A FOUR-GOAL BARRAGE IN THE SECOND PERIOD AND THREE POWER-PLAY TALLIES IN THE FINAL 15 MINUTES PUT AN ABRUT END TO THE CRUSADERS’ BROOKLYN EXPEDITION.
BY EDDIE DWYER, COPYRIGHT DECEMBER 2011
Saint Ignatius’ gifted junior center/forward Miles McQuinn never hesitated when asked to describe another dominant response by the Wildcats’ varsity hockey team.
“It’s been one of the biggest differences between this year and last year,” McQuinn said. “No matter how much a team throws at us, if we’re down a goal or tied, we always seem to come back or pull away.”
Although the Wildcats never trailed during Wednesday morning’s 10-3 victory over Canisius, they were challenged on two occasions in what was the deciding game of the annual Saint Ignatius Christmas Tournament.
Taking their home ice in Brooklyn’s John M. Coyne Recreation Center, the Wildcats found themselves in a power-play advantage with the game just over a minute old. Sixteen seconds later, senior defenseman Andrew Steed scored unassisted.
Less than two minutes went by before standout senior wing Liam Geither tallied his team-leading 34th goal of the season off assists by senior forward Eamonn Walsh and McQuinn.
Saint Ignatius’ Jesuit brothers from Buffalo weren’t about to go home quietly, as Canisius cut the deficit to 2-1 on a goal by Austin Aksoy at the 10:12 mark of the first period.
The Wildcats responded with the first of two goals by McQuinn, which resulted from a wrap-around assist by Geither and McQuinn’s trademark stick work.
“Me and Liam have been doing that since the day I showed up here,” said McQuinn, who has assisted on more than one of Geither’s goals this season. “It was a very nice pass from him.”
Trailing, 3-1, entering the second period, Canisius again made it a one-goal game, as the Crusaders’ Pat Mitchell beat the defense at 8:35.
At that point, Saint Ignatius began to display the depth and offensive fire power that have led Coach Pat O’Rourke’s team to a 20-0 record.
First it was a short-handed goal by senior forward Colton Riemenschneider off an assist by multi-skilled senior center Paddy Spellacy. After the Wildcats killed off another man advantage for Canisius, McQuinn fired home his second goal of the day – a picture-perfect wrist shot off a Riemenschneider helper.
In the final minute and a half of the second period, Saint Ignatius took command on a top shelf goal by freshman forward Jack Wiegandt and a bullet into the net by Spellacy off assists by Geither and big-game savvy senior wing Mike Abood.
The Crusaders would close to 7-3 on a goal by Dimitrios Koutsomitis at 9:13 of the third period, only to watch the Wildcats respond with power play goals by Abood, Geither (his 35th) and sophomore defenseman/forward Nick Gajkowski.
Saint Ignatius outshot Canisius, 58-25, as the Wildcats had 28 shots on goal in the third period.
“Defense, defense, defense,” said McQuinn of the area he believes the ‘Cats need to polish up on. “We put up 10 goals, but we gave up three.”
After the Wildcats posed for a picture with the tournament championship trophy, Coach O’Rourke ’90 pointed out that his team was a bit more seasoned or experienced than the Crusaders. He said Saint Ignatius is trying to develop a hockey relationship with Canisius and that he is sure there will be years when the Crusaders have the Wildcats’ number.
“We just come at teams in waves and it’s hard to stop,” O’Rourke said. “It’s tough to keep us down. Right now, we’re keeping the puck on net and not hitting too much glass. And that’s the key. There is no secret or science to it.”