’Canes split pair of league games to open season

By Jacob Marrocco
Posted 12/8/15

The Warwick Veterans boys’ ice hockey team responded to an 8-1 drubbing at the hands of Ponaganset with a 6-5 comeback, overtime victory against Woonsocket/Scituate that saw them trail by three …

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’Canes split pair of league games to open season

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The Warwick Veterans boys’ ice hockey team responded to an 8-1 drubbing at the hands of Ponaganset with a 6-5 comeback, overtime victory against Woonsocket/Scituate that saw them trail by three goals in the third period.

Sophomore standout Collin Csoszor stood tall for Vets, tallying a hat trick against the Novans. Csoszor potted the game-winner in overtime as well to complete his scoring and end the slate on a positive note for Vets.

The weekend didn’t start well for the ’Canes, though.

They drew Division III favorite Ponaganset to open their league schedule and had a tough time hanging with the Chieftains. Ponaganset nearly doubled up Vets in shots, 32-17, and scored four goals in the first period to coast to an 8-1 win at Thayer Arena.

“They definitely are starting to figure out that if they’re not gonna play the style of hockey we’re trying to teach them to play, then this is gonna be the result night after night,” Mike Boyajian, Jr., said Friday night following the loss to Ponaganset. “I thought they came out the other night against Pilgrim and played much more in tune to our style and the results dictated it. Tonight, they tried to be individuals for a lot of it and you saw the result.”

Vets (1-1) had the first chance of the game on a breakaway opportunity from sophomore forward Noah Kane, but goaltender Curtis Briggs made his first of many impressive saves on the night.

’Canes netminder Josh Belleville faced a barrage of shots after that point, allowing his first goal at the 3:50 mark when Ethan Sederback beat him from the center of the offensive zone. Less than a minute later, Josh Dalessio got the puck past Belleville on the right side to make it 2-0.

Ryan Watts got in on the scoring a few minutes later when his shot trickled through the legs of Belleville. Before the period was out, Nick Ferrucci found Josh Soares unmarked for an easy score in front of the net.

D.J. Kowalik was able to put a dent in the deficit with 20 seconds left in the first when he put in a power play goal from the right side of the net, but the ’Canes couldn’t capitalize on their momentum heading into the second trailing 4-1.

The period was scoreless until halfway through when, as the Vets power play ended, the Chieftains took the puck on a breakaway opportunity. Csoszor made an athletic diving poke to seemingly kill the chance, but Watts was there to collect the loose puck and score his second of the night. He would complete his hat trick later in the period to put the Chieftains up 6-1.

Boyajian stuck with Belleville despite the deficit heading into the third instead of giving backup freshman Tyler Parks some ice time.

“Parks literally started playing this week, so we wanted to let him get his feet wet a little bit first before we throw him right into the fire,” Boyajian said. “He just started skating with us this week, so that’s how that goes.”

Watts and Sederback would notch goals in the third period as well to secure the comfortable win.

The ’Canes will host Mt. Hope at Thayer Arena this Friday night before traveling to the West Warwick Civic Center to take on West Warwick/Exeter-West Greenwich.

“It’s a young squad and they’re gonna make mistakes early, but this is kind of what we’re priming them for, to learn early on and then that way, as the season progresses, we’re more in tune with what we’re trying to do.” Boyajian said. “That’s when we’re gonna be able to move forward. We got a lot of young guys and we make a lot of young mistakes, that’s how it works.”

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