Bassett's goals spark Squirt White Sabres to tie, win

James Bassett's five goal weekend helped the White Sabres earn a tie and a win in the Squirt Division Friendship Tournament between Canadian and American teams this weekend at the Amherst Pepsi Center.

In a 2-2 with Tamarack Lumber on Saturday, Bassett opened the scoring midway through the first period on a pretty three-way play with Dan Dirrigl and Jacob DiStasio assisting. Jim Roberto increased the lead to 2-0 midway through the third period when he tipped a Bassett shot past goaltender Mitchell Payne. DiStasio picked up his second assist of the game on the play.

Tamarack then scored two goals within 40 seconds late in the period to tie it up. Bradley Baker scored the first on a breakaway after beating goaltender Alex Jackson. Alexander Slack tied it at 2-2 on a pass from Santine Toniqussi.

In a 6-2 White Sabre win over Adapt on Sunday, Jonathon Utech opened the scoring with Dirrigl and Joe Phillips picking up assists.

Bassett then took the game over with four consecutive goals. On his first goal, he converted on passes from Dan Carosi and Alley Lillis. The second goal was highlighted by a stop from Jackson who passed it to DiStasio who quickly hit Bassett on a breakaway pass. Bassett would beat goaltender David Houston on the glove side. Bassett completed a natural hat trick on passes from Samantha Johnson and Carosi. Bassett netted goal number four with Ethan Evenson and Lillis recording assists.

Roberto completed the White Sabres' scoring on passes from Utech and Justin LaMonto.

Adapt ruined Jackson's shutout bid on late goals by Matt LeBlanc and Ned De Paul.

Jamey Irish Ryan was a stalwart on defense throughout the tournament. Also contributing to the White Sabres success were George Korn and Chris Comtois.

Frome's game-tying goal ruins

White Sabres net brilliance Henry Frome's tying goal with 33 seconds left spoiled a spectacular goaltending display by Alex Jackson as the White Sabres and Black Sabres battled to a 2-2 tie in an exciting Squirt Division Amherst Hockey Association game on Jan. 28.

The White Sabres scored first when Jim Roberto banged home the rebound of a James Bassett shot at the three-minute mark. Three minutes later, the Black Sabres evened the score when Francisco McGowan tied the game on a pass from Frome. With eight seconds left in the first period, Dan Dirrigl scored on a rebound of a Bassett shot to put the White Sabres up by one.

The second period was highlighted by some spectacular end to end rushes by players from both teams only to be stop by goaltenders Jackson and Ryan Ruggeriero. Providing the offense for the Black Sabres were Tom Roesch, Josh Wrest, David Krasinski, Scott Stone and Emma Ruggeriero. The White Sabres countered with some fine play by Jamey Iris-Ryan, Samantha Johnson, Ethan Evenson, and Dan Carosi.

The Black Sabres dominated the third period only to be foiled time after time by Jackson until Frome's tying goal. Providing some offense for the White Sabres in the period were Jacob DiStasio, George Korn, Alley Lillis, Chris Comtois and Justin LaMonto. The Black Sabres received some fine play from Tyler Stanfield, Ryan Ostrovski, Joe Bennett, Alex Stone, Han Ryu, and Jordan Scinta.