Josh Surowiec just throws the puck at the net. Sometimes his forwards tip the puck into the net, as is Surowiec’s intention, and sometimes the puck finds the net on its own.
The Williamsville North defenseman scored twice and picked up an assist in a non-league game against Ithaca two weeks ago, and he did the same in a 6-0 win over Orchard Park Thursday night.
“I’m just throwing it at the net, trying to keep shots low so our forwards have a chance to tip ’em, and don’t take their heads off,” Surowiec said. “Just keeping ’em low and getting ’em on net.”
The Spartans were looking to bounce back in more ways than one Thursday night.
Last season, despite a successful season that included a Section VI championship, the Spartans never forgot the one team they were unable to beat in league play: Orchard Park. The Quakers took the first meeting last season, and the second ended in a tie.
“We knew they were gonna be tough,” said junior defenseman Griffin Green. “Couldn’t beat them last year. They were one of the teams we didn’t beat last year, so we wanted to come in tough and get the first goal.”
This time, North knew what to expect.
“They like the stretch pass, so [I expected] a lot of odd-man rushes,” said goaltender Jake Zurat. “But our D did a good job shutting that down. But they’re a fast team, and we just played a good game today.”
“The passing has always given us trouble,” said Surowiec. “They’re always a good team and always throwing that stretch pass, so we just gotta be on our toes on the defensive side, but we did a good job shutting it down. Worked on it all week in practice, and just executed.”
More recently, the Spartans were coming off a loss to Lancaster in which they let a 2-0 lead slip away.
“I don’t think we played our best game Saturday,” said Zurat. “So it was important to come back today, play our best game, and I think we did that, or pretty close to it.”
“We just didn’t finish the job,” said Surowiec. “I know personally, I lost my focus a little bit and didn’t make the small plays at the end of the game on Saturday. It ended up costing us, but it’ll definitely be in the back of our mind, just making the simple play.”
Green fulfilled his own hopes with a goal 5:37 into the first period for his first Fed goal and an early 1-0 lead.
“It felt good to get the lead,” Green said. “It was a scrum in front, just tipped it in.”
Surowiec’s first goal of the game came later in the first on the power play.
“That was just a great setup by Griffin Green and Adam Batz,” Surowiec said. “We were working on it all week, just moving the puck, and that was just perfect execution of what we’ve been working on.”
Surowiec scored again early in the second period — he just threw the puck at the net, of course.
“The puck just came out to the point, one way or another, and I just threw it at the net, and good things happen when we throw it at the net,” he said.
Sophomore forward Rocco Bonaffini, who spent last season with the Jr. Sabres organization, scored his first Fed goal 42 seconds later for a 4-0 Williamsville North lead.
“It felt great,” Bonaffini said. “Got a nice pass from [Andrew] Bruno in the slot and just ripped it. Felt really good.”
Adam Batz scored a power play goal later in the second, and Bruno scored late in the third to cap off the 6-0 win. Zurat finished with 15 saves for the shutout.
“I think it was in the first period, I had a breakaway, and I think it just kind of hit the top of my stick,” Zurat said. “I kind of expected the odd-man rushes, maybe a breakaway or two, but in practice I’ve just been working on getting out of the crease and challenging. But our defense shut it down pretty well.”
North evened its record to 1-1 with the win, and the Spartans hope to keep it going.
“It felt good to get the first league win,” said Green. “Last year we struggled, went oh-and-two. Felt good to get the first one here. Hopefully we can continue.”
“Felt good,” said Bonaffini. “We need to keep rolling, and the team needs to work together and play hard.”
The Spartans’ next challenge comes Saturday, when they’re scheduled to face Canisius at 1 pm at Northtown Center. They don’t expect an easy win; as Bonaffini put it, “Each team in our division is pretty tough, and we don’t expect any team to be easy for us.”
They spent Thursday night enjoying the first league win of the season, but now the Spartans are looking ahead to Saturday.
“It was a good performance today,” said Surowiec. “But you’re only as good as your last game, so we gotta come out, work hard, and take care of Canisius.”