ELYRIA — Dave Phiel wanted Andrew Field to get more action.
Action is just what Elyria Catholic’s sophomore goaltender got in his second start of the season — 50 shots worth of action, to be exact.
Field, in turn, gave the coach just what he wanted, and possibly a lot more than expected. Field, normally the backup to Brad Moore, came up with 46 saves as Elyria Catholic upset Strongsville 5- 4 in a Red South division game Wednesday at North Park Rink.
“Andrew has been working hard,” Phiel said. “I wanted to get him some game time in a pressure situation. We play Toledo St. John’s on Friday and I’m sure Brad will see a lot of shots in that game. I thought this was a good time to put Andrew in.”
The third period was an especially good time to have Field manning the goalmouth. Field turned away all 22 shots Strongsville fired at him in the final 15 minutes and watched as his teammates got two goals to overcome a 4-3 deficit.
Brent Zifcak, a fellow sophomore, scored the tying goal with 7:13 to go. Mike Petroff intercepted the puck in the neutral zone and dropped it to Zifcak on the left side. Zifcak’s shot caught the net just under the bar as Strongsville’s goalie Colin Branigan found himself leaning the wrong way.   
Richie Baker got the winner on a slap shot from right inside the blue line on a power play. Baker gathered a pass from Pat DeSouza and delivered a virtual bullet that rocketed by Branigan waist high.
There was 4:42 remaining when the deciding goal went in.
“This was pretty exciting,” Field said. “I wasn’t expecting to start. I found out right before game time.”
Field, who has a 1-1 record as a starter this season, allowed all four of Strongsville’s scores in the second period.
“In the third (period) I was just hoping the defense would step up and all four lines would step up too,” Field said, “and they did.”
The victory keeps Elyria Catholic’s hopes for a Baron Cup berth alive. The Panthers are now 5-3 in Red South play and tied with Walsh Jesuit for second place. Strongsville (6-2) still leads the division.
“We played much better tonight than we did Saturday (an 8-4 loss to Walsh Jesuit),” Phiel added. “We had guys blocking shots. We checked harder. It was just a better all-around effort. Now we’re like the Browns. We need to win out and hope to get some help from someone else.”
EC finishes the league schedule with Hudson at home and Avon Lake at Hamilton Arena (Rocky River). Walsh Jesuit hosts North Olmsted and Benedictine.
It took EC (10-8-1 overall) just 24 seconds to make the score 1-0. Baker carried the puck down the ice and passed in front to DeSouza, who dumped the puck to Mike Freeh on the left side in front of an unguarded portion of the net.
The Panthers made it 2-0 on a power-play goal with 1:36 to play in the first. DeSouza got that on assists from Matt Fielding and Freeh.
The Mustangs came back with a pair of goals by Jerry Ashford to tie it at 2. Six seconds after Ashford’s second goal, Freeh drove down the middle of the ice and shot the puck under Branigan.
Strongsville made it 3-3 on an unassisted goal by Miles Radosevic at 2:44 and one by Bill Andreski in the final second of the period.
Penalties were a problem for both teams. Strongsville was penalized 12 times and the Panthers sent nine players to the box, making it a rare occasion when the teams were skating 5-on-5.

Elyria Catholic 5, Strongsville 4

Strongsville        0    4    0 – 4
Elyria Catholic    2    1    2 – 5
FIRST: 1, EC, Mike Freeh (Pat DeSouza, Richie Baker), :24; 2. EC, Pat DeSouza (Matt Fielding, Mike Freeh), 13:24. Penaties – EC, Pat DeSouza (cross-checking), 5:07; S, Derek Campbell (interference), 6:02; S, Mike DePauw (tripping), 6:33; S, Adam Green (hooking), 6:56; S, bench (too many on ice), 9:15; S, Mike DePauw (holding), 11:24; EC, Mitch Haszto (interference), 14:01; EC, Richie Baker (highsticking), 14:38; S, Andrew Ciborek (roughing), 14:38.
SECOND: 1. S, Jerry Ashford (Robert Worley), 3:31; 2. S, Jerry Ashford (Andrew Ciborek, Miles Radosevic), 8:00; 3. EC, Mike Freeh (unassisted), 8:06; 3. S, Mikes Radosevic (unassisted), 12:16; 4. S, Bill Andreski (Corbin Gold, Adam Green), 15:00. Penalties – EC, Chris Andrews (tripping), 1:55; S, Ray Williams (interference), 5:40; EC, Pat DeSouza (interference), 6:50; S, Adam Green (highsticking), 7:40; S, Cory Tisza (interference), 9:22; EC, Richie Baker (roughing), 14:04; S, Andrew Ciborek (interference), 14:48.
THIRD: 4. EC, Brent Zifcak (Mike Petroff), 7:47; 5. EC, Richie Baker (Chris Andrews, Pat DeSouza), 10:18. Penalties – EC, Pat DeSouza (tripping), 1:44; S, Andrew Cibork (boarding), 2:51; EC, Matt Fielding (holding), 3:18; S, Adam Green (hooking), 9:01; EC, Chad Botos (interference), 11:18.
Shots on goal – Strongsville 14-14-22—50, Elyria Catholic 10-9-7—26. Goalies – S, Colin Branigan (26 shots, 21 saves); EC, Andrew Field (50 shots, 46 saves). Power-play opportunities – Strongsville 1 of 7, Elyria Catholic 2 of 9.
 
  
 

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