Mounties Hockey Rides Strong 3rd Period In 5-3 Win Over Millburn

The Montclair Ice Hockey Team rode a strong three-goal 3rd period en route to a 5-3 victory over Millburn on Friday.

"[At second intermission] we talked about playing the 1-1-3 [forecheck] effectively, and we talked about running the tactical things that we needed to do effectively," said Mounties Head Coach Pat Verney. "We did come out with some energy ... when you lack energy and passion it just doesn't work."

Montclair, with the game tied, stepped up their game in the opening five minutes of the 3rd period. Freshman Sam Shatz, in his first game back from an injury, broke the tie game off of a deflected shot from Connor Brand at the 12:14 mark to give the Mounties the lead. "His energy was great," said Verney.

Forward Ryan Vanderford said, "In the third period we were trapping well and we were running our system well ... we kept getting the puck deep and getting shots on goal."

After Shatz scored a goal, the Mounties rolled with the momentum getting two additional insurance goals from Stephen Smith. Smith, who moved up from defense, scored the Mounties fourth goal just 12 seconds after Shatz gave them the lead off of passes from Ben Garfinkle and Will Trewenen. Smith added his second back, breaking goal on a slap shot that trickled past the goaltender after receiving a pass from Anthony Paradiso. "We threw [Smith] up there to give us a spark and he gave us a spark," said Verney.

The Mounties started the first period strong with goals from Paradiso and Vanderford which helped them go into first intermission with a 2-1 lead. Vanderford and Paradiso both finished the contest with a goal and assist. "The best player on the ice today was Ryan Vanderford ... he's a freshman and he's phenomenal," said Verney.

The second period yielded the emergence of goaltender Brendan Gaysens who, although allowing a goal, made a number of big saves throughout the period. "Brendan's a very good goaltender ... he's going to have to be a very good goaltender for Montclair to have a shot in any game," said Verney. Gaysens finished with an unofficial total of 32 saves.

The Mounties, with the victory, are 3-0 and looking forward to a matchup with State Champions West Essex on Saturday. "West Essex is the defending state champion and if we don't play a lot better we're going to take our medicine," said Verney. Added Vanderford, "We have to play the system exactly how coach Verney puts in place for us, and we have to really watch out for Travis Trent."