North, St. Joe's hold each other scoreless
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Bob Rosen has been a part of many great moments as coach of the Williamsville North hockey team but a new wrinkle was added last week against one of the Western New York Varsity Hockey Federation's best.

North (11-3-1, 7-1-1) and St. Joe's (9-1-1, 6-1-1) skated to a 0-0 tie last Thursday night on the Amherst Pepsi Center Feature Rink.

"It's surprising," said Rosen.

The shots were almost dead even with St. Joe's gaining a one-shot advantage, 29-28. Each team had 11 shots in the first period. St. Joe's outshot North in the second, 9-5. Many of St. Joe's shots came while a North player sat in the penalty box (Spartans took three penalties close together). The Spartans outshot the Marauders, 12-9, in the third period.

Rosen said his senior goalkeeper Branden Komm came up big late in the third period, making a nice glove save on a shot from the slot.

"Brandon did a good job of putting rebounds in the corner," said Rosen. "He saw the puck well the whole night."

Rosen also lauded the play of senior Jake Newton, a converted forward who was moved back to defense, and senior Kyle Agius, who was moved from defense to forward. Sophomore James Nowicki played defense and forward.

Spartan senior forward Nick Angelo had a great scoring chance late in the game on a drop pass from Steve Pizzuto but Maruader goalie Mark Goulding made a good save, Rosen said.

Going into the game, Rosen said he wanted his team to play a tight defensive style.

"We tried to wait for our opportunities," said Rosen. "It was tough not having the last (line) change because they were the home team. I thought our guys did a great job of knowing who was on the ice to make changes on the fly. I was proud of the way they played mentally."

In retrospective, Rosen said he should have had his team put a little more pressure on St. Joe's defense.

"I was happy with how our team speed matched up with them. I just wish we would have converted on our opportunities," said Rosen.

The North-St. Joe's rematch is next Thursday at 7 p.m. on the Feature Rink. Before that game, the Spartans have to play Lancaster at 7 p.m. this Thursday on the Feature Rink and Orchard Park at noon on Monday on the Olympic Rink.