Gray Sabres beat White on Rink No. 2

The Squirt Gray Sabres skated to the locker room with a hard-earned 5-3 New Year's Eve win over the White Sabres on Rink 2 of the Amherst Pepsi Center.

The Gray Sabres jumped on the White Sabres early. Just 23 seconds in, Joe Arias fed a crisp pass to Jack Cooper who head-manned the puck to Angelo Derossi. Angelo beat White Sabres goalie Alex Jackson high to his glove side and the Gray Sabres had a lead.

The White Sabres roared back. Ethan Evenson fed James Basset a perfect breakaway pass and beat Gray Sabre goalie Joe Burke low. About a minute later, Austin Maciok started the Gray Sabres' rush at his own blue line, carried it into the White Sabres' zone and found Gabe Jewula with a crisp pass. Jewula fed JB Beck in the high slot where he roofed the puck over Jackson's shoulder.

As the period was ending, the Gray Sabres scored on a power play. Jewula and Beck once again worked their magic, this time finding Peter Gossels in the high slot where he hammered the puck through the five-hole.

The second period featured fantastic goal play and outstanding defensive efforts. Jonathon Utech began pressuring the Gray Sabre defensemen and only the puck stopping prowess of Burke prevented the White Sabres from taking the lead. Marc Giangreco and Connor Koester stopped rush after rush from the White Sabre team.

The White Sabres' defense was also active. Jamey Irish-Ryan, Joseph Phillips, Daniel Dirrigl, and Samantha Johnson played with intensity and intelligence. At 10:13, while short-handed, James Basset capitalized on a Gray Sabres mistake to score an unassisted goal. That goal seemed to awaken the Gray Sabres as Emma Hubert outworked the White Sabres in front of their goal to score with assists to Antonio Zendano and Brian Kowalski.

Less than a minute later, Katelyn Koester repeated the feat, by sliding a rebound of an Angelo Derossi shot behind the White Sabres goalie. Jack Cooper drew an assist on that goal. The second period ended with the Gray Sabres nursing a 5-2 lead.

The third period featured strong offensive play by George Korn, Jim Roberto, Dan Carosi, Chris Comtois, Alley Lillis, and Jacob DiStasio.

The Gray Sabres defense limited the scoring opportunities and it wasn't until Dan Dirrigl, skated in from his defensive position to score unassisted that the White Sabres could solve Gray Sabres goalie Joe Burke. This led to a furious finish.