Nick Sousanidis was due for a start in net, and Ian Schmidt was due for a big game.
Both Sousanidis, the senior goalie, and Schmidt, the junior forward, followed through on Saturday afternoon as the Red Raiders defeated Williamsville South, 5-3. Sousanidis made 26 saves on 29 shots in his first Fed start, and Schmidt scored two goals and assisted two more.
“He works hard in practice and he was really due for a game, and I think he came out and showed us he deserves a look a little more often,” coach Tim Benner said of Sousanidis. “He really played well.”
“I just knew that I was gonna get a chance to play eventually,” Sousanidis said. “I wanted to make the most of my opportunity.”
Every team has a similar game plan when it comes to Williamsville South: stop No. 15. That’s Zach Rehbaum, a skilled junior forward already verbally committed to play Division 1 hockey at Brown University. He scored one of South’s three goals on Saturday and assisted another, but Sousanidis won’t soon forget the time he stopped Rehbaum either.
“I know a lot of kids from Will South, and I knew number 15 was gonna be a challenge coming in,” Sousanidis said. “He did end up scoring a goal to tie the game, 3-3, but we did a good job neutralizing him, keeping him to the outside most of the game … Save that sticks out in my mind is in the second period. Rehbaum came in 2-on-1, and I stopped it with the shoulder.”
Schmidt scored St. Francis’ first goal, assisted the next two by Erik Pawelski and Ben Kyte, and added an empty netter at the end to seal the 5-3 win.
“Ian’s great,” said Benner. “He really entertains me out there, to be honest. Whatever line he’s on, he’s a consistent provider. When we want him to get pucks deep, he gets pucks deep. If you want him to get pucks out, he gets pucks out. You can put him wherever you want to. He’s been a real pleasure to have around this year.”
“Getting pucks deep, playing down low, that’s all,” Schmidt said.
Matthew Songin scored the game winner, and sophomore defenseman John Galvin had three assists.
The Billies scored first before St. Francis scored three straight to take a 3-1 lead. When South scored twice late in the third to tie the game at three, the Red Raiders kept their heads up.
“I think the biggest thing we got is that we have the resilience to come and answer back after Willy South came back, tied it up, and then our boys didn’t really have any momentum going for us, and we just turned things around,” said Benner.
The Red Raiders improved to 3-2 with the win, and they’re looking forward to another challenge Wednesday night. They’re scheduled to face Monsignor Martin rival Timon at RiverWorks for the Fed Classic, and they’re excited.