Boys Fed Hockey Roundup – Friday, December 21st

Recapping Yesterday’s games:

Division I

St. Joe’s 5, Williamsville North 1

It’s a Christmas tradition like any other.

A wild, full capacity crowd invades Northtown Center’s Feature Rink every Thursday night before Christmas for a rivalry game like no other.

And despite this year’s lopsided final score, the game still lived up to the hype.

“If you’re not falling in love with high school hockey after that, I don’t know when you will,” St. Joe’s coach Rich Crozier said. “That was a lot of fun. Hats off to North and their student section. I thought our boys were great. What a fun hockey game.”

Marauders’ junior Mitch Floccare, who entered the game with just two goals, was able to write his own chapter in the rivalry, scoring a hat-trick.

“Mitch is a very good hockey player; he’s very smart,” Crozier said. “His offensive play came alive tonight but that’s not just who he is. He’s a strong all-around hockey player. When it’s late in the game and we need to shut a team down were going to call him.”

Floccare gave his team a much-welcomed quick start taking advantage of the Marauders’ first power play opportunity scoring two-and-a-half minutes into the game.

St. Joe’s scored again as Kyle Schneider found the back of the net with 2:34 left in the period.

The Spartans quickly came back when Jeff Cummins found Matthew Scott to cut the deficit to one goal at the intermission.

Any life Will North had going into the second was short lived as Floccare netted his second goal just over a minute into the period.

That was followed by a goal from Joe Tobia to extend the Marauder lead to 4-1 going into the second intermission.

In the third, Floccare scored a shorthanded goal to complete the hat-trick, his first in the Fed.

“It was huge,” Floccare said. “It was a jolt for the boys. The crowd really got into it.”

The good news for Williamsville North, who falls to 2-2, is that they have a lot of hockey left to play and that the Marauders have no bearing on their quest for a sectional title. Noteworthy is the fact that the Spartans lost to St. Joe’s by the same score in 2016-17 before going on to win the state title that year.

“Our goal is to win a sectional championship,” Will North coach Bob Rosen said. “St. Joe’s doesn’t stand in the way of that. I told the kids ‘it’s two points.’ It’s a game and every night in our league you have tough games and you have to come and compete. I think that’s why our teams out of Section VI do so well in the state tournament.”

Division II

Williamsville East 11, Alden-Iroquois 2

The Flames snapped Iroquois-Alden’s four-game winning streak and picked up their first league win since November 30th.

Mike Wolf, Brennan McCarthy and Jason Melanson had a pair of goals each. Dillan Smith, Ryan Mitchell, Ryan Meade, Chris Coyle and Trevor Cohan also scored for Will East.

Luke Pukalo and Dalton Trites both netted goals for Iroquois-Alden.

Non-League

Kenmore West 10, Starpoint 2

Cam Crosier and Jacob Vacanti each netted hat-tricks as the Blue Devils extended their winning streak to seven games.

Fed-assist leader Ethan Yotter added four helpers for Kenmore West. Tyler Buyea (two goals), Dylan Speck and Gavin Piehler also scored for the Blue Devils.

Joe LoBrutto and Tommy Mazgaj scored for the Spartans.

Monsignor Martin

St. Francis 3, Canisius 3 (OT)

Division III’s St. Francis tied Division I-leading Canisius in a game that will help determine seedings for the Niagara Cup playoffs.

The Crusaders took the lead with Tim Nettina goal with 8:52 left in the first only to have Jake Sgroi tie it for the Red Raiders a minute later.

St. Francis had a 3-1 lead with six minutes left in the second period after goals from Dylan Felser and Ryan Fitch.

Canisius answered back before the horn as Sammy Nichols found the back of the net with 24 seconds left in the period.

Jaden Riley scored unassisted to tie the game with 11:53 left in the third period.

Today’s games:

Niagara Wheatfield vs. Frontier 5:30 p.m. Leisure Rink

In the battle of the Falcons in Division I, N-W is looking to pick up their fifth win in six games as Frontier is stilling hunting for their first point of the season.

St. Joe’s vs. Orchard Park 7:45 p.m. Leisure Rink

It’s the Marauders’ second contest of a three-game stretch in as many days as they take on the Quakers for the first time this year. St. Joe’s goaltender Joe Fronczak has only given up two goals in 158 minutes. The Quakers are looking for their first win since December 1st.

Iroquois-Alden vs. West Seneca West 7:30 p.m. HarborCenter

The two teams are locked in a three-way tie with Hamburg for second place in Division II. West Seneca West rebounded from a 3-1 loss to Hamburg on Friday with a win over North Tonawanda on Saturday. Iroquois-Alden is coming off a tough 11-2 loss to Williamsville East Thursday night.

Williamsville South vs. Kenmore East 5:30 p.m. Northtown Center

Both teams will be looking to pick up their second Fed win of the season. Ryan Hahn and Michael Greiner have led the way for the Bulldogs with six points each. Grayson Gare has two goals and as many assists.

Lew-Port vs. Williamsville East 7:45 p.m. Northtown Center

West Seneca East vs. North Tonawanda 6:00 p.m. Cornerstone Ice Arena

Hamburg vs. Starpoint 8:15 p.m. Cornerstone Ice Arena