The duo of Greg Warnken and Collin Burg helped the Guilderland hockey team avert disaster.
Warnken scored two goals including the game-winner early in the third period, and Burg added a goal and an assist to propel the Dutchmen past LaSalle 3-2 in last Friday’s Capital District High School Hockey League game at Hudson Valley Community College.
Things didn’t look good for Guilderland (3-3-0 league, 4-7-0 overall) through the first two periods. The Dutchmen allowed a goal to LaSalle’s Vinnie Planz with one second left in the first period to fall behind and then played a second period that head coach John DeRubertis described as sloppy.
`We were kind of fortunate that they didn’t score any more (than one goal) in the second period because they had us running around a lot,` said DeRubertis.
Guilderland capitalized on the few scoring chances it had in the second period. First, Burg put home a rebound off a missed shot by Conor Hurley to tie the game at 1. Then, Warnken stole the puck in LaSalle’s end and scored his fourth goal of the season to give the Dutchmen a 2-1 lead.
Once again, LaSalle (5-3-1, 5-9-1) struck in the final minute of a period. This time, Joe Heffernan tallied an unassisted goal with 20 seconds left to tie the game at 2.
Guilderland finally got the momentum working in its favor in the third period. Burg fed Warnken for the junior forward’s second goal of the game midway through the period, and the Dutchmen weathered several LaSalle surges to hold on for the one-goal win.
`We took a couple of bad penalties in the third period, but other than that, I thought we had the better of the play,` said DeRubertis.
Sophomore goaltender Mike Alsante made 30 saves for Guilderland, which had lost its last two CDHSHL games.
`(Alsante) played his best game of the year,` said DeRubertis. `He’s been a little inconsistent, but when he’s focused, he’s been on.`
Guilderland returned to action Tuesday when it hosted Burnt Hills/Scotia-Glenville at Union College.“