Hockey
North wins Shenendehowa Winter Classic again
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

For the fourth straight year, Williamsville North hockey has won the Shenendehowa Winter Classic.

The Spartans (6-0) defeated Shenendehowa, 5-1, on Saturday and LaSalle Institute, 2-1, in the finals on Sunday. The tournament was held in Albany.

Tournament MVP Nick Angelo scored the game-winning goal versus LaSalle Institute from all-tournament selection Ryan Geary and Matt Austin at 9:31 of the third period.

“Matt picked up the puck in our own zone, made a great move to beat a couple of their players and hit Ryan Geary breaking down the wing,” said North coach Bob Rosen. “Ryan had a nice shot, their goalie made the save and Nick tapped in the rebound.”

Michael Walsh scored to put LaSalle Institute up 1-0 four minutes into the first period. Geary tied it up four minutes later from Angelo.

Taylor Gahagen made 26 saves, including two real big stops on a penalty kill with 3½ minutes remaining and a butterfly pad save near the end of the game.

North had 41 shots on net.

Pat Mulvihill returned from a back injury to record two goals and an assist against Shenendehowa. His first goal came from Cam Sroda with three minutes left in the first period; his second came from Mark Smith with 3:41 remaining. He assisted with Geary on a Justin Kochan first period power-play goal.

Andrew Saint registered his first goal of the season on a great end to end play. Jamie VonHendy had the assist. Tom Goehrig also scored from Josh Little on the power play.

Bryan Hunter was the only Shenendehowa player who beat Komm, who finished with 30 saves. North had 32 shots.

Rosen said the tournament is always a good experience and brings the team together.

“On the bus ride home, we had a good talk about learning experiences,” he said. “One lesson we talked about was that you can’t take any one lightly. We watched Clarkston North play LaSalle before we played Shenendehowa and they won 7-1. Our kids sat in the stands and thought they were going to kill this team. But LaSalle had all of the breaks going against them in that game.” Prior to the tournament, North defeated Lancaster, 3-1, Thursday on the Amherst Pepsi Center’s Olympic Rink.

Geary scored twice for North. His first came from Little and Kochan at 12:23 of the second. His second was with 1:45 remaining in the third from Jake Newton and Angelo. Conover also scored for the Spartans on a nice passing play from Angelo and Goehrig.

Jeff Sinicki scored for Lancaster on a North giveaway.

Komm picked up the win in net, making 25 saves. North had 32 shots.

North plays defending Section VI Western New York Varsity Hockey Federation champions Kenmore West at 7 p.m. Thursday on the Feature Rink.

“We are certainly going into the game as the underdog,” said Rosen. “They have one real good line (Scott Moser, Nick Panepinto and Mike Vasquez) and hopefully, we can shut them down.”

North then plays Section V’s Penfield at 9 p.m. Friday and Section VII’s Seton Catholic at 3 p.m. Saturday as part of the Williamsville South Booster Club Tournament. Both games will be held on the Feature Rink.

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com