In the first league game of the season, Lewiston Porter coach Kevin Kirsch wasn’t sure what to expect as his team matched up against Kenmore West on Sunday afternoon at Buffalo State College. Kirsch felt that his Lancers had been outplayed by the Blue Devils at the preseason Scrimmage Carnival, and so he focused on what his team needed to do.
“We matched up with them in the scrimmage carnival, and they actually took the play to us,” Kirsch said. “So I was more worried about our team and keeping our feet moving and getting pucks out of our zone.”
What he certainly didn’t expect was a 7-2 win in which sophomore Mat Carden scored four goals and sophomore Jacob Thomason scored two. Senior Evan Korpolinski added one as well, and four of Lew-Port’s goals came on the power play.
Kenmore West’s goals were scored by Patrick Gourlay and Josh Logan. Logan’s goal was scored on the power play as well.
And that was the other story of the game: the Lancers and Blue Devils convinced for a total of 17 penalties on the afternoon. Power play opportunities were abundant, but Kirsch was still very happy with the way his team took advantage of them. It was the only explanation he had for such a high offensive output from the Lancers.
“I wish I could tell you,” Kirsch said. “I think what led to the offense was just, they stuck to the game plan and stayed moving their feet. We got a couple breaks with a couple power plays, and we were able to convert the power plays, and that’s huge, being able to score on the power play.”
The Lancers were coming off of an 8-0 non-league loss to West Seneca West on Friday night, so Sunday’s high-scoring win was just what they needed.
“[We wanted] a nice win, bounce back from Friday’s loss, and then score,” Carden said.
And score he did.
Thomason started off the scoring just 53 seconds into the first, but Ken West’s Gourlay came back to tie it just over four minutes later. Carden scored the go-ahead goal with 3:37 remaining in the first period, and he didn’t stop there as he added another with just 34 seconds remaining.
With 4:27 remaining in the game and the Lancers already up 5-2, Carden scored again to complete the hat trick and then again with just 1:10 left in regulation.
“I was getting excited,” Carden said, a big smile on his face. “Didn’t expect to get four.”
The only time Kirsch had any doubt was as the second period went on. Ken West scored the only goal of that period, but then the intermission came, and then the third period.
“I liked the way they came out in the third period,” Kirsch said. “The third period and the first period, I thought they were moving their feet and they were controlling the play. Second period, I think once we got the lead, we got a little comfortable and got a little lazy, and Kenmore West did a great job. They were taking over the game to us, so the break came at a good time.”
Carden soon gave his coach no reason to doubt, of course, and he was quick to credit his teammates for their part in his four goals and the win.
“Great passes, teamwork; that’s about it,” Carden said. “Better than Friday’s teamwork. We had good passes, hit the net today, a lot of us.”
And when he scored his goals, his first thoughts were of his teammates then as well.
“I was excited and happy; proud of my teammates.”
Anthony Santarosa started in net for Lew-Port, and his contributions did not go unnoticed either.
“Carden was key, obviously, and our goalie, Anthony Santarosa, came up with a few huge saves,” Kirsch said. “He was able to hold them off on their power plays, so I think they got one power play goal, but that wasn’t on Anthony. We kind of broke down a little bit defensively. I thought that all in all, Anthony and Carden were big factors in the win.”
And starting off league play with a win gave the Lancers momentum as they look to tonight’s game against North Tonawanda.
“Glad it was the first win, so we’re 1-0 in the league,” Kirsch said. “We got a big match up tomorrow night against North Tonawanda, so we’re back at it again tomorrow.”