DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. –
Kyle Dalrymple's goal in the closing minutes proved to be the decisive goal in Embry-Riddle's 10-9 win over visiting Coker on Saturday. The win moves ERAU to 4-1 on the season, while Coker drops to 1-2.
Dalrymple finished with two goals and an assist, while
Jacob Schripsema notched three goals and
Mitchell Cody tallied two goals and two helpers.
Mark Urso was 16-of-22 in faceoffs and
Lucas Fraser made nine saves in goal. Urso and Fraser tied with
Michael Forte for a team-high with five ground balls apiece.
Coker got off to a fast start, scoring the game's first three goals in the first five minutes.
Nick Marshall finally got Embry-Riddle on the board with a goal with 3:49 left in the first quarter, but the Cobras quickly answered with a goal just 50 seconds later. Dalrymple grabbed some momentum for the Eagles in the closing seconds, scoring his first of the game with just one second left in the quarter, making it a 4-2 contest after one period of play.
ERAU carried that momentum into the second, scoring three goals in the span of 1:11 to take a 5-4 lead. Heggblod scored the first of the three goals at the 10:08 mark, with Cody scoring just over a minute later and Forte netting his goal just eight seconds after that. Schripsema notched a man-up goal with 4:21 left in the half to make it 6-4, but Coker was able to find some last-second magic of their own, scoring the final goal of the half with just one tick left on the clock.
After the break, the Eagles wasted little time regaining a two-goal lead as Cody scored his second of the game 1:11 into the third quarter to make it 7-5. The Cobras got back to within one a few minutes later, but the offenses then went quiet for almost the entire rest of the quarter. In the dying seconds of the third, Cody found Schripsema with a beautiful pass to set up a goal to make it 8-6 Embry-Riddle with just five seconds on the clock.
Schripsema opened the scoring in the fourth with another man-up goal to increase the Eagle lead to 9-6 less than three minutes into the period. Over the next seven minutes, Coker was able to find some offense, scoring three goals to tie things up at 9-9. ERAU was able to stop the momentum swing and retake the lead with Dalrymple's goal with 3:10 to play, putting the Blue and Gold up 10-9. The Eagles put on a clinic of how to play with a lead after scoring that goal. Urso won the ensuing faceoff and ERAU maintained possession for almost two minutes, as Coker wasn't able to get the ball back until there were just 71 seconds remaining. After a Cobra timeout, the Eagle defense was stifling, refusing to allow any shot attempts for over a minute. The possession ended with Forte causing a turnover and collected the ground ball with just six seconds remaining, sealing the 10-9 win for the Eagles.
Embry-Riddle will have a week to prepare for its next contest, which will be ERAU's first road game of the season, at North Greenville on Saturday, Feb. 23. The game is slated for a 1 p.m. start.
