Friday, Jun. 13, 2008

Dragons Show Sizzle This Summer

Returning Players, New Talent Make Carroll Strong on Ice

By Zach Warner

Staff Writer

If the Carroll hockey team’s start to the summer season is any indication of things to come, the Dragons could prove to be a tough team to face in the fall.

And although it’s only two games into the schedule, the return of travel players to the lineup has already boosted Carroll’s level of play.

The Dragons are 1-0-1 so far, losing their second game in overtime by a 4-3 final against the Marcus Red team (2-0-0) on June 5. Carroll won its first summer contest handily, a 5-1 decision over Coppell (1-1-0) on May 29.

"We could have won [against Marcus Red], but they scored on an empty net," said Dragons coach Tom Yockey, whose team next faces Northwest (1-1-0) at 7:45 p.m. June 19 at the Euless StarCenter. "One of our players ran into our goalie behind the net and he fell down, and it was an open shot for them and they made it."

Carroll trailed 3-1 early in the third period and was actually out-shot 12-1 at one point earlier in the game. The Dragons tied it up, 3-3, as Tyler Bravo made his second goal of the game and was followed by a Ryan Fox score with two minutes, 18 seconds left in the contest.

However, Carroll could not take the lead and suffered the open-net mishap just 2:42 into the overtime period.

"It takes a lot of energy to come back from that, but that’s no excuse," Yockey said. "We had our chances to win."

Yockey expects that his team will have plenty more chances to win games this summer and into the fall with the return of several players absent last year and the arrival of new talent. Several players only played a limited number of games on varsity last year because of Carroll’s own travel hockey team, the JV Gold, which was formed last season. Others left to play travel hockey with other organizations.

Carroll players coming back from either situation look strong for the team this summer, Yockey said.

"The travel experience definitely helps," he said. "We’re seeing it pay off now."

The Dragons organization thinks highly enough of travel hockey that it plans to start a second travel team this fall – the Varsity Silver team. Along with the JV Gold, the teams will gain experience traveling to face top competition from other areas as well as teams in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Newcomers to varsity like Tim Hennassy and Skyler Spiller, who were on JV last season, as well as Connor Lashus, are all turning heads this summer as well.

"Connor Lashus is one of the smaller guys on the team, but he’s really smart and he’s doing well for the team," Yockey said.

"Mike Bond is our best defenseman. He’s going to try out for AAA, but if he doesn’t make that, he’ll be a great asset for us. He’s probably our overall best player."

Yockey knows it’s not about shining just in the summer. Carroll started off well last summer before posting its worst season in terms of wins and losses in team history last fall.

Staying sharp and preparing for the fall is the main goal this summer, he said.

"It will be fun for the summer, but it gets serious in the fall," Yockey said. "This will let them come right back and be ready for the fall. We want to make sure no bad habits develop over the summer."