It was 15 years in the making, but the Rome Free Academy hockey squad finally defeated Division II East rival Clinton, 5-1, on their home ice at Kennedy Arena on Friday night.
The Black Knights captured countless victories over the Warriors over the years at Clinton and during the Utica College Hockey Tournament at Utica Auditorium, but before Friday they had somehow came out empty-handed in their home rink in a winning drought dating back to 1995.
But with RFA in a dogfight in the Division II East standings and the sectional playoffs looming, the young squad came in looking to prove a point and did just that by putting in one of their best performances of the season.
"I thought overall it was a solid team effort all the way from the defensive zone, neutral zone and the offensive zone," RFA coach Greg Cuthbertson said. "It was good to see us come out after a good week of practice. That’s what we’ve expected since day one and it was fun to watch, fun being on the bench and the kids were having a good time."
The Black Knights didn’t waste any time getting things started as sophomore forward Garrett Reilley came in and fired the first shot of the game into the Clinton net 18 seconds after the opening faceoff, with assists coming from sophomore Mike Pekarski and junior Max Bartell to put the packed Kennedy Arena crowd on their feet early.
"Max just brought a nice pass over and I beat the goalie one-on-one," Reilley said. "I was just looking to score and put our team up."
Clinton coach Jon Sonderman said Reilley’s quick goal did put the Warriors on their heels but it was something that should have been avoided.
"We made a mistake and they capitalized on it," he said. "That’s the big strong point about RFA is that if we make a mistake they’ll capitalize on it. They’ve got strong shooters and strong players."
The lead was short-lived, though, as Clinton’s Peter Hameline picked up a pass from teammate Connor Eisenbeck and slowly nudged it in passed RFA goalkeeper Mike Endres soon after in front of a crowded net to tie it up.
But the duo of Bartell and Reilley struck hard once again on the Warriors with Bartell sinking in his first goal of the contest on an assist from center ice by Reilley with four minutes left in the first period. Reilley then gave RFA some breathing room by chipping in his second goal of the night and 12th of the season after the first 18 seconds of the second period from a quick pass from Bartell that followed a faceoff in the Clinton zone.
The Warriors made numerous shots to the net including two stinging shots to the net in the second period from Eisenbeck and Steven Abdoo but Endres stayed firm and picked off each with his glove, and the Black Knights defense held on and prevented any more from coming. Endres finished with 27 saves in the net.
"The big part is we did a good job of keeping everything to the outside," said Cuthbertson.
"The defensive zone is something we keep preaching. The kids kept everything together outside, and Mike did his job stopping those shots."
As the final three minutes of the league matchup came ahead, the Warriors called a timeout and in a desperate effort to get more points on the board decided to pull out goalie Alec Yutzler from the game and Sonderman opted for a 6-on-5 power play.
The move backfired as Bartell put in his 17th goal of the season between the pipes within seconds of the timeout to dash any hopes of a Clinton comeback. Kyle Williams and TJ Reilley assisted on the play.
"I didn’t know the goalie was out until I got down there," said Bartell. "I knew they were going to pull him out eventually but I didn’t think it was going to be that early. I was a little surprised."
Sonderman said he felt going with the extra attacker as the Warriors were in RFA territory was the right decision to try and win the game.
"I took the best players out there that were playing well and the puck just didn’t bounce our way," he said. "We made one mistake that allowed RFA to release one in their zone and take it right to the net. It didn’t pan out like we were hoping but I thought it was the best and only move that we had."
Sophomore Eric Joyce sailed in the final goal of the night for RFA with the assist coming from returning Black Knight Nic Tardugno, who was out for over six weeks with a wrist injury.
Cuthbertson mentioned that adding Tardugno back to the mix is a big addition as the whole RFA roster is now available for the first time since the beginning of the season.
"The one thing that we love about Nic is his legs and he’s constantly on the puck," he said. "His hands aren’t there yet but it’s going to come as we get more ice time with him. For a first game back after a long layoff, I think he did okay."
Matt DeMatteo and Jeff Holtzberger also picked up an assist each in the RFA win.
The Black Knights are currently second in the Division II East standings with a league record of 8-2-1, while Clinton drops to fifth at 5-5 in the league. New Hartford sits atop the rankings undefeated in the league at 8-0-1, while Cazenovia is 7-1-2 in third and Hamilton is fourth at 5-5-1.
"Our goal is to win out and get ourselves ready for the postseason," said Cuthbertson. "We’re treating every game as a playoff game. We want to get on a little roll going into the playoffs and it was a good start tonight."
RFA will hit the road to visit Westmoreland for another Division II East matchup on Wednesday at the Whitestown Community Center at 7:30 p.m.
