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PELHAM, N.Y. The Pelicans looked to be in control against visiting Ossining on Wednesday at Glover Field as Pelham held a 5-1 lead midway through the third quarter, but then the Pride tallied a goal.
And then another. And another.
Within minutes, Pelhams comfortable lead evaporated into a one-goal advantage.
They put a couple of nice transition goals in on us, said Pelham coach Mike Solazzo. We came out a little flat. Now we know that it can be taken advantage of. Coming out of the half we really have to be prepared, not only for the first whistle, but the whistle coming out of the half as well.
Fortunately for them, the Pelicans were able to extend their lead once again to 7-4 and ultimately held on for a 7-5 win in both Pelhams and Ossinings first game of the season.
Solazzo said after the game that Ossinings zone defense slowed down the game and enabled the Prides rally. Ossining coach Mark Hallinan said that zone will be a staple for the Pride throughout the season.
Since were young, I think its important that we run that, just so everybody feels like theyre being helped by other players, Hallinan said. Theyre not out there by themselves.
Hallinan praised his team after the game for its effort and said he saw some encouraging signs on the field. With a few more breaks, the Pride could have come out on top.
We competed. We almost came back and we had a chance to win, Hallinan said. A few more face-offs, we possibly could have pulled it out.
Pelham finished 12-7 last season, and Solazzo said it was huge for the team to open its season with a win.
This year, we have a pretty good league, Solazzo said. We tried to add Ossining, Arlington, Pleasantville, Dobbs Ferry, some A schools being in there and just to help us out with our power ranking. But also as we grow as a program, we always want to add better programs, and we were lucky enough that Ossining was willing to play us.
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