Hockey: Hawks Hand West Second Consecutive Loss

Cranston West hosted Hendricken on Saturday evening, looking to recover from a poor effort in Friday's 6-1 loss to Burrillville. 

"Last night was our worst performance of the year, But I think we bounced back well tonight against the top team in the state," West Coach Michael Boyajian said.

Hendricken scored four unanswered goals in the first 23 minutes and Cranston West could not forge a comeback, only scoring one goal in the remainder of the contest.

The Hawks got off to a fast start with two goals in the opening three minutes of play. Captain Justin Finan assisted Freshmen Matthew Creamer on the first goal. And Robert Buehrer scored at 2:59 in the first period, assisted by David Mitchell to give the Hawks an impressive 2-0 lead early.

"Getting off to a quick start definitely makes things a bit easier," Hendricken Coach James Creamer said.

It was the second night in a row that the Falcons fell behind early, falling behind 5-0 to Burrillville on Friday as well. 

"A few of their goals weren't the best goals. Our goalie was struggling a bit early on. He's been battling the flu. So we had to get him out of there," Boyajian said, speaking of Goaltender Derek Hagopian, who was substituted for in the third period.

Hendricken dominated the first period, outshooting the Falcons 9-2 and netting two goals.

The second period started off similarly, with the Hawks scoring two goals in the first seven minutes. Sloppy passing by the Falcons led to a shorthanded goal by Edward Markowski and the Hawks would score three minutes later on their own power play to put the game out of reach at 4-0. 

The Falcons had plenty of opportunities in the second period, as Hendricken committed five penalties. But the Hawks penalty kill was strong, only allowing one goal. Christopher Dodge scored on the 5-on-3 man advantage in the closing seconds of period two for the Falcons.

The third period would go scoreless and Hendricken defeated West 4-1.

Hendricken improves to 7-0-1 on the season, outscoring their opponents 40-13 in their division leading campaign. 

It was a tough weekend for Cranston West, allowing nine goals in two losses. Cranston West fell behind early in both games, but on a positive note, seemed to respond well after falling behind, playing much better in the second half of both games. The Falcons dropped down to sixth in the division and will need to regroup on Monday and should be able to against a North Kingstown squad that remains winless to this point in the season.