Cryer with 16 saves in win for Batavia
Photo courtesy of Scott G Photography
| BataviasBest.org
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
The Batavia Hockey team continued it’s winning ways on Tuesday night, as they were able to defeat a quality Notre Dame team 4-2 in the second of three regular season meetings between the two teams. Evening the season series at one game a piece, Batavia is now on an impressive four-game winning streak and have found themselves tied with the Irish for third place in the Division III Standings.
Photo courtesy of Scott G Photography
Tuesday’s game began with Notre Dame taking an immediate 1-0 lead just 12 seconds into the game, as Reid Rademacker was able to light the lamp for the Irish off an assist from Larry Infantino. With the early goal, it seemed as if another long day was in store for Batavia as was the case during the December matchup, but instead the Devils got it together rather quickly and soon found themselves right back in contention.
Breaking through for his first of two goals just two minutes after ND grabbed the early-lead, Aaron Feary found an opening to the right of Irish goaltender Ethan Conrad – who was playing the pass – and was able to sneak it in on the short side unassisted. The goal tied the score for the Devils at one-all, and just minutes later it was Feary who struck again.
On assists from Kayleigh Tourt and Cameron Ells, Feary found the back of the net for the second time in order to give Batavia a 2-1 lead which they wouldn’t relinquish. Although the Irish did have a chance to tie the score heading into the second on a power play opportunity, they were unable to convert on the man-advantage and the two sides went into the break with Batavia ahead by one.
During the second period at the 9:30 mark, Ells added to his assist of Feary’s second goal with a shorthanded goal of his own in order to increase the Devils’ lead to 3-1. The goal came from the right side and just beat Conrad who simply wasn’t able to get his body in front of the puck in time. Following the Ells’ snipe (assisted by Jake Kasmarek), the remainder of the period went scoreless and the Devils and Irish left the ice for their respective locker rooms.
As the third began, neither side was able to mount much of an offensive push throughout the first fourteen minutes of the period. During the final minute, however,
Photo courtesy of Scott G Photography
after Notre Dame chose to pull their goaltender, the Devils found the back of the net once again as Bryce Polito put the dagger in the hearts of the Irish with an empty-netter with 12 seconds left on the clock. The goal improved the Batavia lead to 4-1, and following a sneaky goal from ND’s Devin Grimshaw with 8 seconds remaining, the Devils won the game 4-2.
Earning the victory between the pipes for Batavia (4-4-1) was James Cryer, who made 16 saves in order to improve his personal record to 2-2-1. Conrad recorded 27 saves for ND and drops to 4-6 on the season.
With the victory Batavia now has a bit of momentum at what may be just the right time.
With nine games to go, the Devils will look to make a run at sole-possession of third place which they currently share with the Irish (a few games up on loss side). As far as ND is concerned, after playing some quality hockey in late-December, they have now lost three straight games and will look to get it together going into the stretch run.
What truly impressed me on Tuesday night, and I noted it in my updates on Twitter (@BataviasBest), was the Ice Devils’ physicality and ability to knock the Irish off several puck along the boards and inside their own blue line which greatly improved their scoring chances. Batavia simply looked as if they were the bigger, stronger team which is something that Notre Dame will likely need to counter in their next matchup.
“I thought Batavia dominated us physically tonight,” said ND head coach Marc Staley, who seemed to agree with my assessment. “Along the wall especially, they were much stronger than we were on loose pucks, they dominated us on face-offs which was a big deal, and their penalty killing was excellent. No excuses, they played harder than we did.”
Photo courtesy of Scott G Photography
Adding to his sentiment’s about the Devils’ physicality on Tuesday, Staley also mentioned how the opponents’ ability to receive quality contributions from their top players was extremely important.
“Their big players played big,” he began. “Freshman Cameron Ells played a great game for them, Bryce Polito played great, Haile played great on defense, D’Alba played great… when their top players play hard they are a tough team to beat. Theirs did and were able to find success, and ours were not able to find the net. It’s a tremendous game of momentum and in the first game we possessed a lot of that momentum. But tonight, they took a lot of that from us and used it throughout the game. Credit goes to them, they won this game tonight for sure.”
Photo courtesy of Scott G Photography
Although the loss must be disappointing for the Irish and company (4-8), all is not lost in terms of their place within the Division. If they can find a way to get things together over the course of the next few games leading into their final matchup with Batavia to end the season, ND will have a chance to overcome the Devils in the standings.
All in all, it was a fantastic game on Tuesday night and I look forward to more exciting action when these two teams wrap-up the season on February 14th.
Other articles you may like:
Photos from Batavia vs Notre Dame Hockey game courtesy of Scott G Photography
