One period altered the Section II Division I hockey playoff landscape.
Bethlehem scored three times in the second period and held on for a 3-2 victory over Shenendehowa in Thursday’s Capital District High School Hockey League game at the Clifton Park Arena.
The result, coupled with Saratoga’s 5-2 victory over Glens Falls, dropped Shen (10-3-1 league, 18,5 points) out of first place and the top seed. Saratoga (13-1-0, 20 points) overcame a 1.5-point deficit in the final week to pass the Plainsmen, though Shen coach Juan de la Rocha said there was little his team could have done to prevent that from happening.
“We weren’t in the driver’s seat in this one,” said de la Rocha. “If (Saratoga) won, it wouldn’t have mattered if we won or lost today.”
The result also moved Bethlehem (7-3-3, 14.5 points) into a tie for fourth place with Christian Brothers Academy. The Eagles received the No. 4 seed and a home playoff game against the Brothers (8-4-3, 14.5 points) based on a tiebreaker.
“It’s kind of déjà vu for us,” said Bethlehem coach Andre Rodrigue. “It’s the same 4-5 (playoff) match-up we had last year.”
Shen took a 1-0 lead on Brad Tardif’s goal late in the first period before the tide turned in the second period. Nicholas Gosstola tied the score 2:32 into the frame off a lead pass from Chris Caswell. Later in the period, Caswell had a shot deflect high off Shen goaltender Brian Walter’s stick and land inches over the goal line to put the Eagles ahead 2-1. R.J. Diego finished the outburst when he charged in alone on Walter and slammed one by him to give Bethlehem a 3-1 advantage.
“The three-goal outburst was directly credited to the hard work we did in the first period,” said Rodrigue. “Once we got that first goal, we started rolling.”
“We were too slow to get back on our back check in that period, and we were stepping up and pinching (at the blue line) when we shouldn’t have been,” said de la Rocha.
Shen got one goal back early in the third period when Dave Hunter scored off a rebound. Bethlehem goaltender Kevin Cooley made the initial save on Ryan Mortka’s shot, but he couldn’t cover the loose puck at the right post before Hunter charged in and lifted it over Cooley’s shoulder.
That was the last goal Cooley allowed. The senior stopped 12 of the 13 shots he faced in the third period to seal Bethlehem’s victory.
“He gave up two goals, but he had a lot of saves,” Rodrigue said of Cooley, who stopped 27 shots. “Knowing you have a quality goaltender back there, you can take some chances with the puck.”
“We had plenty of clean shots. We just couldn’t jam them home,” said de la Rocha.
Bethlehem will attempt to end a two-game winless streak against CBA when the two teams meet in Wednesday’s quarterfinal game at the Bethlehem Area YMCA. The Brothers defeated the Eagles in last year’s quarterfinal round, and Bethlehem rallied to tie CBA 3-3 Feb. 1 at home.
“We’ve been waiting a whole year for this (playoff) game,” said Rodrigue.
Shen will meet the winner of Monday’s opening-round game between Niskayuna/Schenectady and Guilderland/Mohonasen in Wednesday’s quarterfinal round at the Clifton Park Arena.
“We’ve got to start finding the back of the net a little more,” said de la Rocha. “The last three games, we haven’t been getting a lot of offense. We’ve scored four goals in the last three games.”
