BOBWHITES STAY PERFECT WITH WIN OVER RICE
By John Bonnette
County Courier
SOUTH BURLINGTON- Owen Benoit and Caden Hart scored 28 seconds apart, propelling the Bobwhites (2-0) over Rice 3-2 in South Burlington on Saturday evening.
“Rice is a very good hockey team,” BFA Coach Toby Ducolon said. “They have good skills; they can skate, they move the puck, and they have good goaltending.”
“They are a complete team, so for us to come down and compete with them this early in the season is very encouraging. It has been a full week but a good one as well. Our effort, we scrap, and we work very hard as a group, so it is a great sign.”
Most of the game was dominated by the play of Ellis and Rice goaltender Carson Barnes (26 saves) as well as BFA’s penalty kills, which held the Green Knights to just two goals on seven power plays.
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“Special teams were a big factor in the game, when we did get down low the goalie was quick to cover it up, and we could not get those extra chances,” Rice Coach Jerry Tarrant said. “I think they are two of the better goalies in the league, and you expect that from them. It was an early season game, but it was two pretty good, comparable teams, and they came up on the better side today.”
BFA’s Dominic Liscinsky opened the scoring 7:37 into the game when he snuck a shot from the point past Barnes to put the Bobwhites on the board.
The Bobwhites were moving the puck around the outside of the Rice zone when Levi Webb cut to the middle of the ice before finding Liscinsky at the left point. Liscinksy then fired a low shot along the ice through a crowd that slipped just inside the right post for a 1-0 BFA lead.
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“Dom’s got a good idea when he is standing on the offensive blue line of where the net is,” Ducolon said. “Some guys get it, and some don’t and have to look, but Dom knows where the net is even when he is looking down and he can rip it. It was a nice shot and greatly needed.”
After leading 1-0 after one period, the Bobwhites would dig themselves in a hole early in the second period as they took three straight penalties that allowed the Green Knights to even the score at one apiece.
As Rice’s third straight power play was winding down, the Green Knights moved the puck around the zone before Jackman Hickey found Dan Han McHugh at the right circle. Han McHugh ripped a shot under the crossbar to even the score at 1-1 with 5:15 left in the second period.
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“I think overall we were good with the physical part of the game, but we took some penalties that in the future will get us in big trouble and put us in bad situations,” Ducolon said. “On the other end of it we had to fight really hard to get through those situations, and we did, so that part was good.
Ducolon credited his players with grit as they worked through the situation they made for themselves, “We killed some penalties, that was good, and we did not come unglued because we were in a tough situation, we just kind of fought through those tough minutes.”
The Bobwhites responded quickly after Rice knotted the game, thanks to a great individual effort by Benoit.
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Benoit picked up a loose puck just outside his own blue line and raced down the right side before beating a Green Knight defender at the blue line. Then as he cut in alone to the net, Barnes made a save on his first shot, then as he was being pulled down from behind, Benoit was able to poke the rebound in for a 2-1 BFA lead.
“It turned into a breakaway, and when he got to the net, Owen has some nice offensive skills,” Ducolon said. “He can finish doing some nice stuff, and he did exactly that. He was tired, it was the end of his shift, but he executed really well.”
BFA would then extend that lead moments later as Parker Gratton controlled the puck off a turnover deep in the Rice zone and then found Hart cutting to the slot for a one-timer that sailed past Barnes for a 3-2 lead with 3:49 left in the second period.
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“It was kind of a bounce in the zone,” Ducolon explained. “We had a good chance, and it was a great effort by the red line (Gratton, Hart and Derick Nadeau). Caden got the last shot on it, and obviously, that was a big goal.”
“If you give us three goals and solid goaltending, we will be tough to beat,” Ducolon continued.
Rice’s Connor Peet would add a power-play goal when he banged home a rebound with less than a minute to play, and Rice with a 6-on-4 on-ice advantage cut the lead to 3-2 before the Bobwhites hung on for the win.
“What we did was we got it to the net and we got a rebound from it and that is what it was,” Tarrant said. “Ellis gobbled up a lot of stuff and didn’t give up a lot of rebounds. We had plenty of shots but he did not give up many rebounds but when he did [that] time, we had the presence to be able to knock it in.”
Ducolon praised his senior netminder who followed up with a 23 save performance against Colchester on Wednesday with a 28 save night against Rice.
“Guy Ellis is at a point in his game and his high school career where is a game changer,” Ducolon said. “He tracks pucks very well and sees the puck very well. It’s no mystery where the puck is, he knows exactly where it is and where it is going. He makes it look easy. It is very suffocating to another team when he makes it look that easy.”
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BFA (2-0) will have most of the week off before hosting Canton (NY) and Spaulding in the annual Doc Tulip tournament Friday and Saturday, respectively.
“Right now, we just need to rest because it is the first week. It has been a great week, and it is a good start with a lot of guys who didn’t play last year getting some time,” Ducolon said, “Now we need to get a little bit of rest and get prepared for two tough games next weekend.
Duncolon is enthusiastic about the outlook of his team, “The impression I get after a Colchester game when you are up by two, three, and four goals, the guys are killing themselves to block shots. Then all of a sudden when you come down here against a good Rice team, and our effort is there is that no one can question that after six periods so when you get guys working very hard as a group it can be very dangerous.”
It’s going to come down to how the Bobwhites do holding it together this year, “We are a very hard working group and hopefully we can keep that up,” Ducolon said.
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