Eagles repeat as sectional champs

Bievenue’s hat trick keys Bethlehem’s win over Shenendehowa

A swift poke check of the puck in his own zone started the play and after forcing the turnover on the game’s opening shift, Mike Bievenue took care of the rest as he skated down the ice and scored just 22 seconds into the Section II championship game.

The goal was Bievenue’s 50th of the season and was the first of three goals for the junior as Bethlehem never trailed en route to its second straight Division I championship with a 4-2 win over Shenendehowa Sunday night at Messa Rink.

“It feels spectacular. I’m still shaking,” Bethlehem coach Dylan Lappe said. “We’ve been working for this all year and our expectations were high.”

The quick start was key for Bethlehem (20-2-1, 13-2-1) as the Eagles avenged an earlier defeat at Shenendehowa (166-1, 10-4-0) in December.

“We knew we had to come out strong. We knew they were going to come out strong,” Bievenue said. “I saw the puck, the defense bobbled it, I picked it up and was going two-on-one with my brother (William) and I just saw the opening, hit the (inside) post. That was the best feeling, knowing we were up 1-0 in the first 20 seconds. It set the tone for the rest of the game.”

Bethlehem surged with momentum and struck again at 3:26 when Ben Lavigne cut through the Plainsmen defense for a shot that was denied by Shen goaltender but Bievenue was there for the rebound and a 2-0 Eagles lead.

“You can’t stop Mike Bievenue. All season long you

can’t stop him,” Lappe said. “If he’s got his wheels going, he’s going to take off around you and it showed.”

After being outshot 14-3 in the opening period, Shen picked up the physical play and cut the deficit to 2-1 on Tyler Sullivan’s goal at 5:43 of the second.

Eagles sophomore goaltender Michael Kurdziolek came up with 10 of his 24 saves in the second period and kept the puck out of the net long enough for Bievenue to net his third of the game at 13:25 to give the Eagles a 3-1 lead heading into the final period.

Shen pressed throughout

the third and just missed when Sullivan rang the puck off the post with 13:05 left, but the pressure paid off when Brennan Alheim scored at 6:19 of the period to cut the Eagles’ lead to 3-2.

“We knew it was a matter of time that it would happen because we were outplaying them,” Shenendehowa coach Juan de la Rocha said. “That is the type of play our team is capable of. We just ran out of time and chances.”

Shen carried the momentum, but Kurdziolek stood tall, coming up with a big stop on Brendan Mccauley’s wraparound bid with 2:59 left and Shen on the power play.

With Shen pressing, Bievenue carried the puck into the Shen zone and fed it to brother William, who got a shot off on Leighton with the rebound squirting to Lavigne, who scored with 1:46 left to give the Eagles a 4-2 lead.

“We didn’t start of the period that well. They spent most of the time in our zone, but we play everyone to the net, all energy to the net,” Lavigne said. “The puck trickled out and I buried it.”

Bethlehem will move to regional play this weekend against Section I champ Suffern, a team Bethlehem beat 6-3 on the road earlier this season.

▶ Sean Martin, a local freelance writer, is a frequent contributor to the Times Union