MORRISTOWN — Missed power play opportunities and an inability to keep the puck in the offensive zone led to Chatham hockey's 4-1 loss to Randolph on Thursday at Mennen Arena.
The Cougars got off to a solid start in the first period against Randolph, keeping the puck mostly in the middle of the ice and the Randolph end. Chatham dominated the puck on its two power play opportunities in the period, but was unable to come up with more than two shots during the first.
With less than a minute left to play in the period, Randolph sophomore Nick Holowko was able to break free of the Chatham defenders and score on a one-on-one shot on Chatham senior Charlie Boles.
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Chatham trailed 1-0 going into the second period.
Randolph junior Evan Jones capitalized on a scuffle in front of the Chatham goal at 4:48 in the second period to score Randolph's second goal. Boles then was able to hold off the Rams for six minutes until they struck again.
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At 10:27 of the second, Randolph senior Steven Petrella scored immediately after a faceoff. Randolph led 3-0, but less than a minute after that goal, sophomore Danny Casey scored on a pass from fellow sophomore Alex Rauter.
In the third period, though, Chatham's flame was put out, and Randolph was able to keep the puck on the Chatham end, though Boles was able to block 14 shots in the period.
"Charlie [Boles] worked very hard and tried to stop everything he could," said Coach Harvey Cohen.
But Boles was unable to block a shot fired at 6:57 in the third period by Randolph senior Kyle Kepple.
On a Chatham power play late in the game, it looked as though junior Connor Nelson would score after getting through the defense, but his shot missed just wide, and the game ended with a 4-1 score.
The Cougars, will face Arthur L. Johnson High School on Saturday at 3:50 p.m. at Union Sports Arena.
