The Santa Rosa Junior College Polar Bears ice hockey team won 5-4 in overtime in an American Collegiate Hockey Association game versus the San Jose State University Spartans in the teams’ second game against each other in two days on Oct. 24 at Snoopy’s Home Ice in Santa Rosa.
Santa Rosa (5-2-1), beat San Jose (0-4-1) with an electric overtime goal with 1:48 left in overtime on a goal by rookie forward Toby Petrus to beat the Spartans for the first time in the team’s last six games against the Spartans.
The game started quickly when San Jose defenseman and captain Ryan Ellis scored the game’s first goal 21 seconds into the first period. Despite the quick goal, Santa Rosa rallied and tied the game with a goal by Toby Petrus assisted by forward Andreas Meshcheryakov with 14:24 remaining in the first.
After San Jose defenseman Harrison Folmar was called for an elbowing penalty, Santa Rosa forward Mason Siemsen scored a power play goal assisted by rookie defenseman Remy Caillot and forward Alex Coffel to make the score 2-1 at the end of the first period.
The second period began with coincidental cross checking penalties for San Jose defenseman Logan Speelman and Santa Rosa’s Meshcheryakov, which led to 4-on-4 play. A minute & a half later, San Jose forward Christopher Dysart was penalized for slashing, creating a 4-on-3 opportunity for the Polar Bears, but Santa Rosa was unable to score with the advantage.
The penalties added up on both sides during the second period with a Santa Rosa forward called for cross checking with 11:26 remaining in the second. The Spartans didn’t score on that powerplay, but San Jose forward Troy Smith scored a goal assisted by San Jose forward Brendon Ewell with 5:22 remaining in the 2nd period to tie the game 2-2.
A minute later, Santa Rosa’s Caillot and San Jose’s Speelman were called for roughing after a play near the Santa Rosa net, leading to the second instance of 4-on-4 play of the game, which quickly turned into a 4-on-3 when Polar Bears forward Jonah Petrus was penalized for hooking. Immediately, San Jose’s Speelman scored a goal assisted by forward Max Zlochevsky and Folmar to go up 3-2.
Santa Rosa defenseman Owen Hamblin was penalized two minutes for interference with 15 seconds left in the second period. The second period ended with the San Jose Spartans only 15 seconds into their two-minute powerplay.
At the start of the third period, Santa Rosa goaltender Alejandro Barajas stopped multiple power play chances by the Spartans. The Polar Bears didn’t allow a powerplay goal but were soon back on the penalty kill after a cross checking three minutes into the period.
Santa Rosa killed the second San Jose power play opportunity of the third period, and then started to pressure San Jose goalie Nicholas Checklenis with several high danger chances.
Five-and-a-half minute into in the period, Santa Rosa’s Meshcheryakov scored with an assist by Toby Petrus to tie the game at three goals a piece, but Speelman quickly scored a goal to regain a one-goal lead for the Spartans with 13:09 remaining.
The intense game was halted for a moment after an offside call when Spartan forward Brendon Ewell was given a five-minute major penalty and ejected from the game for the second night in a row for an illegal check after the whistle.
Both teams picked up where they left off after the ejection of Ewell, with Santa Rosa and San Jose both taking penalties and killing them off. The game continued with a 4-3 San Jose lead until Santa Rosa rookie defenseman Gordy Brodeur scored the tying goal with 7:21 remaining in the game after San Jose’s Checklenis lost control of the puck when rebounding a shot from Polar Bear forward Joshua Sampietro.
The third period ended with both teams tied 4-4. For the second night in a row, the Polar Bears headed to overtime, eager to win.
“We have a motto that we don’t lose at home,” Santa Rosa forward Cody Ray said. “We did not want to finish with a tie [like last night].”
Overtime began with good opportunities for both teams. Santa Rosa goaltender Barajas stopped a 2-on-1 attempt by San Jose, and then Spartan goalie Checklenis stopped a Polar Bears breakaway attempt. Both teams went back-and-forth until Santa Rosa’s Toby Petrus stole the puck from a San Jose forward, cut to the middle of the ice and beat Checklenis over the glove side with 1:48 remaining in overtime to beat San Jose 5-4.
Next game, coach Jackson Waldron wants to see more consistency from the team, as the Polar Bears took several penalties and weren’t able to capitalize on the powerplay as much as Waldron wanted, a point he mentioned the previous night.
“It’s been up and down throughout the season, but putting sixty minutes together every night and playing solid is the focus,” Waldron said.
Santa Rosa hosts Stanford University at 8:00 p.m. on Nov. 5 and U.C. Davis at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 6, both at Snoopy’s Home Ice. Admission is $5, or free if you’re six years old or under. Tickets can be found at this link.
