December 26, 2013 by Justin Penman and Eli Fisher Photos by Eli Fisher
Saratoga hockey dominated the Shaker/Colonie team in a 6-0 win last Friday night, followed by a 5-3 defeat of Rome Free Academy on Saturday. After a heated game versus Shenendehowa Wednesday that resulted in a tie the boys needed a win Friday. They lost Devin Coffey ’14 for a few games and weren’t ready to throw in the towel quite yet.
The boys had plenty of energy and came out very strong; Drew Patterson ’14 and JT Rafferty ’15 both had two goals to their name at the end of the night on Friday.
“We came out tonight as a big two point game in the league standings and we eventually came out and made some in game adjustments,” said Patterson. “It ended up being a good outcome.”
Patterson has stepped up a lot this season and he no longer remains just a large-role player in the functioning of the team as a whole. He now has developed his game some more and seems to be more of a playmaker himself, scoring five of the Streaks’ 44 goals so far this season and making eight assists. He has started to become a vital part of the team’s offense.
“I felt like I had a little more space and a little more time with the puck and just came out and felt good from the start,” Patterson said.
With two important wins it wasn’t just the offense that was doing a lot of work. Goalie Danny Hobbs ’16 and the Saratoga defense did a great job of containing Shaker/Colonie. Between the two games, the Streaks let in shots only in the first period Saturday.
“The defense was amazing today, amazing!” said Hobbs on Friday. “Blocked shots everywhere, and they work extremely hard for me. No shots in the third period so they really stepped up for me.” On average, Hobbs has let in just a single goal per game.
Saturday’s win was aided much by power plays (and penalty kills, for that matter) after the Blue Streaks lost in the first period 3-2.
“The kids have been working hard on (the power play) and it’s clicking on all cylinders right now,” coach Dave Torres said. “That’s where you win, a few power plays can win you games.”
On Friday, forwards Elliott Hungerford ’16 and Jake Fauler ’17 also had one goal each. Saratoga incurred no penalties while Shaker saw 13 penalty minutes.
On Saturday, Rafferty scored the two first period goals while Brendan Coffey ’16, Ian Frey ’15, and Jake Fauler ’17 had one each in the later periods. The Streaks had 7.5 penalty minutes from five different players.
The hockey team had allowed a few breakaways and still have room for improvement, but for the team this was a really great way to kick off vacation. Their next game will be this Friday at 6:45 p.m. against Pittsford, who beat last year’s state-champion Saratoga team 5-4, at the Weibel Ice Rink. After that, the team will round out the break with away games on Saturday and the following Friday, January 3.
Friday
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Saratogian story
Saturday
Box score
Saratogian story
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