SHEN SHUT OUT AGAIN
LaSalle defense earns season sweep of Plainsmen
CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. » The LaSalle ice hockey team remained one step ahead of Shenendehowa for the second time this season, shutting out the Plainsmen for the second time this year with goaltender Casey Boone earning his scoreless win for the Cadets Wednesday night at the Prestige Services Arena in Clifton Park.
LaSalle only needed D.J. Pauley’s goal just 33 seconds into the second period from assists by Tom Ryan and Taylor Nitz and the Cadets defense for the remainder to secure the second point of the series.
“We work on what I want the kids to do and everybody knows that they have a role to play in the defensive zone,” LaSalle Coach Tim Flanigan said. “I think that’s one of the things we’ve improved from the beginning of the season and its hard work, it’s not glorious.
“Everyone wants to score, everyone wants to play offense, but you can’t win games unless you play good defense. There is no secret, it’s all five guys working together, understanding that they have a role and they have a responsibility in the defensive zone and if one doesn’t do his job it
could be a wide open scoring chance that we don’t want to give the other team.”
Boone turned back all 26 shots that made it through his defense Wednesday night, almost matching his 28-save win in mid-December against the Plainsmen, crediting his men in front of the net for truly allowing him to be the last line of protection in front of the net.
“It makes life a whole lot easier, they’re doing their job and I’m doing mine and the forwards are doing what they can do,” Casey Boone said. It’s really good to have the defense stepping up, especially this time of year coming into playoffs and stuff. It’s good.”
Shenendehowa can’t look at its own netminder as Kent Leighton finished with 26 saves on the night and was shielded on the lone LaSalle score.
“Thankfully for him we survived the first period,” Shenendehowa Coach Juan de la Rocha said. “The second period, the goal they scored we go to block a shot and kids gets a second chance at it and when he does, there were so many people in the shooting lane that Kent couldn’t even see the puck.
“Luckily for them it found the back of the net. We’re not getting that luck, they’re getting blocked or hitting the post.”
Throughout the contest LaSalle was in control, moving the puck at will, pressuring the Plainsmen in waves and when needed, picking the puck up off of errant Shenendehowa passes.
“We’ve got some good players and we try to get all the players to get their heads up and look and know if you don’t have a really good pass don’t be afraid to hold onto it or ice it,” Flanigan said. “There is nothing wrong with a dump in if you don’t have anything else.
“There is nothing wrong with an icing if you don’t have anything else and they’re playing with patience, they’re getting their head up and they’re making really good passes.”
It’s that lesson that could relieve the burden on the Shenendehowa offense and provide even more scoring opportunities.
“I feel like we have the ability to do that, but we’re out of sync, our timing is off,” de la Rocha said. “We’re holding onto the puck too long and now we’re trying to force a pass that two seconds ago was an easy pass and now it’s not so much. Now it’s a tough angle, the kid doesn’t have a lot of space. Our passing needs to be a second sooner and that’s kind of just throwing off our timing.”
Timing could be everything as the season winds down with a handful of games left on the schedule before the playoffs beginning in less than a month. LaSalle currently rests in third place behind CBA and Bethlehem while Shenendehowa is tied for fifth in the middle of the pack.
While LaSalle looks to focus on perfection, the Plainsmen are still looking for answers that may be as simple as looking in the mirror.
“If you don’t have the effort you’re not going to get the chances and don’t have to worry about execution,” de la Rocha said. “We’re starting to put the effort in a little bit more and we’re finding that we’re getting more chances during the game. We need to keep at it when.
“Life is about instant gratification these days and hockey games are not. If we don’t get rewarded right away with something I feel like we start to fall off a little bit and we can’t do that. That’s the struggle we’re in right now. We have to get better at that.”