For the first time in five years, the Shenendehowa hockey team was on the brink of losing a Sectional game.
The No. 1 seeded Plainsmen needed a Steve Caruso goal with less than five minutes left to defeat No. 5 Guilderland 5-4 in Saturday’s Division I semifinal at Union College.
It’s a relief without a doubt, said Shen coach Juan de la Rocha. `I don’t know what to say ` it’s just a prime example of how Sectional games are like nothing else. I think they’re tougher than the state playoffs because teams play with so much emotion, and that’s what Guilderland had tonight.`
It appeared that the Dutchmen took a 5-4 lead with 6:58 left in the third period when a shot through a swarm of players beat Shen goalie Greg Hitchko. The goal was taken away after the Shen bench questioned the call. The referees conferred and decided that it was tipped in with a high stick, negating the goal.
`There’s no way a bench should influence a referee’s call,` said Guilderland coach John DeRubertis. `He (the referee) shouldn’t be entertaining complaints from the (Shen) bench as far as I’m concerned, and those complaints warranted a discussion with the other ref. That’s nonsense.`
Caruso, who finished with four goals, netted the game winner two minutes later when he converted a pass from A.J. Mangino, who was behind the Guilderland net.
`This was by no means a one man show. My linemates, Adam (Hitchko) and A.J. (Mangino), played excellent. It was a lot of me being at the right place at the right time,` Caruso said.
`He’s got so much heart and never gives up` said de la Rocha. `He’s a senior, and he epitomizes what a Shen hockey player should be in the way that he’s playing right now. He carried this team on his back tonight without a doubt, and I would have liked to have him out there every shift for the entire game.`
The Dutchmen (11-14) took a surprising 2-0 lead late in the first period with goals 22 seconds apart by Dan Dickinson and Jon Fogel.
`They’re (Guilderland) a very opportunistic team, and the chances that we gave them they capitalized on` said de la Rocha. `Their goalie (Brendan Glennon) came up huge for them, especially in the first period, and that’s what really tipped the scale in their favor early on and throughout the game.`
The Plainsmen (19-4-2) struck back at 14:59 when Caruso fired a blast from just inside the blue line as time expired. Shen drew even at 1:33 of the second period with a power play goal by junior Adam Hitchko, who deposited a rebound behind Guilderland goalie Brendan Glennon. Caruso then put a weak wrister on net that handcuffed Glennon to give the Plainsmen a 3-2 lead.
Guilderland tied the game at three 49 seconds later when senior captain Ben Fogel passed the puck out of the right corner to sophomore Collin Burg, who was waiting at the doorstep of the goal to fire it by Greg Hitchko.
The Dutchmen then took a 4-3 lead at 3:33 of the third period when senior center John Potts hit Fogel with a cross-ice pass for a score over the shoulder of Hitchko, who finished with 18 saves.
The Plainsmen tied the game at 7:20 of the third after Caruso intercepted a weak clearing attempt by Jon Fogel and tucked a short-handed goal behind Glennon, who finished with 34 saves. Caruso finished his four-goal night at the 10:18 mark of the third period to put Shen ahead for good.
`My young team wasn’t able to respond from that,` said DeRubertis. `We fought adversity all night by coming back from a couple of deficits, and for that to happen, it was devastating.`
Shen advances to Wednesday’s Sectional final against Christian Brothers Academy, which defeated LaSalle 4-2 in the other Division I semifinal last weekend. Meanwhile, Guilderland must live with the memory of what could have been.
`Shen is too good of a team, and I’m not taking it from Shen` said DeRubertis. `I told the refs that I thought they took the game from us and put it out there. If the CDHSHL (Capital District High School Hockey League) has penalties for publicly criticizing the referee, then let it fall where it does because they were awful, and I told them so.“