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Pinkerton edged by Andover, Retelle

Friday, December, 28 By Ryan Lambert
Staff writer

Through much of the game, Andover struggled to even generate good offensive chances. But Riki Retelle's rocket slap shot on a late power play eased the Golden Warriors' tensions.

Retelle's seeing-eye point shot beat Pinkerton netminder J.J. Solloway (21 saves) at 6:44 of the third period and the Golden Warriors eked out a 2-1 win over the Astros in the second round of the Salem Blue Devil Holiday Classic.

Andover's other goal, from Cam Smith, was also on the man advantage.

The Golden Warriors' penalty trouble came largely in the second period, when the team combined for 20 minutes of penalties and gave Pinkerton four power plays, including a pair of 5-on-3 opportunities. The Astros put 11 shots on net in the period, but could only muster nine more in the other 30 minutes.

Nick Currier scored the lone Pinkerton goal, tipping a point shot from Billy McCarran past Andover keeper Nick Drew (19 saves).

"We had a lot more power play minutes in the second, and I think that had a lot to do with the shots," said Pinkerton coach Casey Kesselring. "But in the third period we had some good chances right off the bat and we could have easily went up in the game. But we needed to bear down, and instead we took some lazy penalties and they capitalized."