There is a bright future ahead for the Rome Free Academy hockey squad as the Black Knights have opened some eyes early this season and showed a hint on Tuesday night of what each player can be capable of on the squad.
After coming off a strong performance in the Utica College Tournament over the weekend by nearly defeating state champion New Hartford in the championship round, RFA came out hard in their home opener and skated to a 6-1 victory over visiting Division II East Conference foe Whitesboro at the Kennedy Arena on Tuesday night.
The Romans showed off their speed against the Warriors’ defense by scoring three quick goals in the opening period which turned out to be the deciding factors for the Black Knights’ win.
But even though the Rome squad came out with the decisive win, they couldn’t have done it without the leadership of junior forward Max Bartell and senior goaltender Mike Endres.
Bartell led the team in scoring with a three goal hat trick on the night, as he scored one goal in each period, including two goals that were shorthanded and all coming when the Warriors were least expecting it.
"It was our home opener so we were pretty pumped for that and wanted to come out and get the win," Bartell said. "We work in practice on everything so everyone knows what they’re doing when situations like this happen so it’s good everybody’s on the same page and knows what’s going on," he added.
Bartell’s first goal was also a big part of the Black Knights’ offensive barrage in the first period as the hosts scored three goals in 1 minute, 26 seconds with Bartell’s unassisted score.
RFA junior forward Nick Tardugno also had a opening period goal off an intercepted pass with 6:34 remaining for his first of the season. Tardugno would also score the team’s third goal off an assist from sophomore forward Garrett Reilley ten seconds after Bartell’s tally, which was also the second straight shorthanded goal for Rome.
RFA head coach Greg Cuthbertson said Bartell is a real important part of a core group of players that the team relies on out on the ice.
"He’s one of those core guys and someone we look up to," said Cuthbertson. "He cares about winning and its nice to see a kid like that get rewarded. He worked in the offseason and really improved his game and I’m happy that he’s doing some good things out there," he added.
Bartell would score his final goal to complete the hat trick in the third period after capturing a high shot that nearly hit the railings attached to the arena’s ceiling and he went down with two defenders behind him then fired in his sixth goal of the season.
The score also knocked out Whitesboro goalie Tyler Garcia from the game as he finished with nine saves and allowing five goals. Ryan Smith relieved him and picked up four saves with one goal allowed.
Ken Adams also scored his first goal of the season off an assist from Joey Rutkowski in the second period for Rome, while Reilley finished up with two assists. Eric Joyce also had an assist off Bartell’s third goal.
Three out of the Black Knights’ six goals were shorthanded which Cuthbertson added that improving RFA’s attack against the powerplay was something they worked on during the offseason.
"It’s something that we’ve come into the year knowing that it was something that needed to be fixed," Cuthbertson said.
"A lot of times with a man down situation you catch the other team off guard a little bit because they’re thinking offense all the time, and when you get an opportunity to play offense with a man down situation sometimes that’s the best time. Right now, we’ve got some great personnel out there and they’re doing the right things and making things happen," he added.
But RFA wouldn’t have gotten the win if it wasn’t for their goalie Endres, who made 24 saves in the net and has only allowed three goals in two games all season.
"He’s playing his game and that’s what we want," Cuthbertson said. "Mike’s going to keep us in games and that’s all we want our keepers to do back there and give us a chance to win."
Having not scored a goal in their last two games, 0-3 overall Whitesboro fired in their only goal in the second period off the stick of David Abdou from an assist by Nick Foresti and John Odell, who before the score spent most of the first two periods in the penalty box with three infractions for a total of 12:30.
Whitesboro coach Mark Evans said that even though the Warriors only scored one goal he liked what he saw from his group of kids.
"We put a lot of pressure I thought in the first period," he said. "We had a lapse out there for a few minutes and they got three quick ones but we didn’t give up. We fought back and we outshot them 22-7 in the final two periods."
Evans also noted that the Warriors were also picking up some chemistry as well as good leadership which had been lacking in their two previous games.
The Black Knights increased their record to 2-1 overall and are unbeaten in league play at 2-0 but Cuthbertson added that despite the win more could’ve been done on the team’s part.
"There were times that I thought we played pretty good hockey by there were also times I thought we slowed the game down a little bit with their handling the puck too much," he said. "We want to be a team that moves the puck and I think that are speed and our skill is what our strengths are and if we start handling the puck too much it slows the game down."
Cuthbertson also thinks the Black Knights have the potential to have a strong season and the kids are working very hard to get to that point.
"I think this team has the talent but it’s a matter of getting things right, getting the right personnel and getting the right mix in there," he said. "It’s a long season to go and we’re just trying to get better every day and that’s our focus," he said.
