracuse answered back with :30
remaining in the second period
when Brent Sopel netted a shot
from the left point with assists from
Sven Butenschon and Brian Bonin.
As time expired, the teams entered
the locker room for the second in
termission knotted at 2-2.
The third period was uneventful
as far as scoring goes. However, one
thing was clearly evident. It was
not the same Hershey team on the
ice as it was for the first two peri
ods. At this point they were physi
cally being beaten by the Crunch
who outshot them 12-5. It was only
a matter of time before the inevi
table would happen. It took an
overtime period to do it, but with
1:39 remaining in the extra session,
Syracuse's Dave Roberts put back
a rebound to clinch the victory.
Hershey also played again Sun
day and defeated the Kentucky
Thoroughblades by a score of 5-3.
With 9 games now remaining in the
regular season, Hershey currently
sits in second place in the Mid-At
lantic Division behind the
Phildelphia Phantoms and only
needs 8 points to clinch a playoff
birth. The Bears play again tonight
at Syracuse and return home to host
Kentucky again on Wednesday,
March 23. Game time is 7:00 p.m.
Monday, March 23, 1998
And In This Corner...
Opinions or the current hodgepodge
by Matthew Bowman
The Nykesha Sales Fiasco
The last thing I want to do is heat a dead horse, but this story is too
important to be left unsaid. The entire concept of Torts being a com
petition went out the window last month when the University of Con
necticut star was given a prearranged layup to beat former UConn bas
ketball scoring leader Kerry Bascom. As the shot was made, a nail was
driven into the validity of athletics.
All my life I have participated in sports and I would not change any
of it for the world. I've lost in the big games, had losing seasons,
thought I should have gotten more playing time, made the big play,
won the championship, raised the banner and been named the MVP.
And throughout all those games, one thing remained constant. I was
taught that athletics is a way to learn about life. I use this same phi
losophy with my players today. It is a wonderful teacher. Some days
you are on top of the world, but the next day you can be as low as they
get.
Do not get me wrong. I do think Sales deserved the record. I believe
she worked very hard to get to that point., and it must have been devas
tating to get injured one shot short. But isn't life that way sometimes.
We all work so hard at our job only to see our co-worker get the promo
tion. We don't always get what we deserve. It just isn't fair is the
common cry. But let's be real people. Life is not fair. It was wrong to
give her the shot because it teaches us that life is cruel, but there is a
way to avoid the pain. That is totally wrong. If we sugarcoat the pain
now, it will only make it worse later.
The NCAA Tournament
Does it get more exciting than March Madness? I don't know. There
is just something about "tournament time" that gets the juices flowing.
What I want to do is to give you the top players that I would want on
my team as a coach. The winners are...in no particular order.
Antawn Jamison (UNC) - He is quite possibly the best player in the
country right now with moves that are nothing short of spectacular.
His best threats are his quickness, leaping ability and unorthodox play
ing style. At times, he leaves his opponents standing with their jaws to
the floor with nothing left to do except pick up their jock strap and
come back for more.
Steve Wojciechowski (Duke) - This choice will amaze some people
because he is not a big name player other than what it says on the back
of his jersey. However, this kid is a scrapper. He's a fighter who won't
quit until the final buzzer sounds. He'll get on the floor after a loose
ball. He can frustrate even the best of point guards. Also, he shoots
around 42 percent from outside the arc.
Raef LaFrentz (Kansas) - This big man whould be a perfect match
inside with Jamison. He - besides having remarkable tal?,nt on the post
and being a major catalyst for the Jayhawks - would pose as a major
threat when the double team goes to Jamison.
Mike Bibby (Arizona) - He is probably the best point guard in the
nation right now with an awesome ability to push the ball up the floor
into the transition game. He's an even better player when his support
ing cast plays well. He is a great match with "Wojo" in the backcourt
as both like to dictate the game's tempo.
The fifth position depends on size and quickness; whether or not to
go with a guard-oriented lineup or an inside game. Possible fifth picks
include Vince Carter, Baron Davis, Miles Simon, and Trajan Langdon.
The Baseball Season
With Spring training underway the leagues look a little different after
realignment and expansion, but the major names are still around.
Atlanta still looks like the team to beat in the National League with a
championship style team along with Houston, San Diego and Colorado
making runs for the top. My surprise team of the year comes out of the
West in Arizona. An expansion team, yes. A had team, no. Most folks
pick them dead last in the NL, but seasoned veterans Matt Williams,
Jay Bell and Devon White will carry this young ball club and keep
them out of the cellar. The major area of concern will be the pitching
rotation as well as the bullpen.
The American League's top team appears to be the Orioles with a
solid core group of stars in Palmeiro, Ripken, Alomar and Anderson.
This team has one of the best batting lineups in the majors, and a pitch
ing staff that looks strong. In the West there is Seattle with Rodriguez,
Martinez, Buhner and, of course, Griffey. Also, with Randy Johnson,
Jeff Passer() and Jamie Moyer throwing the ball, the Mariners have the
AL's top starting threesome. The Indians and Yankees will also be
fighting for supremacy.
In general, this year could be one for the history books. Mark
McGwire has an excellent chance for the coveted 62 homers as does
Griffey. McGwire hit 58 last year to lead all hitters while going yard
against 24 of the 25 teams he faced. If he breaks the half-century mark
again, he will be the first player in major league history to hit 50 or
more in three consecutive seasons.