Eventful Game Ends with Comets Comeback Win

by Mark Caswell, Jr.

Feb 8, 2015

As the blizzard came rolling into Utica so did the Comets in their return to The Utica Memorial Auditorium as they defeated the Binghamton Senators 7-4 in a wild game that seemed to have everything on Sunday afternoon. After the victory, the Comets finished the weekend with a perfect 3-0 record and have now won four in a row.

Bobby Sanguinetti (2-0-2) and Will Acton (2-0-2) both recorded two goals each, along with three other Comets players that also found the net atleast once. Assists weren’t exactly a rare commodity in Sunday’s game, as Cal O’Reilly (0-2-2), Mike Zalewski (0-2-2), Dustin Jeffrey (0-2-2) and Alexandre Grenier (1-2-3) all found a pair of assists each.

The opening minutes weren’t very enjoyable for the Comets as they let in two quick ones before they even hit the three-minute mark. At 1:18 Shane Prince walked into the slot and popped one off past Markstrom for the early 1-0 lead. A little over a minute later, Ryan Dzingel was awarded a penalty shot after being tripped up on a breakaway. Dzingel slipped one past Eriksson’s glove side to make it 2-0.

It wasn’t until the end of the first period, but the Comets finally put one on the board twenty seconds after David Dziurzynski took a cross checking penalty. Grenier was trying to pass one to the front of the net but his pass quickly turned into a goal after it deflected off of the body of a Senators defensemen, which got the Comets within one. Cal O’Reilly and Dustin Jeffrey both tallied assists.

Will Acton kept it going for the Comets in the second period after making his way around the back of Peter Mannino’s net. Once Acton reached the far post, a backhander was all he needed to bury it past the sprawling Mannino for the equalizer and the short-handed goal.

Binghamton answered back five minutes later on the power play after Eriksson was called for a tripping penalty. Some minor confusion in front of the net and a shot in the slot from Derek Grant caused the puck to sneak past Eriksson, which took back the one-goal lead.

Trading goals seemed to be the trend for a while because at 17:58 Sanguinetti let one rip from the right dot and buried it glove side on Mannino to equalize it once again. O’Reilly and Grenier both received assists on the Comets third goal.

At the start of the third period, the goals started pouring in, more than they already had.

Utica took the lead for the first time in the game after a screened Mannino allowed Pedan to pound a blueline slapshot into the net to make it 4-3 at 4:08.

Ryan Dzingel tied it up again at 7:28 off of a quick pass from Buddy Robinson, but the Comets took back the lead and kept it roughly four minutes later off of a beautiful feed from Archibald which gave Sanguinetti the chance to bury his second of the game to make it 5-4.

At 12:56 Gaunce knocked in a feed from Zalewski to make it 6-4 and the final goal of the game came from Will Acton as he banged one in from the left dot at 13:30 which made it a 7-4 final decision.

The teams combined for 138 penalty minutes, including 12 fighting majors. Each team had a penalty shot opportunity, with only the Binghamton Senators converting on their chance.

The Comets will return to The AUD this Wednesday February 11 for a 7 p.m. match-up against one of their North Division rivals, the Rochester Americans.

Three Stars: 1. UTI Bobby Sanguinetti (2 goals) 2. UTI Will Acton (2 goals) 3. UTI Cal O’Reilly (2 assists)