Unionville's Payton Wine battles Eric Carreras for the puck.
Indians fall to Henderson, hurt by short-handed goals
By Dave Conard, Sports Editor, UnionvilleTimes.com
ASTON — Special teams are a big part of any ice hockey game but Monday night defending Ches-Mont champion West Chester Henderson took that to a new level.
The Warriors posted two short-handed goals, complimenting a 2-3 night on the power play, en route to a 9-4 win over Unionville for their third straight win.
“Last season we got off to such a great start, but lost some of the momentum later on” said head
coach Jon Bernard. “Our goal this year is to be peaking at the right time and have things clicking when the Flyers Cup starts. We are so lucky to have three lines that all contribute and our team speed gives us such an edge when you face a team with one or two player to stop.”
Henderson’s Adam Robson (2 goals, 5 assists) got things started on a seven-point night for the junior forward, by scoring his seventh goal of the season three minutes into the tilt.
For the Indians, whose first six weeks of the season have been an adventure to put it mildly, head coach Bill Hammond saw glimpses Monday night of his young squad heading in the right direction.
“I knew we would take our lumps early in the season,” said Hammond. “We basically moved an entire JV team up into a varsity league. They have been working their butts off in practice and I am starting to see some very good things on the ice come game time. They are still making “young mistakes”
but they are really starting to get it, we won the third period tonight which is a start.”
Indians blue liner Andrew Knight lit the lamp three times Monday night
Unionville junior Andrew Knight recorded his first hat trick
of the season as he accounted three of the four Indians tallies with senior
captain Kevin LaDow posting a third period goal as Unionville out scored the
Warriors 2-1 in the last 18 minutes of game time.
The Warriors (4-2-0 league, 4-4 overall) out shot the Indians 34-16 with sophomore Eric Carreras (3 goals, 4 assists) snagging a hat trick as well, while the hosts built an 8-2 after the second period.
The Indians level of play in their own end, which has improved by leaps and bounds in the five games, can be attributed to the communication between sophomore net minder Josh Sedar and his blue liners.
“It has gotten so much better as the season has gotten going,” said Sedar. “In the beginning of the year, we had some issues with screening and misplaying the puck in front of the net. My guys back here have been doing such a great job, I have so much fun playing in goal for this team.
I can’t wait to see what we can do as the season goes on.”
“We have been working to get better in our end,” said defensemen and senior captain Connor Wilm. “Last year was an unbelievable ride and a lot of the young guys didn’t get into games much because we had so many seniors, but these guys have really stepped up to the challenge. Every game we
get better and tonight we won the third period, which is our focus right now, win a period then two and before you know the wins will come.”
Unionville (0-5-0 league, 0-6-0 overall) was 0-for-6 on the power play on the night but that result was not indicative of the effort; as they generated four prime scoring chances and seven shots with the man advantage.
“I faced a ton of shots tonight, but I love that,” added Sedar. “We were used to winning as a team at the JV level and we will get there
Unionville winger Kevin LaDow scored a third perdiod goal against Henderson in a 9-4 loss
in varsity. The biggest difference I have seen is the level of speed at this level, everything is faster, which makes it fun to take the crease. I love facing an 80 mph slap shot, and turning it away, it’s what makes playing goalie such a challenge.”
Unionville 0 2 2 -4
WC Henderson 2 6 1 -9
Scoring Goal Assists
WC Robson Carreras Daszkiewisz
WC Carreras Robson Liero
WC Springer Carreras Robson
U Knight Clark Ward
WC Liero Carreras Robson
WC Carreras Liero Robson
U Knight Clark
WC Wallace Carrera
WC Carreras Robson
WC Robson Thompson Carreras
U LaDow Wilm
U Knight Ward
WC M, Carreras Wallace Applebee
Shot on goal – Henderson 34 Unionville 16
Power play – Henderson 2-3 Unionville
0-6
Unionville sophomore goal tender Josh Sedar makes a save againbst Henderson
