By Janet Schultz

Week 3 of WNYGVIH ended with postponed games on Thursday, Dec. 12 due to the snow storm in Western New York. Rescheduling of those games is in process, with one already set. KengiPort will take on Williamsville on Wednesday, December 18 at Northtown Ice Arena at 4 p.m. 

On that same day, LIDA is traveling for a non-league game at Webster at 7 p.m.

Delaney Dee of St. Mary’s of Lancaster scored two unassisted goals in a 7-0 victory over Williamsville on Monday night. Adding to that score were Shea Hall, Samantha Hatt (2), Alanah Pagano, and Meghan Donnelly. Betsy Accurso stopped 17 for the shut-out win. Olivia Lookman stopped 45 of 52 sog for Williamsville.

Monsignor Martin played to a 1-1 overtime tie with CASH. Monsignor Martin got on the board in the first period on a goal by Ellie Black, assisted by Gabby Kazmark. In the second period it was CASH with a goal by Polina Stremiakova that tied the game, assisted by Celia Watson. No scoring in the third or fourth. Kate Kelley stopped 36 of 37 and Ella Celej stopped 11 of 12.

Monsignor Martin headed over to Dwyer to face NiCo on Tuesday. NiCo fired 37 sog to come away with a 6-3 victory. Sam Latini had the game-winner and added another goal and assist in the game. Other scoring came from Madeline Martin, Abby Zimmerman, Marisa Aquino and Natalee Lawrence. Goaltender Jaylin Beaver stopped 6 of 9 shots. For MonMar it was Rosanna ModicaAmore, Gabby Kazmark and Brigid McQueary. Kelley was in goal and stopped 31 of 37 sog.

St. Mary’s hosted Webster in a non-league match. Webster took a 6-3 win back home. Coyne had a hattrick in the win with goals from Fanale, Blakely and Mo Meyer. Wambach stopped 10 of 13 sog for the win. For St. Mary’s it was Szczesek,  Tessa Kwiatowski and Brooklyn Vitez scoring. Accurso faced 29 shots.

LIDA handed Williamsville an 11-0 shutout. Emily Lysiak had a hatrick and an unassisted goal in the game. Claire Whiteford’s first goal proved to be the winner. Other scoring came from Leah Dowling, Brynn Cafferty, Mia Hauser (2), Anna Maki, Leah Sacco, and Hailey Muff. In goal was Iris Schimenti, stopping 13 for her first shut-out.  Anna Bacon faced 44 shots for Williamsville, stopping 33.

The Nut Bowl ended in a 2-2 tie between CASH and HHEWS. Celia Watson and Jenny Wild teamed up for goals and assists, with Stremiakova also helping on the second. For HHEWS it was Sophia Phillips dropping in both goals, assisted by Kelsey Barrett on the first and Lilianna Smantz on the second. Buczynski stopped 16 or 18.

Teagan Willats scored the game-winner in a 3-2 KenGiPort victory over FFLOP. She got an assist from Madelyn Jagow. Their first goal came from Isabelle Bourgeault, assisted by Savanah Samplinski and the second from Erin Krawczyk, assisted by Jagow and Willats. Ella Johnston stopped 15 of 17 for the “W”. For FFLOP it was Griffin from Sojda and Peyton Forcucci and the second from Sojda, assisted by Smaczniak. Rachel Fix faced 25 sog.

Maya Griffin (FFLOP) is first on the leader board with 5 goals and 6 assists. She is followed by Sophia Phillips (HHEWS), 5/3 ; Abby Zimmerman (NiCO) 4/3 and Avery Szczesek (StMarys) 4/3. Szczesek has had two game-winners.

In goal Betsy Accurso (St. Marys) has had two wins and has a .945 save percentage. Iris Schimenti (LIDA), Kate Kelley (MM) and Ella Buczynski (HHEWS) have each had a shut-out.

Looking at the week ahead.

Monday, December 16: 

FFLOP at St. Mary’s, 4 p.m.; MonMar at Williamsville, 4 p.m. and Webster will be at KenGiPort at Hockey Outlet at 7:10 p.m.

Tuesday, December 17:

FFLOP at CASH, 4 p.m.; St. Mary’s at LIDA, 4:15 p.m.; HEWS at NiCO at 4:45 p.m. and MonMar at KenGiPort at 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, December 18:

KenGiPort at Williamsville at 4 p.m. and LIDA is traveling to Webster at 7 p.m.

Thursday, December 19:

Williamsville at CASH, 4:30 p.m.; NiCo at FFLOP, 4:30 p.m.; St. Mary’s at MonMar, 4:40 p.m. and KenGiPort at HHEWS, 9 p.m.

The WNYGVIH will be on break until the New Year with one exception, at this point.

FFLOP will play Webster in a non-league game on Monday, December 30 at 12:15 p.m. at Leisure Rinks in Hamburg.

On January 2, Webster will head to FFLOP at Nike for a 4:30 p.m. non-league game.

Please follow NY Hockey Online on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for any updates; as well as the WNYGVIH website. The schedule changes as changes are made.

Photos by Janet Schultz© Photos cannot be used without permission of NY Hockey Online. Contact [email protected]

By Warren Kozireski —

It has been quite the grind for Yonkers native and Princeton junior defenseman David Ma. After missing the first half of his sophomore season and all his junior year due to shoulder injuries, the 5’11”, 180 lb. blueliner is back to playing major minutes on the first defense pair for the Tigers.

“I’ve felt good, it’s always a challenge coming back from a long hiatus and just getting the legs rolling, getting the reps back in and kind of feeling it out has been huge,” Ma said in late-November. “But I feel good so that’s been a positive.

“I had a shoulder surgery the year before and the whole year I missed last year was for the second one (surgery).”

Ma’s parents originally emigrated to Canada before moving to the New York City area. And that likely led to them putting their son on skates.

“For some reason, my mom knew how to skate…and took me on the ice when I was three years old. The first time I went on the ice I was iffy at best. The second time I was practically skating, and everyone was impressed, so a hockey coach came up to my parents and were like ‘you should have your son try out hockey’ and that’s how I got started.”

A few years later Ma developed his game with the Westchester Skating Academy and Mid-Fairfield.

Then his journey saw him leave home at just 14 years of age to play for the vaunted Shattuck St. Mary’s program in Minnesota for four seasons. During this period, he was also part of Team USA for the 2019 Hlinka/Gretzky Cup before dressing for one season with the Chicago Steel in the USHL where he helped them win a Clark Cup championship.

“I was kind of looking to go prep school because my parents, it took a lot out of them, they both worked and just driving on the weekends and all that time spent,” Ma said about his decision to attend Shattuck.

“I wanted to do something where it was all-encompassing with all the school that I was missing, so I thought prep school was a good option and Shattuck had such a well-renowned name with some elite players coming through, so I thought that was a good option.

“Knew a couple of people there and they introduced me, and the rest is history. I loved my time there…just sitting at the mini-rink and play hockey for hours was something I loved doing.”

On to Princeton where the Economics major scored his first collegiate goal in his first game at Brown before the injuries struck. This season he is on pace for his best season with one goal and two assists in just the first six games.

“We’ll see where hockey takes me. Stay healthy and see how long I can play for.”

Ma took last year completely off, so has junior status this season with one more year of eligibility. Hopefully, plenty more time quarterbacking the Princeton power play.

(Photos provided by Princeton Men’s Hockey and Athletic Departments))

To all of our NY Hockey OnLine followers, have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving!

CANTON, N.Y. – The No. 6 Plattsburgh State women’s ice hockey team picked up a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) win on Friday evening, taking down SUNY Canton 3-1. With the victory, head coach Kevin Houle became just the third coach in Division III women’s ice hockey to achieve the 500-win mark, joining Middlebury’s Bill Mandigo and Gustavus Adolphus’ Mike Carroll.

The Plattsburgh State Cardinals are currently ranked sixth in the USCHO.com Division III Top-15 Poll.

Houle is the seventh in women’s hockey history across all divisions to hit the 500 mark, with Wisconsin-River Falls head coach Joe Cranston close behind. To commemorate the momentous win, Houle will be honored prior to the team’s SUNYAC matchup against Morrisville on Dec. 6 at 7 p.m.

Kayson Ruegge (Edmond, Okla./Philadelphia Jr. Flyers) tallied the opening goal for the Cardinals, her first in her collegiate career, while Ciara Wall (Somerville, Mass./New Hamphsire) had the game-winner and Kate Conlon (New Hudson, Mich./Little Caesars) sealed the win late in the third period. Ruegge also added an assist, while Chloe Lewis (Monson, Mass./Northwood School) picked up her third win of the season with 18 saves.

The Cardinals controlled the game throughout, dominating on shots 39-19. They also had the only two power play opportunities between either team, scoring on their second and final advantage opportunity to go 1-2 on the day.

Plattsburgh State moves to 3-1-1 (2-1-1 SUNYAC) with the win and next takes on Buffalo State on Saturday, Nov. 23 at 3 p.m. Canton falls to 2-5 (1-4 SUNYAC) and next takes on No. 7 Utica on the road on Tuesday, Nov. 26.

The game began with a scoreless first period, as Plattsburgh State outshot the ‘Roos 12-5. The Cardinals looked to be off to a slow start but jump started their offense with a power play opportunity at the 8:26 mark, as they put six shots on goal in a two-minute span.

The Cards finally got on the board just over three-and-a-half minutes into the second period, as Ruegge took a stretch pass from Su-An Cho (Madison, Ala./Florida Alliance) up the ice and into the Plattsburgh offensive zone. The first-year took a quick shot from the right face-off circle that deflected off the defender in front of her and right past the Canton goalie for her first career score.

The rest of the period saw the Cardinals continue to control the game, putting up 14 shots to Canton’s five.

Play continued to sway Plattsburgh’s way in the third period, as a penalty in the ninth minute set up the Cardinals to cushion their lead. Just over a minute into the advantage, Ruegge was able to keep a puck just inside the blueline, passing off to Mattie Norton (Glen Carbon, Ill./St. Louis Lady Blues). Norton passed off the right face-off circle where Wall stood undefended, skating her way towards the goalie unguarded. The senior then unloaded a strong shot, beating the Canton goalie glove side for her first goal of the season. Norton and Ruegge each tallied assists on the play.

The Kangaroos did not go away quietly, however, as a goal from Anna Pavlasova put the ‘Roos down just one goal with over eight minutes to play.

Plattsburgh, however, continued to play good defense and keep up the pressure offensively, eventually resulting in the game-sealing goal. Just before the 18-minute mark, Conlon skated across the blueline into the offensive zone and took a deep shot from the point as the Cardinals were appearing to go for a change. However, the Canton goalie misplayed a shot that would have likely missed high, deflecting the puck into the goal with her right blocker to seal the win for the Cards. Sydnee Francis (Canton, N.Y./Nepean Jr. Wildcats) and Taya Balfour (Moorestown, N.J./Philadelphia Jr. Flyers) each picked up assists.

Molly Lenihan played 58-and-a-half minutes in goal, making 36 saves as she took the loss.

(Photo provided by Plattsburgh State Athletic Dept.)

By Warren Kozireski —

NHL teams often use their late-round draft selections on what might be called “projects” as in players with potential that may take a little bit longer to develop.

The New York Rangers may have struck gold with their 2023 sixth round pick in 6’7’, 205 lb. center Dylan Roobroeck.

After his selection, the London, Ontario native rewarded their confidence by finishing second on the Oshawa Generals in scoring (72 points) in 2023-24 and helping them reach the Ontario Hockey League championship round.

“We had a pretty good team there last year and fell a little short in the finals, but it was a good year,” Roobroeck said.

In his first professional season this year with the Hartford Wolf Pack in the American Hockey League (AHL), the 20-year old unsurprisingly started slowly going scoreless over his first five games.

But since he has scored a goal in four of his next seven contests and added one assist in another. He registered his first two-point game as a professional Nov. 8 at Rochester and his four goals is third on the team and ties him for seventh among AHL rookies.

“It’s been good; just learning as I go. I’m new to the league so just following other guys, learn as much as I can and try to get better every day.

“Little bit of puck-luck and just gotta keep my head up and play the way I know I can and hope for the best.

What has helped his transition was his late season call-up in 2023-24 and getting into one playoff game last spring.

“It’s huge getting the experience last year even though it was just one game; you get to feel of especially what playoffs are like and what the league’s like.”

The Rangers of late have been selecting more players with size. In 2024, two of their four selections stand 6’4” or taller. In 2023 their last two of five selections are 6’5” or taller including Roobroeck. And the Hartford roster this season features five players standing 6’4” or more.

“It’s good to see. It’s something that I was gifted I guess, so I just need to use it to my advantage.”

And though he is only 20 years old and 12 games deep into his professional career, he is already seeing time with the penalty kill unit.

“Watching video and talking with coaches a lot and just trying to build trust and get more and more ice time.”

And trying to prove that he should have been selected prior to the sixth round.

“Yeah, a little, I guess. I don’t really look at that too much. Just try to focus on what I can control and play my best.”

(Photos provided by Hartford Wolf Pack)