St. Francis has a winning streak.
After defeating West Seneca East 3-1 on Sunday morning, the Red Raiders faced Lockport Monday night at HarborCenter — and won 5-2.
The win over West Seneca East was a big one for St. Francis, and coach Tim Benner was very happy with the way his team played Sunday. He just hoped they could carry it into Monday.
“I think that was our most complete game of the year,” Benner said. “We came out and got an early goal and then just kept momentum, keeping pucks deep and working hard, and I was really happy with how everyone played that game.”
On Monday, St. Francis jumped out to a 2-0 lead early with goals by Ian Schmidt and Erik Pawelski, but Lockport fought back to tie it up by the end of the first period. Dylan Skalman and Ryan Boci scored for Lockport.
“We took over that first five minutes and we outplayed them,” Benner said. “And that’s how we can play when we wanna play, and if we want the game to continue like it did that first five minutes, we have the ability to do that. If we wanted to let them back into it, we had the ability to do that too, and they just had to make the choice.”
“I think we let up a little bit,” said Pawelski. “We got those early two, like I said, but instead of pushing on and burying some more, we kinda took a step back, and we had a couple loose plays, and pucks started to get out in our own zone, and they were able to get a couple breaks and bury. So then from there, we had to come out in the second and third and try to get those goals back and the momentum back, and thankfully we were able to do that.”
Just over halfway through the second, Ben Kyte scored after assisting the first two goals. Schmidt and Pawelski picked up the assists. The three linemates have a chemistry that’s developed over years of playing together.
“We’ve been playing with each other for a long time, at least eight years,” said Pawelski. “When you’re together that long, you really know where each other are at all times, and the puck just gets on your sticks easier, and you can bury the puck with a lot more frequency.”
“Schmidtty and Pawelski, apparently they’ve been playing together since they were born or something,” said Benner. “You could see the chemistry between them right from the first practice, and they’ve been a real treat to have around.”
The score was just 3-2 in favor of St. Francis after two, and the Red Raiders knew they’d need another goal or two in the third to ensure a win.
“Just keep moving our feet, just try to play like we did in the East game, and just continue to play hard and bury some goals,” said Kyte.
“It was still a close game, so we had to treat it like the third period was up for grabs, which it was,” Pawelski added. “And we did a good job of taking Coach’s advice and going out there and really just treating it like it was a tie game, and from there we were able to get ahead and stay there.”
“We just had to move our feet consistently, move the puck,” added defenseman Josh Dressler. “We can’t do everything ourselves.”
Bradley Darvill scored 2:24 into the third to give the Red Raiders a 4-2 lead, and later in the third, Dressler added some insurance with a shorthanded goal.
“We run a one-three, so they just cut through the middle, I just stepped up, got the puck, went down, they were changing, so I had an opportunity, took a shot far side, and it went in,” Dressler explained.
St. Francis came away with a 5-2 victory for its second win in a row. The Red Raiders are scheduled to play Amherst Sunday at 5:30 pm, and they hope to continue rolling with the momentum they’ve gained.
“I think just continue the momentum going forward and just keep the ball rolling, keep putting the puck in the net, and try to take it on from there,” Kyte said. “Keep winning games.”
“We got two in a row now,” said Pawelski. “We haven’t done that all year, which is good that we’re starting to put together some consistency, and if we can keep that going and get some players back — we got one defenseman, one forward coming back from injury soon — so if we add them to the mix, we’ll be really rolling towards the playoffs.”