Legends Late Goal Ices Crusaders

By Frank Wolf                                                     @wolf3328

It was a showdown between two premier teams in the Fed Monday night out at Hyde Park. Canisius and Lancaster ended their respective Holiday breaks up in Niagara Falls with the Legends earning a 2-1 victory.

Mike Shaver scored two goals in the 3rd period to help improve Lancaster’s record to 4-2-1 on the season. After playing through two scoreless periods, Shaver tapped in a loose puck in the opening minute of the final period.

Canisius answered back with a goal by Matt Kreuzer at 5:44. After trading several good scoring chances Shaver once again was the recipient of a golden opportunity. With just over a minute left in regulation, Shaver jumped on a loose puck and knocked it between goaltender Ryan O’Donnell’s pads for the eventual game-winner.

“Right place, right time” the senior forward said after the game. This is his first season with Lancaster after playing previously for the Buffalo Regals. “I just wanted to play with my friends” Shaver said. The talented winger could have had three, he was stopped on a breakaway in the dying minutes of the 2nd period.

This Lancaster team features several players that left their travel teams to give the high-school team a go. They include forward Chris Blachowski, defenseman Jackson Vanderbosch and goaltender Justin Stotz.

Blachowski and teammate Jeff Coons lead the Legends with 10 points. The story of the day Monday night though, was the play of Stotz. The netminder was tried early and often. The first big save came in the opening minute when Canisius forward Logan Gare carried a puck in from center and danced his way in all alone. Stotz stopped Gare on the breakaway. Moments later Gare was the recipient of a well-timed pass off a 2-on-1 but Stotz was able to stretch the left pad out, making the save.

After the game Lancaster Head Coach Kevin Miller was happy with his team’s performance “That was a hard fought win and it could have gone either way” adding “anytime you go into the third period zero-zero all it takes is one bounce.” In Lancaster’s case they needed two.

“Our guys played a full three periods” Crusaders Head Coach Sam Belsito said. “We’ve just been struggling to put the puck in the net. I can’t fault our effort tonight.”

For Canisius it is their 4th team loss in a row after starting the season 2-1-1. Currently the Crusaders are in last place of Division 1 with five points. They’ll have 3 practices before they play again. “We’ll have good practices in before we play Hamburg on Saturday. We’ll be able to work on some things. As a team we just need to stay focused. We have to forget about certain things that don’t go our way. If we can stay composed and keep working as hard as we have we’ll improve.”

Crusader Captain Kevin Bennett believes his team is getting better too. “Our compete level was there tonight we just have to finish our chances” He said adding “if we keep putting in the same work ethic that we have been things will start to go our way.” Canisius did play well Monday. Especially on the physical side of the game. The Crusaders created the majority of odd-man rushes but were unable to beat Stotz when they needed too. Canisius led in the shots on goal department with twenty-eight. Still, their record won’t reflect their efforts at 2-4-1. Lancaster was a big test and a strong opponent. “That was the most physical team we’ve faced. We were very fortunate to get that bounce at the end” Legends coach Miller stated.

The Crusaders have Hamburg and Clarence coming up this weekend and then Frontier. All three are down in Division 2 but no less competitive, play well defensively and feature some of the Fed’s best goaltenders.

Lancaster has a date with Kenmore East of Division 2 on Thursday. The Legends are riding a two-game winning streak and are just two points behind Orchard Park in the standings. The Quakers blanked Lancaster 2-0 back on Dec 18th and won’t see face-off with Lancaster again until February.

The Legends should see two players returning to the lineup soon in Bryce Benham (High-Ankle Sprain) and Noah Machlowski (Shoulder). Coach Miller expects both back this week. “Bryce is a high-energy guy who can score and Noah is a grinder and his linemates miss him you can tell.”