Clinging to a one-goal lead with under 30 seconds left, Towson goalie Alex Hochrein saved a close shot by Catonsville’s Noah Kennedy, chased down the ground ball and cleared it to the other end of the field as the Generals held on for a 6-5 victory.
“I’m a very aggressive goalkeeper, not many people do it. I had to help our team and I ran out and picked up the ball and spudded it — that’s what we call it — and it was just on from there,” Hochrein said. “It hit me right in the chest and it was just all the energy builds up and it was awesome.”
Hochrein and Catonsville goalie Rory Gibbons both finished with 16 saves and Hochrein held the Comets to just one tally after they scored midway through the third period.
“I changed my position in the goal. I started playing a higher arc and that definitely helped me with some saves because they were placing the ball very well,” Hochrein said. “Our defense played a heck of a game. Our offense was kind of lacking on the passing and all that and our defense just had to come together and play very well.”
Towson’s offense was led by Ansen Park, Jackson Kantzler and Hudson Arrup, who had two goals each. Catonsville’s Lucas Rivera had two goals and Ben Hipszer had a goal and two assists to lead the Comets.
Tied at 4, Kanzler scored the go-ahead goal with 1:26 left in the third quarter and the Generals (8-0) added another by Park with 8:51 left in the fourth quarter. Towson again dominated time of possession as faceoff specialist Nate Mangiafico won all three of the faceoffs in the fourth quarter.
“Nate got the game ball today for us,” Towson coach Phil Rossetti said. “He started a little slow this season for us, but I’m so proud of him, he battled. He kept us in this game today, worked really hard at the X and really helped us win this game.”
Mangiafico and Catonsville’s Cam Lewis split the 16 faceoffs, but the Comets had trouble keeping possession.
“I think our faceoff guy played well,” Catonsville coach K.R. Schultz said. “We just didn’t maintain the possessions. Ground balls are everything and they got a couple more than us.”
Catonsville’s cut the deficit to one, 6-5, with 4:10 left in the game on a goal by Rivera off a Hipszer assist, but Kennedy’s shot on goal in the final minute was the only other shot they had to try and tie it.
The loss ended a six-game winning streak for the Comets (6-2) who go on the road Tuesday to face Urbana before hosting Hereford on Thursday.
“They are a well-coached team, I have a ton of respect for coach Schultz,” said Rossetti, whose Generals host Hereford on Tuesday. “Our guys knew this was a tough one. Our seniors have never beaten Catonsville, they finally got them after a tough 5-4 game last year. So I’m just really proud of the team and I’m really proud of the guys and we are taking it one day at a time right now. We know it’s a long season and we know we might see them again.”
“It’s basically turning into a rivalry after Dulaney, so it’s very fun to play in and I enjoy it,” said Hochrein, who had nine saves when the Generals defeated Dulaney, 7-4.
Towson (8-0) struggled with its passing and turnovers in the first quarter, but Catonsville’s only goal was by long-pole defender Will Roberson off an Isaak Powell assist. The Comets outshot the Generals, 10-5, in the opening quarter and took a 1-0 lead into the second. Hochrein was the reason it was so close with six saves in the first quarter.
In the second, the Generals had possession for nine of the 12 minutes and scored four straight goals.
“We knew the they have a good team over there and we know we play a lot of defense,” Towson coach Phil Rossetti said. “So we didn’t want to put it all on our defense. We wanted to kind of help them out and even though we didn’t score a ton of goals, our offense did a nice job possessing and playing smart for the most part.”
Unassisted tallies by Park and Kantzler in the first five minutes gave them the lead and consecutive goals from tough angles by Arrup extended the lead to 4-1. Catonsville took advantage of an extra-man situation when Hipszer fed Rivera with under a minute left in the half, making it 4-2.
Noah Kennedy knifed through two defenders and pulled the Comets within one and Hipzer’s bouncer from 15 yards out tied it 4-all with 6:19 left in the third quarter.
The teams could meet in the Baltimore County championship game or regional playoffs.
“Credit them, it was a good learning experience for us and it was a good battle,” Schultz said. “Our defense played great, I thought Rory played an incredible game.”
Towson — 0 4 1 1 — 6
Catonsville — 1 1 2 1 — 5
Goals: Tow — Ansen Park 2, Jackson Kantzler 2, Hudson Arrup 2; Cat — Lusa Rivera 2, Will Roberson 1, Ben Hipszer 1, Noah Kennedy 1; Assists: Tow — Park 1, Connor Parks 1, Zach Hochrein 1; Cat: Hipszer 2, Isaak Powell 1 Saves: Tow — Alex Hochrein 16, Cat — Rory Gibbons 16.