The Santa Clara Blackhawks traveled
to Chandler Arizona to enjoy some sun and to get a taste of Midget AA competition
in preparation for the NORCAL playoffs. In their Jr. Polars Presidents'
Day Tournament opener against the New Mexico Jr. Scorpions, the Blackhawks
got untracked slowly, but they pulled their skating legs beneath them in
time for the torrential downpour outside and in time to blow by the Jr.
Scorpions, 5-2. Patrick Castagna
netted a trio of blistering backhand goals to the lead Santa Clara's scoring,
but it was the play of linemates Billy Kiernan,
Jacob
Draper and Mitch Venosta that got
the Hawks untracked in this game. Venosta
found the net twice in the second period, first to give Santa Clara the
2-1 lead, and later to tack on the game winner. Billy
Kiernan's aggressive forechecking led to assists on both of Venosta's
goals, and Jacob Draper pitched in as
well, with a helper on Venosta's first
goal. Nick Costa, Kyle
Yedlicka and Chase Brevoort also chipped
in with assists, and Devon Luna was spectacular
in goal, stopping 28 of 30 shots to post the win.
Santa Clara was slow to get their rain-drenched,
desert legs going in this game, as evidenced by the Scorpions' 10-6 shots-on-goal
advantage in the opening period. But the Blackhawks would score first
on Patrick Castagna's first of three
goals. The play was started by a nice check in the neutral zone by
Kevin
O'Brien. O'Brien's check separated
a Scorpions' skater from the puck and Nick
Costa moved in for the takeaway, skating into the New Mexico zone on
a 2-on-1 with
Patrick Castagna. Costa
skated down the right wing through the slot and then hit Castagna
with a pass. Castagna walked in
on the goalie and roofed the breakaway backhander to make it 1-0 at 11:39.
New Mexico evened the score at 9:24 with the help of a missed Blackhawks'
assignment down low that left two men open in front of the net. There
was no further scoring in the period though the ice was tilted decidedly
in the Jr. Scorpions favor.
The Blackhawks earned their first power
play early in the second period, and they nearly handed the New Mexico
reptiles a shorthanded goal off a giveaway at 13:35. But Devon
Luna came up with a big glovehand save up high to divert disaster.
While Santa Clara was unable to score on the power play, they did begin
to pick up the attack. Eventually, it would be the hard work of Billy
Kiernan, Jacob Draper and Mitch
Venosta that would give the Hawks back the lead. The Scorpions
won a draw in their own end, but Billy Kiernan
bulldogged his way behind the net to aggressively disrupt the play.
With a host of skaters battling for control, the puck eventually landed
on the stick of a Scorpion who immediately tried to push it away from danger.
But instead, Mitch Venosta blocked the
pass with his skate and the puck squirted further in front of the net,
where Venosta chased it down and backhanded
it past the goaltender for the score. Kiernan
and Jacob Draper recorded the assists,
and Venosta's goal gave Santa Clara a
2-1 lead at 9:04. On the ensuing center ice faceoff, Billy
Kiernan again outhustled the opposition, taking the puck all the way
in and firing off a shot that required a good save. Then, on the
line's next shift, they again outworked the New Mexico squad to produce
another goal for Venosta. The sequence
started in much the same way as Venosta's
first goal, with a faceoff in the Scorpions' zone that looked to be a win
for the Scorpions until Billy Kiernan
chased it down and dismantled the play behind the net. This time,
the puck eventually got swept around the side board where a New Mexico
skater grabbed it and attempted to skate back around behind the net. Mitch
Venosta stuck with him like glue and Kiernan
swept in to join the fray, creating a traffic jam at the side of the net.
Eventually, the puck squirted loose to Venosta,
who snapped a tough-angle shot past the netman for the score. Facing
a 3-1 deficit, New Mexico picked up their attack. But Devon
Luna was on his game, making tough back-to-back saves at 5:47. Luna
followed that up with a Lunatic special
off the next draw. New Mexico won the faceoff and created a scoring
opportunity down low. Luna left
his feet to make a good save, but the rebound found its way back to the
Scorpions and a follow-up shot appeared destined for net until Luna
lifted the Hoover and vacuumed the shot out of midair. It was a highlight-reel
save that surely would have made ESPN's Plays of the Day if it weren't
for the fact that it was already past midnight and the day was over.
Hoover...errr, Luna made one more tough
stop through traffic at 3:22, and the period ended with Santa Clara holding
a 3-1 lead.
This game became closer than it should
have when New Mexico scored on a slapshot from the point at 7:38 of the
third period while skating on the power play. But the Hawks wasted
no time extending their lead back to two goals. After gaining control
of the next face-off near their own blueline, a Scorpions player misfired
on a pass and Patrick Castagna picked
him clean. Skating into the zone, Castagna
had nobody to beat but the errant passer and the goalie. After outmuscling
the defender, Castagna outclassed the
netminder, again going to the backhander with a top-shelf shot that sliced
over the goalie's shoulder and into the attic. The score came at
7:28, just ten seconds after New Mexico had narrowed the gap to one goal.
Castagna
then added a hat trick goal to seal the victory at 6:47. With the
puck in the Scorpions zone, a clearing attempt around the boards was intercepted
by Chase Brevoort at the left point. Brevoort
sent a nice pass off the boards back down deep to Kyle
Yedlicka. Yedlicka spotted Castagna
splitting the defense through the slot, and he slipped the pass right to
him. Castagna grabbed it and saved
his best backhanded beauty for last, slicing it over the goalie's blocker
and raising the roof for his hat-trick encore.
Santa Clara will next meet the Houston
Hitmen, a AA club that has a 13-0-2 record in regular season play.
The Hitmen will likely present the toughest challenge that the Blackhawks
will have faced all year, but this squad has no fear and they promise to
be ready for the challenge.
| TEAMS |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
TOTAL |
| New
Mexico |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
| Blackhawks |
1 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
Scoring Summary
First Period
Scoring: 1, Blackhawks, Castagna 1 (Costa),
11:39. 2, New Mexico, Beauchamp (Robinson, Thompson), 9:24. Penalties:
O'Brien, Santa Clara (boarding), 5:22.
Second Period
Scoring: 3, Blackhawks, Venosta 1 (Kiernan,
Draper), 9:04. 4, Blackhawks, Venosta 2 (Kiernan), 6:11. Penalties:
Beauchamp, New Mexico (hooking), 14:19.
Third Period
Scoring: 5, New Mexico, Stockham (Visser,
Harvey), 7:38 (pp). 6, Blackhawks, Castagna 2 (unassisted), 7:28.
7, Blackhawks, Castagna 3 (Yedlicka, Brevoort), 6:47. Penalties:
Yedlicka, Santa Clara (boarding), 9:17; Pienkos, Santa Clara (roughing),
6:17; Robinson, New Mexico (roughing), 6:17; D'Addio, New Mexico
(hooking), 5:15; Gadomski, New Mexico (tripping), 3:37; Beauchamp,
New Mexico (hooking), 1:19; Kiernan, Santa Clara (hooking), 1:19;
Yedlicka, Santa Clara (hooking), 0:07.
SHOTS ON GOAL
| New Mexico |
10
|
9
|
11
|
--30 |
| Santa
Clara |
6
|
15
|
14
|
--35 |
Power-play Conversions: Santa Clara - 0 of 3;
New Mexico - 1 of 3. Goalies: Santa Clara, Luna (30 shots,
28 saves; record 1-0-0). New Mexico, Boucher (35 shots, 30 saves).
Plus/Minus: +3(Brevoort, Castagna, Costa,
Yedlicka, Pienkos); +1(Draper, Holt, Kiernan, O'Brien, Venosta);
even(Fredericks,
Fruen, Nunn, Wong); DNP(Hernandez, Baxley).
Hits: 2(Costa); 1(Castagna,
Draper, Fredericks, O'Brien, Pienkos, Yedlicka).
