December
9, 2006
WAYNE -- For the past three seasons, Wayne Hills has gained the reputation of a one-dimensional ice hockey team. Offense has never been the Patriots’ problem, but too many times they were on the wrong end of 7-5 and 8-6 scores.
Wayne Hills still possesses its goal-scoring ability, but it is now a veteran team that has matured over the last two years, and is finding that filling the net doesn’t always translate into victories.
On Friday night against Old Tappan at the Ice Vault, the Pats took another step toward playing a balanced and disciplined game, two components that will serve them well come February and March.
Their 6-2 win over the Golden Knights gets them off to a 2-0 start heading into Saturday night’s encounter with Mahwah, and for head coach Darren Amerkanian, the emergence of a solid backline is a step forward in the process of building a winner.
“It’s a combination of the maturity of the existing defense and a great influx of freshman,” said Amerkanian. “We have two freshmen (Drew Gershon and Matt Fantau) in there, and they have the confidence of the returning vets, who don’t think they have to stay on the ice every minute now. That keeps us fresher, they have more confidence in their abilities and it reverberates through the entire team.”
The Pats were firing away at OT goaltender Eric Phenix in the first period, launching 19 shots on goal compared to four for the Knights, but many were straight into his pads or chest.
Only one eluded him, and that came on the power play at 3:51 of the period. Matt Spadaro launched one from the left post that caromed off Phenix and clanged the right post on the way in. Eric Cavanaugh and Justin Liscio garnered the assists on the only tally of the first period.
“They’re getting used to doing things the way I want them to,” said Amerkanian. “After the first game (11-1 win over Demarest), I was worried how we would come out, and at first they were in limbo, but they woke up and were back to themselves.”
Old Tappan (0-2) got even at 1:43 of the second thanks to a turnover just inside the Wayne Hills blue line. Kevin DiBartolo picked up the loose puck and skated to the inside edge of the left circle before finding the low right corner unassisted.
Senior Albert Campbell, the school’s all-time leading scorer and a four-year varsity player, put WH ahead with a pair of goals just six seconds apart. The first was at 3:17 from a sharp angle just off the right goal line, with Alex Toto getting the assist. The second came when he grabbed a loose puck off the face off and fired one past Phenix (35 saves) to the stick side unassisted.
Despite getting the go-ahead and eventual game-winning goals, Amerkanian was quick to point out that this wasn’t a solo act by Campbell, even though he would complete the hat trick later on.
“He didn’t steal the show in either of the first two games,” he said. “That’s what we want. It’s a big difference. Last year it was the Albert Campbell show, this year, it’s everybody.”
Two minutes after Campbell’s
second score, Dan Lane made it 4-0 on a nice move along the left boards. He
outskated the defenseman and angled in on goal before settling the puck in
the short side. Fantau earned the assist for his outlet pass.
Liscio put Hills up 5-1 at 11:27 on a shorthanded score. Campbell came in
on a min-breakaway and shot. Phenix made the save but left the rebound and
Liscio banged it home.
The duo combined for Wayne Hills’ final score, as Liscio assisted on Campbell’s tally at 1:23. Old Tappan closed the scoring at 5:00 as Eric Wright came in on a breakaway and bested WH goalie Brian Rossman (16 saves) unassisted.
The Patriots ended up with a 41-18 shots advantage, and hit one of four power plays. They killed off six OT man advantages while scoring shorthanded.
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