Niskayuna/Schenectady took two points from Shaker/Colonie in CDHSHL hockey play Saturday night with a two-goal outburst late in the third period for a 2-1 triumph at Schenectady County Recreational Facility.
Both teams were coming off games against two of the best teams in the Capital District High School Hockey League.
Niskayuna/Schenectady lost to Division I power Shenendehowa 4-3 on Friday, while Shaker/Colonie battled undefeated Division II power Queensbury to a 1-1 tie Friday.
That was a pretty good hockey game tonight. Both teams were pretty comparable, said N/S coach Todd Templeton. `Both teams came off tough games last night against two of the top teams in the league.`
The Jets (5-9-3 overall, 4-5-2 league) held a 1-0 lead for a period and a half. They kept the heat on the Mohawks’ defense and goalie Scott Hartz, and Matthew Vetrone poked the puck into the net after a scrum in the crease with 5:35 left in the first.
`This week’s schedule was tough for us,` said S/C coach Steve Hudak. `We tried to go four lines as long as we could and then we started to tire out a little bit. We played two and a half periods tonight, not three.`
The Jets outshot the Mohawks by an 11-4 margin in the first, but managed only one goal.
`We’re the type of team that if we don’t play three periods, we’re not going to win. We’ve been telling the team that the whole year,` Templeton said.
S/C was given numerous chances to score in the second after the Mohawks took back-to-back penalties. The Jets’ powerplay was anemic, creating a handful of short-handed breakaways for Mohawks forward Britton Leone, but S/C freshman goalie Aaron Hebert came up with crucial stops to preserve the lead.
Later in the second, it was the Mohawks turn to try their hand on the man advantage after two penalties just minutes apart by Shaker/Colonie’s Doug Swezey and Vetrone. N/S created a number of scoring chances but the Jets defense was able to block the shots before they made it to the net.
Hebert was once again called on to bail out his team as S/C was fortunate to escape the second with a one-goal lead.
`We got two goalies that are playing well and they both deserve to be playing. I think having a healthy competition is making them play better within themselves,` Hudak said.
The Jets rotate between Hebert and sophomore Jim Lanne, who had 50 saves against Queensbury the night before.
The Mohawks (11-4, 5-2) broke through and tied it with 7:13 left in regulation after a shot from the point by Ryan Grant was initially stopped by Hebert, but the rebound deflected off his pads into the air and Mike Tenenboym pounced on it on the doorstep for the goal.
N/S struck again for the go-ahead goal two and a half minutes later while the team was shorthanded. Tenenboym stole the puck from Jets defensemen D.J. O’Connell behind the Jets’ net and then spotted Leone in front of the net.
Leone roofed his shot over Hebert, making it 2-1.
`The last 10 minutes of the third period we finally started to apply some pressure and pick up the pace a little bit. I think maybe they (S/C) were a little tired. It looked like they let off a little bit but they didn’t relax ` they kept coming after us,` Templeton said.
The Jets put pressure on the N/S defense in the third period, but managed only two shots on goal, while the Mohawks had nine.
S/C has had difficulties scoring goals this season, something Hudak expected.
`We knew at the beginning of the year that we would have trouble scoring goals,` he said. `We figured we would have to rely on our defense and goaltending, and we have. We haven’t been giving up much more than a goal or two a game, but we haven’t been able to score more than a goal a game, which is affecting the outcome.`
The Jets host Lasalle and Shenedehowa this weekend while the Mohawks visit CBA on Friday.“