For the first half of Central Bucks West’s 9-1 win over Neshaminy last Wednesday in Hatfield, the lead story was West’s nine goals.
When the final horn sounded, the lead story might have been Neshaminy’s one goal. Despite being staked to an 8-0 lead midway through the second period, neither Neshaminy nor West goalie Liam Rogers let up. Rogers turned away Neshaminy’s final 22 shots.
Neshaminy outshot the Bucks 25-14 over the second and third periods, but Rogers put up a “Closed” sign above goal for the game’s final 29-plus minutes.
Neshaminy “definitely turned it around after the first period. They were moving the puck pretty well. Their shot quality went up,” Rogers noticed. “They were shooting from the point a lot and screening me. I thought they played well.”
“We just won a game 9-1 but we got outshot,” noted West coach Dave Baun. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before. (Neshaminy) has some good players and Liam had to make some good stops. Maybe the score wasn’t indicative of how the game was played.”
Anthony Dowd, West’s leading scorer, tallied his fourth goal of the game when there was still 5:30 left in the first period. It gave West a 5-0 advantage.
“We got some good looks and the key to scoring goals is shooting the puck and going to the net,” Baun said. “If you do those two things at any level, that’s how you’ll score.”
“This is definitely a big morale booster for us,” said West captain and defenseman John Cherubini. “Games like this help our team realize what we have. We have the skills to compete when we put shots on net, pass the puck, get back and watch our positions, work defensively and work as a team.”
Adam Ricci scored West’s third goal on a give-and-go from Dowd. Ricci repaid the favor on Dowd’s fourth goal with a nifty pass behind goal. Dowd converted it from the left side.
Bucks Brandon March and Thomas Schlotter both scored their first goals of the year early in the second period. Both came via slapshots a few steps inside the blue line.
“In the league, we’ve taken our share of tough games and once in a while we will hand one out,” Baun reflected. “Neshaminy was a little short of players and had a young goalie in there. It is good for our kids to get a win and have some kids score some goals who don’t normally score.”
Schlotter’s tally made the score 8-0 with 12:47 left in the second. Neshaminy’s Jake Delaney answered six seconds later, but just one other goal would be scored in the back half of the game. Rogers made four great saves to kill a Neshaminy power play midway in the second and make sure the lone goal stayed a lone goal.
“You’re just following the puck,” Rogers described. “You have to keep your eyes open. Even people without the puck are threats. You have to look all over the ice, especially on penalties. The extra guy means extra opportunities for them. They moved the puck well during the power play.”
West (2-11-1-1) embraced the win. The Bucks earned points in three of their first eight games, but hadn’t won since their Nov. 15 game against Council Rock North.
“We’ve been struggling with wins but I think we played really well,” Rogers said. “We put a lot of shots up.” The Bucks’ 29 shots were the most in their last seven games.
“After the last two rough ones against the Council Rocks, this week was definitely working on possession,” Cherubini said. “We’ve been stressing on getting the puck deep past defenders and rush in. Get possession and get in their zone.”
West is eighth in the Suburban High School Hockey League National. They face a tall order to climb into sixth for the final playoff, but the Bucks have just one game remaining against a top four team.
“You have to keep moving forward,” Baun reminded. “You build on the small things to try and make them into big things.”
After press time, West took the ice in a Wednesday late game against Souderton.
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