North hockey blanks Timon, Amherst; East's defense, penalty killing plays tough
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Williamsville North's hockey team returned to championship form with shutout wins last week.

The defending Division I New York State champion blanked Bishop Timon-St. Jude, 3-0, on the Amherst Pepsi Center Feature Rink last Thursday and Amherst, 8-0, on the Olympic Rink on Saturday.

The Spartans play against Timon was very encouraging for North coach Bob Rosen.

"We played like we did in the third period of the Williamsville East game (won 2-1) the entire game," he said. "I was really happy with our effort. We were doing all of the little things well."

Nick Angelo scored at 13:37 of the second from Justin Kochan and Nick Fronczak. Six minutes into the third, Ryan Geary tallied from linemate Justin Kochan. Pat Mulvihill added an empty-net goal with 55 seconds remaining.

Branden Komm made 23 saves for the shutout. North peppered Timon with 33 shots on goal.

The Spartans outshot Amherst, 44-14, scored five times in the first, and added another three goals in the second in a game that was over early.

Andrew Saint got things rolling for the Spartans from John Walter and Jamie VonHendy. Fronczak made it 2-0 from Mulvihill and Josh Little at 10:37. A Mark Smith power-play goal (Tom Goehrig, Saint) and even strength tallies by Grant Rickan (Mulvihill) and Walter (Saint) rounded out the first period scoring.

Kyle Agius added two goals in the second from Little and Goehrig. Little followed with a goal from Mulvihill and Goehrig. Taylor Gahagen recorded the shutout.

North (18-2-2, 10-2-2) plays Williamsville South at 7 p.m. Thursday on the Feature Rink and Kenmore West at 3:30 p.m. Friday on the Pepsi Center's NHL No. 2 rink.

Williamsville East

If there's one thing the Flames do well is play defense. Williamsville East held Batavia to 14 shots on Friday and Lancaster to 19 shots on Saturday and won both games at the Amherst Pepsi Center.

Senior defenders Andrew Ross, Mike Terryberry and Dan Tyx as well as junior Kyle Murray and sophomore Max Fogel held Batavia to three shots in the third period.

East coach Mike Torrillo lauded the penalty killing units of Chris Fabozzi and Spencer Barrett, Jon Toole and Eric Charlton, Colin Lucey and Mike DeStefano and Matt Kweller for killing off seven penalties in the second period of each game.

Barrett scored the only goal against Batavia from Fabozzi short-handed at 2:28 of the second period.

Goalie Steve Bukholt recorded the win. East had 25 shots on net.

The Flames scored twice early in the first to beat Lancaster. DeStefano one-timed in a power play goal from Charlton at 13:22 of the first period. Kyle Smith followed with a similar goal less than two minutes later from Fabozzi.

Anthony Clair added an empty net goal from Barrett with one second remaining.

Dave Hoddick scored Lancaster's only goal from Ryan Rogalski in the third.

Jay Hall made 18 saves for the win. East had 23 shots on net.

"We played a strong defensive game up front and did not give them many chances," said Torrillo. "And our goalie made the saves when they had to."

East (13-5-3, 9-3-2) faces St. Joe's at 7 p.m. Thursday on and Kenmore West at 9 p.m. Saturday. Both games are on the Olympic Rink.

"These are two of the best (Division I) teams in the league so we'll see where we're at," Torrillo said. "Our defense has been playing well. Hopefully, we'll score more goals and get some bounces our way."

Williamsville South

The Billies poured on its offensive chances in the first period against Kenmore West last Saturday on the Amherst Pepsi Center Feature Rink but came up scoreless.

The Blue Devils won 2-0.

South outshot Ken West, 8-6, in the first period. Billies coach Sean Green felt his team had puck possession for most of the period.

"I thought we came out with a real strong effort," said Green. "Unfortunately, we couldn't put any chances in."

South was snakebitten with penalties the rest of the game. The Billies had seven minor penalties in the second and another five in the third.

South goalie Thomas Tysowsky returned to form, recording 30 saves. He made 13 in the second period and 11 in the third.

South only had 15 shots total.

Nick Panepinto scored both of Kenmore West's goals. His first came from Anthony Farah and Kyle Whipple with 4:49 remaining in the first period. His second came on the power play from Mike Vasquez and Robert Whelan with 4:39 left in the second.

South (2-10-1) plays Williamsville North at 7 p.m. Thursday on the Feature Rink and St. Francis at 1 p.m. Saturday on the Feature Rink.

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com