Iroquois Varsity Boys Hockey Team Start the New Year with a Win and a Tie
The Chiefs went back to their winning ways with an impressive 8-5 victory over the Jamestown Raiders on Friday night at the Jamestown ice arena. The teams played a back and forth first period with Jamestown taking an early lead, but Aiden Abraszek was able to score twice off assists by Steven Kaufmann and John Lavis and the period ended with the game tied at 2. The Chiefs blew the game open at the start of the 2nd period with a 4-goal explosion. Ryan Fehr received a pass from Andrew Takac then fired a laser from the top of the faceoff circle that beat the Jamestown goalie to give the Chiefs the lead for good. Tyler Hirsh added to the lead just 30 seconds later with a beautiful breakaway goal off an assist from Kaufmann. Kaufmann scored 20 seconds later and the rout was on. John Lavis scored off an assist from Richard Karalus making the score 6-2. The Raiders made things interesting by scoring twice before the end of the 2nd. The Chiefs put the game away for good in the 3rd period when Abraszek scored his 3rd of the game followed by another goal from Lavis. The line of Ryan Fehr, Mark Morganti, and Pat Stenzel was a force throughout the game.
The Chiefs looked to extend their winning streak when they faced Lancaster Sunday afternoon at the Depew rink. Despite controlling much of the play, the Chiefs were unable to capitalize on numerous scoring opportunities hitting 3 goal posts in the 1st period which ended scoreless for both teams. The Chiefs appeared to lose the momentum they had built after a penalty resulted in a Lancaster power play goal early in the 2nd period. The Chiefs went on a power play of their own one minute later and were able to even the score with a goal by Aiden Abraszek after Ryan Marshall and Steven Kaufmann did some great work behind the Lancaster net to feed him the puck in the slot. The game remained tied into the 3rd when Richard Karalus one timed a perfect pass from John Lavis on another Chiefs power play, giving the Chiefs the lead. Lancaster tied the score 3 minutes later. It was then that Kaufmann scored a highlight reel goal going end to end and finishing off the play with a slick backhand move. The Chiefs appeared to be on their way to another victory when Lancaster pulled their goalie and tied the game with 28 seconds left, ending the game in a 3-3 tie.
The Chiefs next game is Saturday, January 11th at the Hockey Outlet.
Photo:
Celebrating the win against East Aurora on New Year’s Day: Patrick Stenzel, Aiden Abraszek, Steven Kaufmann, Kyle Kupczyle and Patrick Marrone.
Iroquois JV Beat Eden/Lakeshore in New Year
The JV Iroquois Chiefs played a fantastic team game on friday night against their Eden/Lakeshore oppenent. After a busy previous two weeks where the JV team had to dealt with more than a few games with a short bench an almost healthy team competed and completed their most effective team win of the season. In beating Eden/Lakeshore 3-2 the JV Chiefs continued their balance scoring and while playing solid team defense. Max Testa, who was a plus 3 for the game, was outstanding in all three areas of the rink. His assist on the first goal to a wide open Cameron Ellis was a tap in. Alex Held, back from a long injury layoff, couldn’t have reappeared at a better time. He has been playing quality minutes in addition to scoring some timely goals. In terms of defense the pairing of Patrick Marrone and Owen Creighton were a shutdown couple skating against the Chiefs top line all night. In the pipes, for his third win of the year, was Colton Degrace who stoped 12 of 14 shots.
The JV Chiefs have a 5-7-1 record through 13 games.
With a well deserved layoff coming up the JV Chiefs are ready to make playoff push with their 6 remaining games.
