November
12, 2004
Duke grounds George Mason 8-3
HILLSBOROUGH, NC -- From the opening faceoff, the ice seemed
titled towards the George Mason end as the Blue Devils disarmed
the Patriots 8-3. Bert Maidment took control of the first period
as he outscored George Mason 2-0 in the stanza. He opened the
scoring just over a minute in when he took a cross-ice feed
from Ben Tyson and lifted the puck into the net. Maidment outdid
himself on his next goal only five minutes later, with a nifty
deflection. Ryan Eick just managed to hold the puck in the offensive
zone, and from the blue line sent a low slap shot towards the
goalie. Maidment positioned himself in front of the net, and
with some crafty stick work, tipped the puck over the goalie’s
shoulder and into the cage.
In the second period the Devil’s kept on rolling. Two
minutes in Danny “Hands” Larrea made it 3-0 as
he put one home off a smooth pass from Jenkins. Only a minute
and a half later Tyson found Jeff Harmon who sped in and beat
the goalie, extending the lead to four. Just as it looked
like Duke would slip away with the game early, George Mason
got on the board on a shot that just managed to get by goaltender
Clayton Jernigan. After the tally, the Devils remained focused
and responded. Indeed, Ben “Gumby” Tyson got tired
of feeding his teammates the puck, so he popped two goals
in on breakaways before the period expired.
The Blue Devils took some penalties in the third period that
proved to be costly. George Mason beat Duke’s penalty
kill two straight times, bringing the score to 6-3 with ten
minutes left in the game. The Devils did not lose focus once
again, and matched the Patriots' two goals of the period.
Larrea put one in shortly after Mason’s second power
play goal, and Maidment finished off his hat trick on a nice
play created by Peter Elkins-Williams, who earned the assist.
With the 8-3 win the Duke Blue Devils moved to 3-0 in league
play, and will battle UVA this Friday for sole possession
of first place.
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