Harwood skates past Stowe, 4-1
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Harwood's Noah Goss-Wolinder tries to send the puck in front of Stowe's Ross Mandigo during the second period of Wednesday's game during the Karen Weiss Ice Hockey Tournament at the Central Vermont Memorial Civic Center. STEFAN HARD/TIMES ARGUS |
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By KRIS MARTIN Correspondent - Published: December 3, 2009
EAST MONTPELIER – With only three teams slated to take the ice Wednesday evening for first round of U-32's annual Karen Weiss Ice Hockey Tournament, the host Raiders were assured of one thing: an unblemished record going into Saturday evening.
After a U-32 intrasquad scrimmage in the matinee, the Raiders stuck around afterwards to get a look at possible Saturday night foes as the Harwood Highlanders downed the Stowe Raiders 4-1 in the nightcap.
After a quiet first period on the scoring front, the Highlanders got it going quickly in the second stanza. Harwood junior Nik Laskaris racked up a hat trick in that single period, providing all the firepower the Highlanders needed as the team shook the dust off the skates and turned in a scintillating performance (in typical Harwood fashion).
"Harwood skates well, they move the puck and they're disciplined team," Stowe coach Silas Gilbert said. "We had moments where I thought we should have moved the puck a little bit faster."
"It was a very sketchy first period," Harwood coach Dave Morse said. "We came out very flat, nervous – maybe overconfident – and Stowe came out really wanting to stick it to us. I thought Jeff (Evans-Mongeon) kept us in the game. I think the second period is an example of how we play. I thought we did a lot of things right. The guys kinda' took over, the message was, 'you know the systems, now you just gotta' beat guys to pucks.' Our power play can be dominating when we do what we can do. It showed when we spread the ice and started to move the puck."
For Laskaris, the early success served as a confidence booster. But in the back of his head he knows that every game is a 'must-win' situation.
"It was a good way to start the season," Laskaris said. "We still have a lot to work on, but for a first game it was awesome. It will be a tough year having moved up to Division I. Stowe was much better than I expected, and it was a battle all three periods. They had a chance to come back and make it interesting around the second and third periods. My goal is to always get better – if you don't take it like that then it's not worth skating."
Highlander Cam Rivers tallied a fourth goal for his team in the third period, with Stowe senior Graham Post finding the net for the Raiders' lone goal. Evans-Mongeon stopped 17 shots for the Highlanders between the pipes, while Matt Rauch made 19 saves for Stowe.
The Highlanders (1-0) will play Peoples Academy on Saturday, with Stowe (0-1) facing off against the U-32 Raiders.
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