Late second heroics lift Amherst to league victory

Junior Dan Hubbard scored with four seconds remaining in the game and freshman Sean Smith recorded 34 saves as the Amherst Tigers defeated Orchard Park, 3-2, Thursday night at the Amherst Pepsi Center.

After falling behind 1-0, the Tigers scored on the power play late in the first period. Senior David Moore scored his team leading sixth goal of the season when he banged home the rebound of Junior Al McQuiggan's slap shot. Junior Matt Allwes was also credited with an assist. Moore, a defenseman for the Tigers in 73 career games, played forward for the first time.

"My team needed a spark and at this time in the season we had nothing to lose," said Amherst coach Rich Crozier. "David has been our best offensive threat so we decided to try him on the first line with McQuiggan and Allwes and see what happened."

Moore ended up recording a goal and an assist for the Tigers. "Needless to say I was happy with the results," added Crozier.

After a scoreless second period the Tigers took the lead 26 seconds into the third. Again on the power play, Moore fired the puck across to Allwes. Allwes spotted McQuiggan on the backside of the net. He threw the pass across and McQuiggan batted it out of the air and into the net.

"That was a huge goal for our hockey team," added Crozier. "We talked in the locker room about having a sense of urgency, that this team was at the end of the road and we wanted to finish the season with no regrets. I challenged my team to find it in them to win the hockey game. To respond 24 seconds into the third was exactly what we needed."

The Tigers held on to the lead until Orchard Park tied the score with 2:10 remaining in the game. The Tigers who have battled through adversity all season long refused to give up and with less that 10 seconds remaining in the game found a way to win the game. McQuiggan blocked a shot from the Orchard Park defenseman. The puck went to Junior Zach Willett's stick, and Willett quickly found Hubbard all alone. Hubbard went in on the break away and let a hard snap shot go from the top of the circle. Hubbard's shot beat the goalie, giving the Tigers the league victory with only four seconds remaining in the game.

"Words really cannot describe the feelings that my team had when that puck went in," said Crozier. "This season has been very tough and we've battled over many hurdles. To gain our first league win like that was amazing. I am extremely happy for my seniors who deserve to end their careers on this high note. This was a huge win for our entire program top to bottom."

Smith played exceptionally well in net for the Tigers giving them the chance to win the game in the late stages.

On Saturday the Tigers took on Lancaster, one of the top teams from the large school division. After falling behind 1-0, senior Kevin Kelly got the Tigers on the board. Kelly walked in from the point and snapped a wrist shot into the net. Allwes and Moore were both credited with assists.

The Tigers took a 2-1 lead with 3:31 remaining in the second, when Moore scored his team leading seventh of the season. Senior Thom Bergman and McQuiggan assisted. The Tigers did everything they could to hold on but simply ran out gas in the late stages of the third.

Lancaster's empty net goal late in the final period sealed the game 5-2.

"This wasn't a 5-2 hockey game," said Crozier. "We had a very good chance of winning this game. I know that we put a scare into Lancaster. We dominated them for the better half of the second period. One bounce our way and this could have been a game the entire league would have been talking about."

Smith played well for the Tigers, recording 21 saves.

The Tigers took on Williamsville North on Tuesday night in the opening round of the Section Western New York Varsity Hockey Federation playoffs. Results were unavailable before The Bee went to press.