Although the Patriots do not have any more regular season games scheduled to be played at the Abbey, they still have two “home games” remaining on their schedule.  Saturday night they played one of them when the team travelled to the Boss Arena on the URI campus to play the South Kingstown Rebels… on the Rebels’ home ice.

South Kingstown showed early that they were not going to be the pushovers the Patriots saw when they defeated the Rebels 8-3 in December.  But while Portsmouth trailed in the score for much of the game, the Patriots made a terrific come-from-behind rally to tie the score late in regulation, before letting the game slip away in overtime.  The final score was 6-5 in favor of the Rebels.

Portsmouth got off to a fast start in the game when Myles Arkins put the Patriots ahead with an unassisted goal at 37 seconds into the first period.  Portsmouth held the lead until the middle of the period when South Kingstown tied the game at 7:50.  The Rebels, who fired 17 shots at Portsmouth’s Matt Maggiacomo between the pipes, took the lead with their second goal of the first period at 11:09.  It seemed South Kingstown had captured the momentum in the game as it took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.

The second period began with a flurry of action.  The Rebels scored again at the start of the second period, to take a two goal lead just 33 seconds after play had resumed.  Seconds after the subsequent faceoff, Matthew Harrigan had a breakaway and was tripped up by the pursuing Rebels defenseman.  A penalty shot was awarded to Harrigan at 48 seconds of the second period.  As he skated in to take the shot, the puck slipped off his stick and the South Kingstown goalie made an easy save.  But Portsmouth wasn’t done.  The Patriots cut the South Kingstown lead back to one goal just 15 seconds later when defenseman Alec Schenck scored his first goal of the season on a shot from the left point.  Matthew Harrigan and Chris Oliveira were credited with assists on the goal at 1:03 of the period.  The Rebels roared right back, however, scoring  only 26 seconds later, at 1:29, to restore their two goal lead.  The Patriots closed the gap to a single goal once more in the middle of the period when Harrigan stole the puck from a South Kingstown player deep in the Rebels zone and fired it into the back of the net at 7:16 mark.  The final goal of the period came from the Rebels, on a power play, with just five seconds remaining before the second intermission.  With the late tally the Rebels took a two goal lead into the locker room.

Portsmouth made its move to close the scoring gap in the third period.  Pat Spero brought it to a one goal game when he caught the rebels goalie out of position and got the puck into the net.  He was assisted on the goal by Cam Hebert and Kyle Alvanas.  The Patriots remained patient and played solid defense while generating good scoring opportunities as the period progressed.  And it paid off.  At 13:42 ZZ Kirby fired a shot from the right point that got through the traffic in front of the Rebels goalie and into the net.  The unassisted goal, Kirby’s first of the season, tied the game and sent it into overtime as the period ran out.

South Kingstown scored at 2:33 of the overtime session, to earn the win.  With the overtime loss, the Patriots claimed a point for the standings.

South Kingstown outshot Portsmouth 35-26 in the game.  The Patriots did not have any power plays, but were awarded a penalty shot which was unsuccessful.  The team had six penalties in the game, five of which resulted in shorthanded situations, and gave up one goal to the Rebels power play.

The Patriots have four league games remaining this season and each of them is important as the team heads to the playoffs.  Next up is Middletown.  The Aquidneck Island rivals have met twice already this season.  In the first game the teams played to a 2-2 tie, and in the second contest the Islanders took a 3-2 overtime victory.  Portsmouth is looking for its first win over Middletown since the Islanders moved to Division II last year.  Both teams are vying to finish atop D-II South this season so this will be a critical game.  The Patriots will be motivated and ready.  It’s always an exciting game whenever these two teams meet, so you will be sure to want to see this one.  Come out and root for Portsmouth.  The game is at 6:00 PM next Saturday, February 11, at the West Warwick Civic Center.  See you at the rink.