Despite his stellar effort, Mars goalie puts blame for defeat on himself
PITTSBURGH— Mars goaltender Greg Lewis isn't used to fishing pucks out of his own net.
The sophomore allowed only nine goals on 203 shots during the regular season — a .956 save percentage — and stopped 41 of 43 shots in playoff wins over Hampton and Bishop McCort.
He posted six shutouts in 11 regular season games and had a 0.823 goals-against average.
He would have needed a seventh shutout to lift the Planets to the Penguins Cup Class A championship Wednesday night at Mellon Arena.
It didn't happen.
"That's my job," he said of stopping pucks. "I take credit for when the shots don't go in and we win.
"When the shots do go in and we lose ... I have to take credit for that, too."
Even if the game-tying and game-winning goals were not of the normal variety.
Colin South scored all three Quaker Valley goals in its 3-1 triumph over the Planets. The first tally came as two Quakers stormed the net and Lewis dropped to his knees to cover the puck.
"I thought I had it, then I didn't," Lewis said. "I can't even tell you how it wound up in the back of the net. All that matters is that it did."
<table width="300" height="275" border="0" align="right" valign="top" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><embed src="/assets/mov/BE41753320.MOV " width="320" height="250" autostart="true" loop="false" ></embed></td></tr><tr><td align="center"><a href="http://www.apple.com/quicktime/" target="_blank"><span class="style11">Requires Quicktime Media Player </a><br><font size="1" face="Tahoma, Times New Roman">Video by Brandon Gerthoffer</font></span><td></tr></table>The second goal was stranger yet. The puck caromed high in the air and Lewis kept looking around for it. By the time it landed between his feet, the netminder had no time to react as South knocked the puck into the net."The lights above the ice here are so bright," Mars coach Tim Coleman said. "You can see the puck if it's at your shoulders, maybe, but no higher."That was just one of those wacky plays. Unfortunately, garbage goals count every bit as much as the pretty goals do."Mars averaged 7.9 goals per game during the regular season. The Planets were held to one goal Wednesday for only the second time all year. They played a 1-1 tie against Freeport Jan. 10 at Belmont Arena.Lewis stopped 25 of 28 shots Wednesday, many from the slot and point-blank range."Greg played a great game, as usual,"senior forward Ian Finney said. "Offensively, we didn't hold up our end of the deal."Lewis would hear none of it."I don't worry about how many goals we score," he said emphatically. "If I don't give any up, we don't lose."I really wanted us to win this game for our seniors. They deserved this so much. ... That's what hurts."Coleman said his goaltender kept his team in the game."Our defensive coverage is usually among the best in the league, but we had lapses in that area tonight and Greg covered up for us," the coach said.Coleman is excited about the prospect of Lewis coming back for two more seasons."The foundation of any team is a good goaltender. And we have a great one,"Coleman said.A great one who can't wait to get back on the ice."We're not even out of the locker room yet and I'm itching to get out there," Lewis said.
