December 28, 2013 Story and photos by Eli Fisher
Saratoga’s varsity ice hockey team suffered a 3-0 loss to Pittsford on Friday, by a larger margin than last year’s state-champion team, who lost to Pittsford 5-4. However, they did better Saturday with a 3-2 win against Williamsville North.
The Blue Streaks’ defense was hit-or-miss. While they made some good saves earlier in the game, particularly by goalie Danny Hobbs ’16, the lackluster defense in the third period allowed two of Pittsford’s three goals. The offensive end wasn’t much better, as the Streaks lagged in shots on goal the whole game.
“(It was a) tough loss to a good team, we didn’t bring it tonight and they did so they came out on top,” said Hobbs. “We just have to stay positive and come back strong tomorrow.”
“There was a lack of effort and we just didn’t have the intensity and desire to get things done today,” Coach Dave Torres told Saratoga Wire. The Blue Streaks failed to score during their three power plays, two of which came in the second period. The Pittsford team was only on power play for a minute and a half in the second period, when Brendan Coffey ’16 was penalized for interference.
Saratoga’s woes were caused in part by the absence of several relatively important players.
“It’s tough when were already short handed a couple guys to lose a couple more,” said forward Drew Patterson ’16.
Torres elaborated on the injuries. “We’ve got some illness in the locker room right now. Injury takes a toll on a team. Last year we were lucky enough to not have any. This year we have a kid with a possible broken arm, another kid with a broken bone on his hand, and another boy out with an injured shoulder.” Matt Klingbeil was confirmed to have a broken arm Saturday.
The Blue Streaks did in fact come back strong, sliding past Williamsville North 3-2 at Clifton Park Ice Arena the next morning. Notably, Zach Jones was in goal instead of Hobbs for this game, and made an impressive 27 saves (93% of shots on goal). JT Rafferty ’15, Josh Dagle ’16, and Zach Guzi ’15 scored in this game.
In Friday’s game, Connor Haims ’17 scored twice and Andrew Scuncio ’14 once for Pittsford.
“Ultimately there’s no excuse for the effort we put together tonight,” said Patterson on Friday. “It’s gut check time for this team, we should learn a lot in the next few weeks about our team character. Mainly, we need to put this one behind us and move forward as a team. We still have plenty of season left.”
Saratoga will play its last game of the break next Friday, January 3, against a combined Glens Falls/Hudson Falls/South Glens Falls team at the Glens Falls Civic Center at 7:40 p.m.
Friday
Box score (with Pittsford stats)
Box score (with Saratoga stats)
Saratoga Wire story
Saturday
Box score
Excellent article and pictures