Bengals fall in Baron Cup I

The glimpses are coming for a young Benedictine squad, and the Bengals’ faithful enjoy every moment of those instances.

Benedictine was scrappy Feb. 10 in a Baron Cup I quarterfinal against Amherst Steele but couldn’t quite find the breakthrough required.

Although with 16 freshmen and sophomores, the day those glimpses turn into consistency resembling the program’s best days this millennium in the old Red Southeast is coming soon.

Sophomore goaltender Michael Pelc was solid in keeping the Bengals within striking distance. But the Comets got a pair of goals from Joey Kramer, including a beauty on a textbook breakout in the opening period, en route to a 3-0 win.

Benedictine (6-13) was outshot, 25-13, but showed improvement in the second and third after a rough opening period. Coach Bob Kehres would have preferred to see his youthful roster harken back to the type of three periods it logged Feb. 6 against GLHL foe Holy Name, though.

“You know what? The unfortunate part of having a young team is we played Saturday night against Holy Name, and really it was a much better game for us,” Kehres said. “The kids were physical. They were fast. It was an up-tempo game.

“The second and third was a better effort, but I think we were flat. We were just flat. We didn’t create enough offense. Going back to Holy Name, who I think are a really quality program every bit as good as Amherst, and that’s not to take anything away from Amherst. They’re both really solid teams. I think we had 30 shots there, and we had (13) tonight. It’s not good enough. On a big ice surface, we should create more opportunities.”

Kramer delivered a tonesetter at 2:05 of the first to open the Comets’ account and punctuate an aesthetically pleasing sequence for Amherst.

Nathan Harmych won a puck along the boards, and Nick Ciura skated confidently through the heart of the neutral zone, calling for the breakout. He got it, broke in and fed Kramer for a wrister.

The Bengals struggled to move the puck in the opening period, but had some decent looks in the second and third.

Nicholas Desbin had a wrister in front at 8:08 of the second, but was turned away by Amherst goaltender Brady Grove.

In the third, Mikey Price carried into the zone for Benedictine, and Derrick Faulisi snapped a wrister between the circles. But that was also stymied by Grove.

Seconds later, Thomas Hall gave the Comets some cushion with a wrister at 6:06. Kramer later contributed an empty-netter for the final margin.

A bright spot for the Bengals throughout was Pelc, including a 12-save second period. Kehres was pleased with Pelc’s work between the pipes, but as a whole would also like to see those glimpses lead somewhere.

“Michael is fantastic,” Kehres said. “He makes a lot of saves for us. He keeps us in games. He works really hard. He’s one of the hardest-working kids on the team. A lot of times, we’re in games, 2-0, holding GLHL teams to onegoal games and two-goal games because of what he does. He gives us those opportunities.

“But our kids have to learn to feed off him. If he comes up with a big save, they’ve got to generate some energy and make something happen.”