La Salle Survives Scare from BHBS, Advance to Championship
Photo: Jake Martino/Upstate Sports Zone
FINAL- La Salle 3 BHBS 2
Union College- The stage was set at Union college on Saturday night for some classic Section 2 hockey. Coming into the match, La Salle (#1) swept BHBS (#4) during the regular season. The confidence level was high knowing the results of the prior meetings.
The Cadets showed that confidence in the first period scoring 3 unanswered goals. The rebound game was strong for the Cadets, proving that the offensive end was ready to follow up anything. Defense was solid throughout the first for La Salle, the most consistent defense came during the first period. With goals from Rudd and Mainello, BHBS did their job shutting down Senior forward Logan Discanio for most of the game.
With back to back goals for BHBS in the second period, the confidence level for La Salle was slowly declining. During the second, La Salle had a hard time generating offense, with a three goal lead already, they needed one more to secure it . With BHBS heading to the penalty box multiple times in the second and third, the defensive back line regained that confidence and didn’t allow a single goal for the rest of the game.
The transition defense wasn’t the best for the Cadets tonight, but Zach Rentz came up clutch for La Salle in the net. BHBS totaled 36 shots on goal, something the defensive back line doesn’t see as much.
BHBS brought the pressure in the third period, shot after shot. But the defenseman for the Cadets, deflected most of the shots and cleared. Without the defensive line and their confidence, La Salle probably would have conceded more goals then they did. Although the Cadets walked away with the victory, there is still work left to be done ahead of Tuesday’s championship matchup against Shen. That game is @Union College, puck drop at 7:15.
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By Jake Martino
