Williamsville East hasn’t lost a game yet this season. Saturday’s tie against Clarence was frustrating to be sure, but the Flames came back to defeat Hamburg 4-1 on Monday night as sophomore Sam Pastore scored his first two varsity goals.
Although Williamsville East moved up to play large schools this season, Hamburg was a familiar opponent as the Bulldogs too made the jump.
“We just expected a hard battle,” said Williamsville East captain Mike Steffan. “They’re always a good solid team, and we knew we had to just come out and play our game to beat them.”
Hamburg carried some momentum with them into Monday’s game after winning a tournament over the weekend in Cicero, New York.
“I knew they were excited,” Williamsville East coach Mike Torrillo said. “Their coach was telling me they played a couple games in Syracuse and won the championship. Each game is a big game, but this one here is against a school that we’re kind of fighting for playoff hopes. But we always have tough games against Hamburg.”
But Hamburg’s momentum did nothing to stop the Flames. Nick Piekarski scored just 2:50 into the first period to put his team up 1-0, and Williamsville East never looked back.
Just 3:09 into the second, Pastore scored his first of the game — and of his varsity career — on an assist from Will Mann. Pastore scored his second exactly 40 seconds later on an assist from Steffan, and the Flames had a convincing 3-0 lead before the game was even halfway over.
“It was a team effort, obviously,” Pastore said. “I got an assist from Will on the first. It’s a team sport, and we gotta move the puck around to score, so tonight it was me. Somebody else will step up next game.”
Steffan scored his third goal of the season with 5:05 left in the second to add another to the Flames’ lead.
“It was assisted from my linemates Sam Pastore and Alex Finley, and they did all the work,” Steffan said. “I just happened to be there when it squirted out to get the goal.”
With 4:08 remaining in the second, the Bulldogs got on the board for the first time on a goal scored by Brian Kazmierczak and assisted by Joey Dubill and Mike Boyd. But it was too little, too late.
The Flames doubled their shots on goal total in the third to finish with 30. After just eight through the first two, Hamburg had 11 in the third, but sophomore Jude Rajakrishnan again came up with the huge saves his team needed. In two games so far, Rajakrishnan has allowed two goals.
“Jude played great tonight again,” Steffan said. “Looked confident in net.”
“Very solid night again,” added Pastore. “He’s been playing great, so just keep on building on it.”
Rajakrishnan wasn’t the only one who played a solid game, of course. Torrillo liked what he saw from his team for most of the game.
“I liked their intensity tonight,” Torrillo said. “I thought the kids played fast today. A little more aggressive. We still got some things to work on, but through two periods tonight, [Hamburg] had eight shots on goal, so if we can limit that and play aggressive, I like our chances.”
And again, two different lines scored, and Torrillo loves when that happens. He places an emphasis on always playing a team game and being sure that everyone contributes.
“I think we do have a goal from all lines,” Torrillo said. “Nick got one, Michael got one, Sam had two — first two goals of the season. So we’ll save [Matt] Cohen and [Jack] Kelly for next game. They had two last game.”
The Flames improved to 2-0-1 with Monday’s win, but Steffan and Pastore aren’t surprised.
“We knew we were gonna have a good year,” Pastore said. “We were working hard in the beginning of the season, and good things happen when you work hard.”
“We knew coming into the season we were gonna have a good team,” Steffan added. “And I guess it’s just been coming altogether, and we’ve been playing well as a team — hard work and winning games.”
Thursday, Williamsville East is scheduled to face Frontier at 7 pm at Northtown Center. Steffan and Pastore expect another tough game, but they also expect to be prepared.
“I know in this division, all the teams are good,” Steffan said. “We’re not gonna have a single easy game, so it’ll be another tough game.”
“We’re gonna go into the game the same way we go into every game,” Pastore said. “Just think about the battles and winning every loose puck.”