The game was a state semifinal. The final score was 11-0.
There was some surprise, but when one looks closer at Kenmore East’s 11 goals scored and zero goals against on Saturday, there were nine different players whose numbers showed up on the score sheet, and they were backed up by a strong defensive core and 24 saves by goaltender Brad Hermann.
Kenmore East coach Kyle Pray was more impressed by the team effort and unselfish play he saw than anything else.
“They had their legs,” Pray said, referring to the team’s speed and fast start. “But the thing I was really most pleased with was the teamwork and how they picked their heads up looking for each other, moving away from the puck, so all those are good signs that we’re coming together as a team and keeping that philosophy going.”
AJ Marinelli led the way with four goals and four assists, and his linemate Trevor Pray (Kyle’s son) was right behind him with three and three.
“We just really wanted it bad, and both me and AJ just worked really well together,” Trevor said. “We weren’t selfish, so we each gave each other goals, which really helped.”
And it wasn’t just a focus on playing as a team that worked for the Bulldogs, but as Marinelli pointed out, everyone played well.
“Just the crisp passes,” Marinelli said. “All the passes were on, and everyone was playing good. Not one person had an off game today.”
“We were all just moving real fast, and that’s about it,” Trevor said. “We just wanted it bad, we worked harder than them, and I think our speed really helped us win that game.”
Trevor began the scoring just two minutes and 15 seconds into the first, and Anthony Tulipane added another four minutes later. Marinelli followed up the two goals by completing a natural hat trick to give the Bulldogs a 5-0 lead with 21 seconds left in the first period.
But the Bulldogs weren’t done yet. Justin Watson scored with six seconds left to end the first period with Kenmore East’s sixth goal of the game.
“That was pretty exciting because we’ve done that the past couple games, get the lead early, and it’s really been helping,” Marinelli said.
Trevor’s second of the game came 2:48 into the second, followed by a goal from defenseman Cullen Smyth and Marinelli’s fourth of the game.
“Not much,” Marinelli said of the significance of his fourth goal that gave Kenmore East a 9-0 lead. “It didn’t really mean anything at that point.”
Trevor completed his hat trick just more than three minutes into the third period to give Kenmore East a 10-0 lead.
“It felt good just to get the hat trick and get the 10th goal,” Trevor said.
But consistent with his unselfish play, Trevor credited his teammates for helping with all three of his goals.
“The first one, I just brought it wide and tucked it right through the five hole on the breakaway,” Trevor said. “Second one, it was a backdoor pass on the power play from Anthony, and then the third one, AJ gave me a beautiful backdoor pass too.”
Tulipane’s second of the game capped off the 11-0 win with 6:42 left in regulation.
But of course, the zero was just as important to the Bulldogs as the 11. Although Smyth made it onto the score sheet with a goal and an assist and his defensive partner Joey Spataro had an assist as well, the pairing of JP Giordano and Sam Balesteri was just as responsible for Saturday’s win.
“I think our defensive success came a lot from our pairings,” Giordano said. “We’ve been with them all season, and I think when we play together and match up against their lines, that we have a lot of success.”
Kenmore East’s defense has been solid throughout Kenmore East’s playoff run, and Pray credited all four players for making that happen. Communication has been key, Giordano explained.
“Just a lot of communication between people,” Giordano said. “It works really good, and we make sure we always have each other’s backs.”
Giordano noticed the unselfish play by his team on Saturday as well.
“It was good to see it,” he said. “Even though we were up on a team, it was good to not see a lot of individual play but still working together as a team, and I hope we carry that into tomorrow.”
And it came down to a strong finish in the third period as well and never letting up, especially for the defense and for Hermann in net.
“Just in the locker room, Coach was telling us, ‘Keep your mind on the game, it’s not over yet,’ and that’s what we did,” Giordano said. “We stayed focused, and we finished it.”
After such a high-scoring game, will Kenmore East be overly confident going into Sunday’s matchup against Skaneateles for the state title?
“That’s definitely a concern, and we just had a good talk about that,” Pray said. “We know that we’re facing the defending state champions tomorrow. I think it was good that they got to see them before this game, and they watched them, so they know they have a very formidable opponent tomorrow. We know it’ll be a very good game. They have a large continent of fans here, and we’ll have ours, and it should be a very good atmosphere.”
The players were still enjoying Saturday’s win on Saturday night after the game, but they discussed some of their expectations and hopes for Sunday.
“It was a good feeling, and I hope we can do it again tomorrow,” Giordano said.
“It’s exciting; I can’t wait,” Marinelli said. “[I expect] a good game. Skaneateles, they’re a good team, they have a lot of returning players, so you never know.”
“I’m just happy that I can keep my senior year going and hopefully make history tomorrow,” said Trevor.