Portsmouth had its bid for a fifth straight win stopped Sunday afternoon at the Abbey.  In a closely played contest with its biggest rival, RMR, the Patriots came out on the short side of a  2-1 score.

A large crowd braved nasty weather to get to the Abbey for the rare Sunday matinee game.  It was the final regular season contest between the two teams, as well as the Patriots last game at the Abbey before the playoffs begin in three weeks.

RMR jumped off to an early lead, scoring two goals in the first period.  The first goal was a strange one that took more than a little good luck to get the puck past Matt Nordhill net-minding for the Patriots.  Midway through the period RMR defenseman Cam Edwards launched a long high shot that sailed over Nordhill and hit the glass behind the goal.  In almost every case like that the puck drops to the ice and play continues, but this time it wasn’t normal.  The puck bounced hard off the glass and rebounded back over the net where it hit Nordhill in the back and fell into the net.  RMR’s second, more conventional goal, came on a power play near the end of the period.  RMR carried its 2-0 lead into the first intermission, but they would not score again for the remainder of the game.

Portsmouth’s defense and goaltending, which have earned a reputation this season for being among the best in the league, gave the squad a chance to get back into the game by keeping RMR from any further gains on the scoreboard. Christian Schenck started the team back into contention with an unassisted tally at just 1:03 into the second period.  It was his fifth goal of the season.  But it proved not to be enough as the team was unable to find another goal to tie the game.  Through it all the Patriots played well, but RMR’s defense, which is remarkably good itself, limited the team’s scoring opportunities, and its top goalie, Peter Dickinson, took care of the rest.

Although the loss was disappointing, the Portsmouth clearly showed that it could contend with the top squad in the league.  That’s a big improvement over the first time the teams met this season, back in early December, when Portsmouth was shutout 3-0

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The Patriots’ regular season games at the Abbey are finished at the until the playoffs begin, but the team still has one more “home” game remaining to play.  Next Saturday, February 18, at 7:00 pm, the squad will host the Toll Gate Titans at the URI Boss Arena in the first game of a home-and-home series.  The Titans are only two points ahead of Portsmouth in the D-II standings so this game and the one the following week will be critical to determining final seeding for the playoffs.  Come to URI and cheer for Portsmouth.  See you at the rink