Amherst Mite Minor 'AAA' rocks Rochester, Monroe

The Amherst Mite Minor "AAA" team traveled to ESL Arena on Jan. 27 to face a Rochester Americans team specially reinforced to face the challenge Amherst posed. Amherst won 4-1.

In less than three minutes of first period play, Amherst took a 2-0 lead.

Colton McKenna claimed Amherst's first goal after he stole the puck from a Rochester defender and carried it in for an impressive backhanded goal. Twenty four seconds later, Nate Berke passed to Camden Lock who lifted a shot that just flew over the Rochester netminder.

Although Rochester's reinforcement Nick Marcello tried to attack the Amherst net with a high shot, Amherst goalie Caleb Hannon defended the net with a skillful glove save. With 3:34 remaining in the first period, Carson Briere shot from the slot to earn an unassisted goal and give Amherst a 3-0 lead at the end of the first period.

Halfway through the second period, Quinn Doyle netted Rochester's lone goal of the game while on a power play. Amherst's Matt Slick was solid on defense as he proved to be a nemesis to Rochester's Alex Mapstone.

In the third period, Blake Flanders beat the Rochester goalie top shelf to earn a short-handed goal for Amherst. Adam Batz assisted Flanders on the short-handed goal and defenseman Jordan Martin and Ryan Sidorski helped kill the penalty.

Later in the game, Amherst defenseman Devin Kasperek got the job done as he busted up a scoring attempt by Mapstone to keep the score 4-1 in Amherst's favor.

Amherst 6, Rochester 6

The teams traveled to the Skating Institute of Rochester for their afternoon battle on Jan. 27.

Amherst's Adam Batz made a strong debut between the pipes, which provided Amherst's regular netminder Caleb Hannon the opportunity to school Rochester's goalie.

Early in the first period, Amherst's Frankie Sciolino fired a hard shot at the Rochester net, but was denied by goalie Conner Pulli. However, the relentless Sciolino was able to penetrate the net a few minutes later with a nice backhanded goal, assisted by defenseman Matt Slick.

The period ended with Rochester having a 3-1 lead after the team was able to score three quick unanswered goals in the last few minutes of the period.

As the second period started, Rochester may have thought they got the better of their opponent, but Amherst demonstrated its competitive spirit as the team worked together to combat the first period sting inflicted by Rochester.

Amherst's Blake Flanders passed the puck to an eager Carson Briere who scored on a breakaway goal to demonstrate that even short-handed, Amherst is loaded with sting of its own. A few minutes later, Briere easily skated around two Rochester defenders to take the shot that would earn him his second short-handed goal of the game.

Amherst defenders Mark Gilbert, Devin Kasperek, Jordan Martin, Ryan Sidorski, and Slick fought hard to keep Rochester's shooters at a distance throughout the game. Although Rochester earned a second period goal, defenseman Jordan Martin was able to quash an attempted scramble to the net by Rochester's Nick Smith.

Moments later, Jack Kelly shot from the faceoff to earn Amherst's fourth goal and end the second period tied 4-4.

The bar was raised for both teams in the third period, as each wanted to add a tally to the win column. Amherst's Colton McKenna fired a shot to the Rochester net, but Pulli was able to make the glove save.

Rochester's Alex Mapstone scored on a power play opportunity and followed it up less than three minutes later to earn his hat trick and a 6-4 lead for Rochester with only five minutes left in the game.

Amherst, no stranger to conquering obstacles, fought hard to battle back in the contest. Amherst stepped up the pressure on the Rochester net with crossbar hitting shots by McKenna and Briere.

With 3:40 remaining, Briere lifted the puck into the Rochester net after an end-to-end breakaway to earn himself a hat trick and bring Amherst within one goal. With only 2:23 remaining on the clock, Rochester's Pulli came out of the net to challenge McKenna. McKenna beat him to tie the game at 6-6.

Amherst 3, Monroe 2

Amherst returned to the Skating Institute of Rochester on Feb. 4 to take on the Monroe County Eagles.

Only two minutes into play, Amherst's Frankie Sciolino, Ryan Sidorski, and Jordan Martin rose to the challenge as they were called upon to defeat a two-man advantage. Defenseman Devin Kasperek demonstrated his two-way play, as he was able to rush the puck deep into the Monroe zone.

Amherst got on the board first, thanks to Adam Batz who fired a hard shot into the Monroe net. Less than two minutes later, Sidorski fired the puck up the ice to a waiting Carson Briere, who made a sharp pass to Blake Flanders. Flanders claimed Amherst's second goal off a skillful backhand shot. With less than 30 seconds remaining in the first period, Amherst goalie Caleb Hannon crushed Monroe's hopes of earning a point before the end of the first by making a timely save.

Although no goals were scored in the second period, Amherst dominated play. Matt Slick played well not only on defense, but also made a few inspired offensive plays in the period. With 2:03 remaining in the period, Briere executed a sharp pass to Sciolino who was positioned in front of Monroe's net for a shot that was ultimately denied. Moments later, Flanders was cruising for a second goal as he took a shot on net that fell just short of beating the buzzer.

Monroe capitalized on yet another power play opportunity as Conner Adami and Hunter Richardson went on a two-man rush to earn Monroe's first goal of the game. However, less than two minutes later, Briere took a pass from the boards and stick-handled through traffic to beat the Monroe goalie and give Amherst its third goal. Monroe's final goal of the game came at the last second of its second power play opportunity in the third period.

The goaltending of Caleb Hannon and the exceptionally strong play of the Amherst defensive squad of Mark Gilbert, Kasperek, Martin, Sidorski and Slick were keys to Amherst's victory.