Panthers Beat Knights

Despite nearly doubling the opposition in shots on goal, the McQuaid Jesuit Knights fell to the Pittsford Panthers 5-3 at Thomas Creek Ice Arena on February 1. The games started with the Knights on the attack, pinning the Panthers in their end for long stretches. The game became physical early, with both sides throwing heavy checks. The Knights peppered Panther goalie Aaron Frohm throughout the first period, but it was Pittsford which drew first blood.

At 12:11, senior forward Danny Caufield was called for interference. On the ensuing power play, the Knights kept Pittsford at bay for the first minute and sixteen seconds, but then John Knisley took a pass from Jose Stohlecker and beat Knights goalie Ian Harris over the blocker side with a twenty foot shot. The Knights were undaunted by the turn of events and kept the pressure in the Pittsford end, outshooting them 12 to 4 by the end of the period.

In the early going of the second period, Pittsford went a man down at 1:17, when Ben Waldman was called for roughing. The Knights advantage increased at 1:43, when John Knisley was called for tripping. The ensuing 5 on 3 netted no points for McQuaid. Just 5 seconds after Waldman returned to the ice, Stohlecker was called for the second of four penalties. This one for tripping.

The Panthers weathered the second 5 on 3 power play. When Knisley stepped back on the ice, he headed for the high slot in his own end and intercepted a pass to start a dash toward the McQuaid goal. On the ensuing 1 on 1, Knisley when to his backhand as he cut in front of the net and beat Harris low to the blocker side at 3:22.

In the hope of turning around their fortunes Knights' coach Al Vyverberg substituted senior goalie Ben Krenzer for Harris. But, the goalie substitution did little to change the Knights fortune. At 4:58, junior Adam Reask was called for a check from behind. The Panthers connected on their second power play goal at 5:25, when a slap shot was deflected past Krenzer.

Despite the turn of events, the Knights kept working and earned their first goal at 7:43, when the Sanderson brothers swept into the Panther end on an odd man rush and Blake fed a puck across the goal mouth to Brett, who snapped into the weak side of the goal.

Taking a 22 to 6 shot advantage into the third period, the Knights remained confident that a turn around was possible. The play went back and forth with both sides having some quality shooting opportunities. At 5:59, Keil Kunzer fired a shot from the middle slot at Krenzer who made a good left side leg pad save. The rebound although going towards the corner was intercepted by Stohlecker, who immediately fed it to Waldman who scored past an outstretched Krenzer.

Never giving up, the Knights managed a second goal at 13:23, when Brett Sanderson passed to brother Blake, who beat from to his blocker side. After a McQuaid time out, the Knights pulled Krenzer in favor of an extra skater during a power play, which was the result of Knisley interference penalty. Despite good pressure by the Knights, Aaron Witzel cleared a shot in front the Pittsford goal and fed it to Zack Rudman, who fired toe puck between the Knights point men to score on the empty net. The Knights did convert on the power play thirty-four seconds later when junior Kyle DePriest banged in his first varsity goal. Assists went to Patrick Gerrie and James Sturnick. Panther netminder Aaron Frohm made 31 saves, while Krenzer and Harris combined for 19.


McQ and AQ Battle to Tie

The Aquinas Little Irish and the Mcquaid Jesuit Knights skated to a one-all tie before a packed house at Lake Shore Rink on January 19. The scoreless first period was well played by both sides and featured no quality scoring opportunities for either side.

The second period found the Knights repeatedly make visits to the penalty box. The Little Irish finally cashed in on one power play when, at 8:49, after an initial blocker side pad save by senior goalie Ian Harris, Aquinas forward Dan Schuler, picked up the rebound and backhanded it into the upper corner beyond an outstretched Harris.

The third period saw a determined Knights' squad quickly put Aquinas on the defensive. While on power play, junior forward Adam Reask tied the game 1:55 when he wacked a Sean Knightly rebound past Aquinas goalie Terry Shafer. The balance of the contest was very spirited, with both sides developing good scoring opportunities. The gold line of Knightly, Alex Pautler and Woody Hudson repeatedly put the Little Irish back on their heels. Hudson twice drove to the net and shot from the slot only to be stopped by Shafer.

The five minute overtime was action filled to the end. At the six second mark, Harris snagged a 10 foot wrist shot ticketed for the upper corner. Just moments later while Aquinas was on a 5 on 3 powerplay, Harris came up big again, when stopped Schuler on a tip-in attempt. The game went right down to the wire, when, with seconds left on the clock, senior Corey Flanigan snapped a shot from the slot, which Shafer turned aside.

With sophomore defenseman Andy Lang out for the balance of the season, the defensive quintet of seniors Corey Flanigan, Mitch Bailey, Joe Dugan, junior Mike Felice and sopomore Kelly Sloan worked extra hard and delivered many bone jarring checks and limited Aquinas scoring opportunities.

Knights Over B'ville

In a penalty riddled contest in which every imaginable permutation of the interference call was levied against both teams, the McQuaid Jesuit Knights bested the Baldwinsville Bees 1-0 at the Baldwinsville Community Ice Arena on January 5. Behind the steady netminding of senior Ben Krenzer, who made 24 saves, the third meeting of the season between the two teams was decided by a power play goal at 4:21 of the third period, when senior defenseman Mitch Bailey took a blue line pass from defensive partner Corey Flanigan and placed a screaming fifty-eight foot slapshot past Bees' goalie Nick Leader into the far glove side upper corner.

Junior forward Pat Gerrie, was injured in second period play, when he went into the corner in the offensive end. He sustained a concusion on a hard hit by a Baldwinsville defender. Junior defenseman Kyle DePriest took Gerrie's spot on the white line for the remainder of the game and provided valuable minutes on offense.

The forechecking of the Knights' penalty killing units which included Nick Parrilli, Dan Caufield, Alex Pautler, Bill Napoli and James Sturnick kept the Bees' potent offense at bay during their ten power play opportunities.

With the defense contributing the only goal of the game, it should also be noted that the other defensive pairings of Kelly Sloan, Andy Lane, Joe Dugan and Mike Filice contributed lots of offensive pressure by pumping in shots from the point and rushing the puck.

Ithaca Tops McQ

Although pulling senior goalie Ian Harris in favor of an extra skater, in an effort to gain a tie against the Little Red in first round action at the John Carron Classic, the Knights went down to defeat when Ithaca scored an empty net goal at 14:43 of the third period to beat McQuaid 3-1.

The Knights were scoreless until the nine minute mark of the third period, when a Sean Knightly goal cut Ithaca's lead to 2-1. Junior forward Adam Reask and senior defenseman Corey Flanigan both assisted. Harris made 28 saves for the Knights.