A tie is a tricky thing.
Each team thinks about what it could have done differently, what more it could have given on the ice.
But Hamburg coach John McFall and his Bulldogs were in high spirits after a 2-2 tie with Clarence Monday night. They were proud of a third period comeback that gave them the tie and a point in the standings.
Hamburg and Clarence had similar makeups going into Monday night — neither had a superstar player who could carry his team, but both teams have learned to work well together. Hamburg had a win and an overtime loss; Clarence had two wins.
“We knew they didn’t have any studs, but we knew that they were good all around, so we knew it was gonna be tough,” said Hamburg forward Neil Dake.
“We knew that they were a solid team,” added forward Joey Dubill. “They’re just like us. They’re hardworking, and they didn’t have any stars, like Dake said, but neither do we, so it was gonna be a close game.”
The first period was about as close as a period could be. Neither team found the back of the net. Neither team took a penalty. Clarence outshot Hamburg just 8-7.
But the Red Devils found the energy they needed in the second period. They also found a power play. Matt Zaffram scored 3:59 into the second, assisted by Noah Corry. When Hamburg’s Owen Gonter was called for hooking later in the period, Clarence scored 40 seconds into the power play. Nick Messuro scored the goal, assisted by David Cosentino and Ryan Kelly.
Clarence outshot the Bulldogs 12-5 in the second period, and it was all Hamburg goaltender Griffin Coppola could do to keep 10 of those shots out of the net.
When the Bulldogs had some time to regroup after the second, they knew changes had to be made.
“Our coach gave us a good speech at the bench, just telling us not to let up and keep burying the body after all of our plays because that’s what’s gonna win us the game,” explained defenseman Jason Chiodo, whose defensive play McFall praised after the game.
“Good talk from the coaches and the players,” McFall said. “They got into each other too, and they knew they needed to dig down, and they found it. Got a big opportunistic goal by Dubill. We’re gonna count on him to put goals in like that, and that sparked us, and we were able to find the next one and hang on.”
“We just talked,” said Dake. “We said the same exact thing happened to us against Timon. We just let up, thought we had the game, so we said we just need to get that first one. And then Dubie, I don’t know, I didn’t love the shot, but I guess the five hole’s gonna work sometimes, so he got it through.”
Dubill scored 3:14 into the third period to get Hamburg a little closer, with defenseman Colin Bartoo picking up the assist for his third point of the season.
“I just got off the bench, so it was quick, and I was coming up the side,” Dubill explained. “Bartoo gave me a great pass, and I just came in and ripped it five hole. That was it. I was excited because this is my second game playing, so it was good to get one in. We got the goal, so we got momentum.”
And then it was Dake’s turn. The former goalie has two goals and two assists in three league games, including Monday’s performance. The goal came after Hamburg killed its second penalty of the game, a cross-checking call against Jake O’Donnell.
“We were on the kill, and I think we just got even,” Dake said. “I chipped it around the guy, had a 3-on-1, tried to get [Jake] Hangen on the back door, and it hit a skate. It was just on the goalie’s pad, and I just took it off and then banged it home.”
Hangen and O’Donnell picked up the assists on Dake’s goal, and the score was even again.
“Thanks to Neil Dake, our goalie playing forward,” said Chiodo. “He put in a nice goal that was key, and then Griff playing outstanding as always, keeping us in there and giving us a lot of confidence.”
The momentum changed, the energy changed, and McFall felt that it was Clarence who just held on for the rest of the third period.
“We had the energy, we had the momentum for a good part of that third period and into the overtime, so a good point,” McFall said.
No one scored in overtime, of course. Each team had a few good chances, but both had to settle for just a point in the end. It put Clarence alone in first place in Division 2 and tied Hamburg for second place, just a point behind.
“That’s a big point for us,” McFall said. “We kinda have a few leagues that we’re playing in in the position we’re at. We’re looking at the position within our division in Division 2, so it’s a big point within the division, but it’s an even bigger point within the three teams we’re competing with — with Will East and Ken East, so every point we get is an advantage above those teams for the final rankings down the road. We’re in a tough division. Every game we play, I feel we are playing up, and this was one of them. It teaches us to be better hockey players and tougher hockey players, so we’ll take that, we’ll learn the good things, and we’ll try to eliminate a few of the bad things.”
While Dake and his teammates were excited about the comeback, they’re far from satisfied.
“Obviously good to battle back, down two, get a point of it, but we don’t want to be in that situation often,” Dake said. “We wanna start coming out with W’s.”
“We just gotta keep working hard,” said Chiodo. “We can’t let up like we did and let them get two easy goals. We just gotta score first.”
Hamburg has a tough weekend coming up against a couple Williamsville teams — East on Saturday and North on Sunday. The Bulldogs don’t expect an easy weekend.
“That’s strength of our schedule — we don’t get much stronger than that,” McFall said.
But the Bulldogs aren’t about to back down, especially against rival Williamsville East.
“We want Will East,” said Dubill. “We’re gonna take ’em.”