The Saratoga Springs hockey team showed its resiliency at its annual Don Kauth Memorial Tournament last weekend.
After edging St. Joe’s 6-5 in Friday’s opening round, the Blue Streaks (4-0-0) pulled away for a 5-2 victory over Mamaroneck Saturday.
It was big for us, said Saratoga coach Mike Ricupero. `It was a good test for us to play two quality teams.`
Saratoga bounced back from a shaky first minute against Mamaroneck to beat the Tigers Saturday. After allowing a short-handed goal 27 seconds into the game, the Blue Streaks scored twice to take a 2-1 lead.
Mamaroneck tied the game midway through the first period on Dean Chiapparelli’s goal, but that was the last one that Saratoga goaltender Ryan Bourgeois allowed. The junior finished with 18 saves, four of which came on breakaways.
`I thought he had a rough start, but he showed up in the second and third periods and really helped us,` said Ricupero.
Saratoga took the lead on a fortuitous bounce early in the second period. Devin Smith looked to pass the puck in front of the Mamaroneck goal, but it instead deflected off a Tiger defenseman and past goaltender Alex Harwood to give the Blue Streaks a 3-2 advantage.
Smith struck again later in the second period. This time, the sophomore forward knocked the puck into the net off a scrum in front of the goal to make it 4-2.
Tristan Sperry concluded the scoring for Saratoga midway through the third period when he put home a rebound off Dan Going’s initial shot.
Ricupero said he was pleased with the amount of puck movement his team had during the second and third periods, in which Saratoga outshot Mamaroneck 27-12.
`We were getting opportunities [in the first period], but we weren’t balancing the attack,` said Ricupero. `We talked about that between the first and second periods, and we did a much better job in the second period.`
Shenendehowa split its two games in the Don Kauth Memorial Tournament. The Plainsmen edged Mamaroneck 4-3 Friday before losing to St. Joe’s 4-1 Saturday.
For video from Saturday’s Saratoga-Mamaroneck game, visit our new YouTube channel at
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