Shaker/Colonie gave Christian Brothers Academy all it could handle, but the Brothers held on for a 5-3 victory in Saturday’s Capital District High School Hockey League game at Albany County Hockey Facility in Colonie.
Coming off a 4-2 victory at LaSalle the previous night, CBA (11-1-2 league, 15-5-3 overall) overcame an early 2-1 deficit to ground the Jets (4-6-2, 9-10-2).
It was a real hard-fought game last night, and I was proud of the kids’ effort tonight, said CBA coach Ron Kuhl. `We knew that tonight was going to be a similar game. They’re (S/C) a well-coached team, and they have a lot of young, energetic kids. I think our experience got us the win tonight.`
`Lately, we’ve had some periods where we’ve been spotty, but tonight we played three strong periods,` said S/C coach Steve Hudak. `We got a couple of unlucky bounces and had some mental breakdowns.`
The Jets ` already the youngest team on average in the league ` called upon eighth-grader Aaron Hebert and freshman Jim Lanne to replace injured goaltender P.J. Nicsevic for the CBA game, and the duo did what they could to keep their team within striking distance. They combined to stop 27 of the 32 shots they faced.
S/C spotted Hebert, who started the game, an early lead. Freshman Ryan Phillips picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone, skated in and lifted a backhanded shot high over CBA goalie Shane Hans to put the Jets ahead 1-0 6:09 into the first period.
CBA pulled even when Bryan Wilgocki took a pass from Tristan Newkirk on a 2-on-1 breakaway and scored at 6:42. S/C regained the lead on Mike McCloskey’s shorthanded goal at 8:44, but the Brothers re-tied the game when Kyle Boland scored a power play goal with nine seconds left in the first period.
CBA took its first lead early in the second period when Zack Robinson knocked in a rebound off Andrew Sellner’s drive. Patrick Raike then gave the Brothers a two-goal lead when he intercepted Lanne’s clearing attempt just outside the crease and shot it by the freshman.
The Jets closed the deficit to 4-3 early in the third period when senior John Kyratzis tipped Andy Kelly’s blast from the blue line past Hans, but Boland tallied on a rebound less than three minutes later to give the Brothers some breathing room.
Hans only stopped six of the nine shots he faced, but it was good enough to give CBA the victory.
`Tonight, we gave Hans the opportunity to play, and he made some good stops,` said Kuhl. `He struggled with a few, but he got the job done.`
Hudak said his team’s effort was one of the best it’s had against an upper-tier CDHSHL team.
`We’re really proud of the way we played tonight, and the kids know that this was a respectable loss,` he said. `They never quit tonight. They gave it their all.“