Williamsville North picked up its second win of the season Saturday afternoon in a 4-2 victory over Canisius, but the Spartans didn’t feel too comfortable until the very end.
Brett Sardina scored a goal and assisted two more, and Daniel Mosher and Rocco Bonaffini each had a goal and an assist, but it was Adam Batz’s empty netter with 44 seconds remaining that sealed the win.
“They were coming back, and a two-goal lead is one of the worst leads in hockey, so we had to be ready,” said Mosher.
“That’s what Bob [coach Bob Rosen] always preaches, that we have to have a three-goal lead,” added defenseman Matt Jeffries. “Because when you have a two-goal lead, the next goal wins the game 95 percent of the time, so that’s just what we had to do. Batz found the net at the end.”
The Crusaders took the first lead of the game when Peter John Ciotta scored 2:56 into the first period. Mosher tied the score at one on the power play 7:09 into the first on a backdoor setup by Sardina.
“It was huge, especially because we were down a goal,” Mosher said. “We were on the power play, and Sardina was on the far side, and he hit me on the back door, so I just buried an easy tap-in.”
Bonaffini scored later in the first, and Sardina scored 4:22 into the second period for a 3-1 lead. The Spartans held onto the two-goal lead until late in the third, but as they knew, it was dangerous.
Matt Kreuzer brought Canisius within a goal with 3:23 left in regulation.
The Crusaders pulled goalie Ryan O’Donnell late in the game for a chance to tie it up, but Batz capitalized for an empty netter, and North came away with a 4-2 win and a 2-1 league record to start the season.
North’s defense held Canisius to just 18 shots.
“We were just trying to shut them down, give Jake [Zurat] the best chance on each puck,” said Jeffries. “During practice, we were preaching, just keep your stick on the ice when you’re in the defensive zone, so that’s just what we did throughout the game.”
The Spartans still have a bad taste in their mouth from a season-opening loss to Lancaster, but Saturday’s win brought them another step closer to redemption.
“I think it’s huge,” said Jeffries. “After we lost our first game to Lancaster, we were looking to bounce back. We beat OP, and now this was huge too, so we got Niagara Wheatfield on Friday, which is a big rivalry.”
“We just gotta get ready for the next game,” said Mosher. “Niagara Wheatfield is a good team, this is a good win, it’s good to get those points, but we gotta be ready for Friday.”
“Just gotta be focused,” added Sardina.
Friday’s game against Niagara Wheatfield is scheduled for 7:30 pm at Niagara University.