Cryer plays lights out between the pipes for Batavia
Photo courtesy of Scott G Phortography
| BataviasBest.org
Sunday, February 15, 2015
Pittsburgh Penguins Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux once said, “Everyday is a great day for hockey.” As two of our local teams took to the ice for the third of three regular seas0n matchups, Saturday was no exception.
In what was perhaps the most intense hockey game I have watched all season long, Batavia was able to outlast crosstown rival Notre Dame on Saturday afternoon in order to take the season series from the Irish 2-1. Using a huge night from Senior goaltender James Cryer, along with sound play from their various lines of defense, the Ice Devils proved their worth against a strong ND team as each team heads into Sectionals playing quality hockey.
Photo courtesy of Scott G Photography
Yesterday’s rubber match began with Notre Dame controlling the puck for much of the first few minutes of the game, however, after settling in after the immediate rush from the Irish Batavia’s Josh Hylkema was able to find room on the break and light the lamp with 11:30 to go in the first period. The sweet wrister gave the Devils the early 1-0 lead and the arena was already up for grabs just minutes into the game.
Following the early tally from Hylkema, however, Notre Dame would not give in.
Photo courtesy of Scott G Photography
Using physical play in the neutral zone and along the boards, the Irish were really able to do a nice job of putting their stamp on the game despite the immediate deficit, and with 2:30 to go in the first period they received their first power play chance. A fantastic save from Batavia’s Cryer began the man-advantage, but Notre Dame remained aggressive and got another chance off a face-off just seconds later.
Winning the draw, the Irish got the puck in front of the net to forward Larry Infantino, who was able to find good position near Cryer and lift it over his mask in order to tie the game. Up until the Irish broke through for the equalizer, Cryer had been going low on every shot ND threw at him, and Infantino did a fantastic job adjusting and providing his team with a spark.
After the final few minutes ticked off the clock in the first frame, the score would remain 1-1 as the two sides headed to the short break.
Coming out of the brief timeout each team would play even hockey for the next several minutes. The Irish remained aggressive while the Devils continued to limit their mistakes, and as time ticked down under a minute to go in the second period, Notre Dame had entered the Batavia zone with the puck looking to take the lead.
However, despite beginning with decent scoring chance, a broken play ended their opportunity and Batavia’s Bryce Polito was able to corral the puck and approached the net hoping to break through for his 15th goal of the season – and the lead.
With 14.6 seconds remaining Polito ripped a shot at ND’s Ethan Conrad and found the back of the net for the go-ahead goal – which would eventually turn out to be the game-winner. The place exploded after the puck barely beat Conrad and with just a short time to go until the final intermission, the Irish would allow the final seconds to run off and looked to the third period – where they hoped to finally be able to solve James Cryer.
Photo courtesy of Scott G Photography
Unfortunately for ND and the Irish faithful, however, Cryer continued to swallow up everything that was thrown at him and allowed his team to maintain the lead with under two minutes to go in regulation. With 1:17 left on the clock, the Irish decided to pull Conrad and go with an extra attacker, as they were trying everything they could to sneak one by the Batavia Senior goaltender – who seemed determined to preserve the victory for the Devils on Senior Night.
The Irish were unable to do anything with the extra man initially, and with :30 seconds remaining on the clock and frustrations likely mounting for either side, a small fight broke out in front of Cryer which led to an extended stoppage in play. However, after the referees were able to sort things out, Notre Dame would be set to make one more push at tying the game.
As had been the case all day, though, Cryer continued to stone the Irish and after the final seconds ticked off the clock Batavia began to celebrate their 2-1 victory.
Photo courtesy of Scott G Photography
“It was a great team win,” said Cryer following the contest. “We showed great determination towards the end to ensure our victory.”
As far as his individual performance was concerned, prior to the game Cryer knew he would be called upon to play well if his team hoped to walk away a winner.
“I knew before the game that I had to play well,” he began. “But I give credit to my defense for not letting them have many more quality chances than they did.”
One of those defenseman, Senior Marc Kurek, was also incredibly proud of how his team came together against their rival.
“We knew we were going to have to come out flying today,” he said. “And fortunately we did. It was a great way to end my last home game, and a great way to end the regular season. We need to take this win and carry it into Sectionals.”
In addition to their defensive end, Batavia’s forwards also played admirably well on Sunday. Bryce Polito, who put home the game-winner, spoke about the quality of the game and how his team did just enough to win.
“Great effort from both teams,” he said. “We definitely deserved the win and worked hard for it. Also a great victory for the Seniors to end their career on.”
The Devils’ Sam Haile, who also played a solid game yesterday, echoed his teammates’ sentiments.
“We played hard the entire game I thought,” he said. “We won the battles we needed to which was big. Good to get this W going into Sectionals.”
Batavia’s head coach was equally proud of his team, and commented on how special this game continues to be for the parents and students of both sides.
“I thought it was a great game for the fans,” Paul Pedersen began. “Our guys played hard and battled to the end. Notre Dame was all over James the last couple minutes trying to tie it, but we held on and he made some big saves.”
Photo courtesy of Scott G Photography
On the other side, Notre Dame’s head coach Marc Staley agreed with Pedersen on what this matchup means for the fans.
“That game is the best three dollars you can spend and it’s always an exciting game no matter what,” he said. “We wish Batavia good luck as they enter the Sectionals and we are looking forward to having another shot at Brockport next Saturday.”
Staley’s players seemed equally disappointed, but also ready to roll for Sectionals.
“It was an even game,” said Senior Kris Bank. “It just didn’t go our way.”
Adding to his teammate’s comments, Spencer Misiak looked ahead to the postseason.
“It’s a tough loss but we can’t focus on it too long with Sectionals coming up,” he said.
Sophomore Ryan Webster kept things fairly brief to round out the comments from the Irish.
“We never buried our chances,” he said.
Photo courtesy of Scott G Photography
All in all, it was a fantastic hockey game on Saturday afternoon and I truly wish we had more matchups such as these on the horizon. However, with the Section V Hockey Tournament coming up next week, added excitement is sure to hit the ice in no time, and with each team playing fairly well going into their first round game, I can’t wait for things to get going.
STATS UPDATE:
Assists
Feary (BAT) – 1 assist
Rademacker (ND) – 1 assist
Antinore (ND) – 1 assist
Saves
Cryer (BAT) – 21 saves
Conrad (ND) – 13 saves
(Link to full photo album courtesy of Scott G Photography)
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