Saturday’s matchup between East and Columbine was more a demonstration of vitality.
Both teams have struggled — especially of late — with myriad injuries and illnesses, which made their tilt a chance for the healthy to strut their stuff.
The Angels showed off their trademark depth and executed a near-perfect third quarter to put the Rebels away in an 8-3 nonleague victory.
David Swarsen scored three goals and Jamie Urbana scored both his goals and assisted on another in the pivotal third quarter as the Angels (10-3) outscored their visitors 3-0.
“They came out and controlled the ball, and they were a lot more patient,” East coach Jon Barocas said of his team after halftime. “When they play patient, deliberate . . . I mean, our sticks are as good as anybody’s in the state. The question is patience. And when you’re down nine guys, you really want to make sure you control the ball.”
Six of those nine players are starters for the Angels, who have won two straight since halting a two-game skid.
Robbie Nichols also scored twice and Brendan Lamarre notched a goal late in the second quarter to give East a 3-2 lead at halftime.
The Rebels (8-5), who were also missing a handful of players, got off to a disjointed start and were lucky to trail just 1-0 after the first quarter. Columbine got game-tying goals by Ryan Ripperton and Josh Gregg — both coming on a man advantage — in the second quarter but could not beat East goalie Richie Londer in the third quarter.
“We know they’re a pretty good offensive team. They got 11 goals against Kent (Denver) this year,” Ripperton said of the Angels. “So it was nice to see our defense really step up and play well. Our offense did a pretty good job possessing the ball.”
Columbine goalie Stephen George made seven saves in the first half and kept the swarming Angels at bay for the opening eight minutes before Nichols scored to cap a quick counterattack. George finished with nine saves.
East and Columbine had long, fruitless possessions to start the third quarter before the Angels struck on another quick counterattack.
Nichols passed inside to Swarsen, who managed to lob the ball over to Urbana for a close-range finish to the left of George’s cage. Urbana extended the lead to 5-2 with 3:38 left in the quarter when he spun off a defender to his left and snapped home a high shot from a tough angle on the right side.
Columbine 0 2 0 1 — 3
East 1 2 3 2 — 8
First period — E: Nichols (Finegan), 8:00.
Second period — C: Ripperton (Franks), 1:15 pp; E: Swarsen (unassisted), 1:55; C: Gregg (Simpson), 3:17 pp; E: Lamarre (Nichols), 7:24.
Third period— E: Urbana (Swarsen), 5:41; Urbana (unassisted), 8:22; Swarsen (Urbana), 9:26.
Fourth period — E: Nichols (Hambidge), 3:54; C: Sherman (Franks), 7:37; E: Swarsen (Nichols), 10:31.
Saves — C: George 7-2 – 9; E: Londer 3-4 – 7; Dudley 0-0 – 0.
