By RICK SAYERS
Goalie Merv Marshall wasn’t blaming only himself, but the rest of the Rochester Griffins as well for letting up after taking an early 9-2 lead against the Maryland Arrows last night.
That lead was gone before you could say Bill Coghill (who had five goals and one assist for Maryland), and the Griffins had to fight for their lives to pull out a 22-18 victory over the Arrows at the War Memorial.
It was the Griffins’ 10th straight victory at home and it might have also been the toughest.
Rick Dudley, who scored seven goals and two assists to tie his league record of nine points in one game, had struck for four quick goals to spark the Griffins’ early surge. But then the roof fell in.
‘I guess I let up a little bit. We all did,” said Marshall, who was then burned for five straight Maryland goals. “Dudley was playing so well, I guess we figured he’d do it all for us. The problem was we wefe depending on him too much.”
The guy who finally turned the game around was Glen Neuman, who wasn’t even supposed to play because of a leg infection.
His game-winning play came at 16:20 of the third period. The Griffins, who trailed 14-13 going into the third period, had just taken a 19-18 lead and Maryland was threatening. A missed shot went out to Bill Hoculik. He threw a long pass to Neuman, who had jumped off the bench and then ran down court alone for an easy goal.
Maryland never scored again after that.
“I just got some lucky bounces.” said the modest Dudley, “but it was Neuman who got the big goal. Sure I was worried we’d lose. Anytime you lose a lead like that you have to worry.”
Neuman was allowed to come off the bench through the substitution rule, but picked up about a 15 foot advantage by jumping off the far side.
“I jumped it a little, too,” he said,
Kells died a thousand deaths behind the Griffins’ bench.
“In a game like this, you have two decisions to make,” he said, “give them (the Griffins) hell and bat them down again or simply let them play their game.”
Keils chose the second.
“You just can’t keep battering them,” he said. “What are you going to have left when it conies to a big game. I simply told them it was up to them.”
After building their early lead the Griffins’ defense was almost nonexistent, leaving Maryland room to roam and shoot. Coghill scored four times as Maryland rallied for a 9-9 tie at the end of the first period and then led 14-13 at the erd of two.
“It’s supposed to be a hammering zone, but it was stagnant,” said Kells. “The guys who are supposed to be the stars were bums. There’s no excuse for a guy like (Kevin) Parsons to play that bad. He was a bum,”
Even Kells was sure the home winning streak was coming to an end.
“You just can’t keep battering them,” he said. “What are you going to have left when it conies to a big game. I simply told them it was up to them.”
After building their early lead the Griffins’ defense was almost nonexistent, leaving Maryland room to roam and shoot. Coghill scored four times as Maryland rallied for a 9-9 tie at the end of the first period and then led 14-13 at the erd of two.
“It’s supposed to be a hammering zone, but it was stagnant,” said Kells. “The guys who are supposed to be the stars were bums. There’s no excuse for a guy like (Kevin) Parsons to play that bad. He was a bum,”
Even Kells was sure the home winning streak was coming to an end.
