A fast start and following the systems resulted in another win and another shutout for St. Joe’s as the Marauders defeated Clarence 3-0 Thursday night. Sophomore goaltender Danny Mikolajczak picked up his second shutout in a row, but he needed just eight saves to do it.
In some games this season, St. Joe’s hasn’t had that quick start. But on Thursday, Erich Thur and Mike Greco scored in the first to give the Marauders a quick 2-0 lead.
“I thought we had a good start,” St. Joe’s coach Rich Crozier said. “One of the things we talk about in the locker room is the importance of getting on teams early, so I was happy about that tonight.”
“The last two games, we’ve just been getting up real early, and I just think we just keep following the systems, and the pucks just keep going in the net,” said forward Nick Carbone. “And usually in the beginning of the games, that’s usually when the teams are running around a little bit, so the last couple games, that’s when we’ve been taking advantage of it.”
Carbone assisted the first goal of the night.
“We just kinda work it down low and cut to the net,” Carbone explained. “And Thur worked it down low to me, and he just cut to the net and got open, and I just gave him a nice little pass, and he puts it bar down, so it was easy.”
The Red Devils didn’t help themselves with seven penalties through the first two periods, one of them a four-minute major, but St. Joe’s failed to score on any of those power play opportunities. Crozier wishes his team could have, and it’s something the Marauders will work on as they move forward.
“I was surprised they were so undisciplined,” Crozier said of Clarence. “I thought our power play could have played better, and I think if we could have taken advantage, we actually would have beat them a lot worse. But at times we don’t have that killer instinct, and we let teams hang around a little bit too long, so that’s something we need to improve on.”
Fortunately for the Marauders, they needed just one goal to defeat Clarence, and they got three. Carbone scored with 6:27 left in the second period to put his team up 3-0.
“The puck just got onto my stick after we were working the system,” Carbone said. “And I just kinda shot the puck, and it went in, and it was nice, and got a nice little celebration. It was awesome.”
Mikolajczak is one of two sophomores on this year’s team, along with forward Spencer Frome, but Crozier spoke of the uncanny maturity he sees in both.
“Miko’s been great,” Crozier said. “He’s a great kid and he’s worked hard. I have an older team this year — only two sophomores: Spencer Frome and Miko. And both of them fit in my team perfectly. You wouldn’t think they were only 15 because the maturity that they display on and off the ice is pretty impressive.”
Mikolajczak made eight saves for the shutout, and his job was made easy by his teammates in front of him limiting the shots while recording 34 of their own.
“I really just think the team played really great,” Mikolajczak said. “Just [eight] shots; I should be able to handle that. We run some good systems.”
Those systems have kept St. Joe’s from getting outshot in 16 games so far this season, including nine league games. Crozier explained how is a total team effort: it’s not just about what happens in their own end.
“We really stress team defense and that starts with a really strong back check and guys coming back hard,” Crozier said. “There were a couple times tonight where we caught them from behind when they had a potential odd-man rush, so that’s one thing we do right is our team defense … We’re trying to control the play down low. Not only does it wear down the other team’s defense, but it limits the other team’s shots, so it’s a win-win for us when we’re able to execute the game plan.”
As for Mikolajczak, he’s just enjoying the ride.
“It’s been great,” he said. “I’m having a great time. Team’s doing good. Nothing more I can ask for.”
And as for getting two consecutive shutouts — “Hopefully there’s three,” Mikolajczak said.
St. Joe’s is scheduled to play Lancaster on Sunday at 8 pm at HarborCenter, and the Marauders know the Legends will be coming in strong. But the Marauders also know that their systems have been working all season long — they’re 7-1-1 — and Carbone is confident that that will continue.
“Just keep the legs going here and try to keep the win streak coming,” Carbone said. “I know that Coach was saying that [the Legends are] on a hot streak right now, and I know that they’re playing good, so I think if we just keep our systems going and keep everything on track, I just think that we’ll just keep rolling.”
“Lancaster should be a good game,” Crozier said. “HarborCenter, 8:00 on a Sunday, no school Monday. Come on out. Plenty of seats still available.”