The wooden skate stays in Guilderland.
The Dutchmen scored two goals in the first five minutes and cruised to a 6-0 victory over Bethlehem in Saturday’s Wooden Skate hockey game at Union College’s Achilles Rink.
In the five years that we’ve played Bethlehem, we’ve never lost, said Guilderland coach John DeRubertis. `The kids were pretty pumped that we kept (the skate) again.`
`We were just outworked and outplayed,` said Bethlehem coach Richard Hughes.
Collin Burg got Guilderland going in the opening minute. The sophomore forward took a lead pass from Ben Fogel at the Bethlehem blue line, skated past a defender and shot the puck by John Remmel for a 1-0 lead.
`Collin is a quiet, intense player,` said DeRubertis. `He’s a physical presence, but he can also shoot the puck.`
Lee Murphy took advantage of another Bethlehem defensive lapse two minutes later. The senior forward scored a breakaway goal off a pass from Jeff Geisendorfer to put Guilderland ahead 2-0.
`My third line is doing a great job. Lee Murphy and Luke Diamante have been playing well, and they’re creating scoring opportunities,` said DeRubertis.
Bethlehem settled down after Murphy’s goal and created some scoring opportunities late in the first period, but the Eagles couldn’t get on the scoreboard. That proved costly to Bethlehem, as Guilderland’s John Potts stuffed in the first of his two goals 4:12 into the second period to put the Dutchmen ahead 3-0.
`When we got the third goal, that really finished them,` said DeRubertis. `They knew they had an uphill battle.`
`I thought we had the momentum (toward the end of the first period), but we didn’t keep it,` said Hughes.
As the game wore on, Bethlehem’s patience wore thin. The Eagles took several penalties in the second and third periods, which allowed Guilderland to remain on the attack. Only strong efforts from Remmel (17 saves) and T.J. Caswell (16 saves) prevented Bethlehem from losing by a bigger margin.
`It was basically a result of Bethlehem’s reaction to being handled, but that’s something that happens from the NHL on down,` said DeRubertis.
Dan Dickinson and Joe Romano added third period goals, and Brendan Glennon stopped 20 shots to pick up his second shutout against Bethlehem this season.
After road games against Queensbury Monday and Christian Brothers Academy Wednesday, Guilderland gets a week off before playing Shenendehowa Feb. 7 in Clifton Park.“
