McGhie's shutout lifts 'Canes over Huskies

Matt Metcalf, Assistant Sports Editor
Posted 1/6/15

The Warwick Vets boys’ hockey team put together one of its most emphatic wins over the last few seasons on Friday night, powering its way past Mount Hope, 7-0, to move into fourth place in Division …

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McGhie's shutout lifts 'Canes over Huskies

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The Warwick Vets boys’ hockey team put together one of its most emphatic wins over the last few seasons on Friday night, powering its way past Mount Hope, 7-0, to move into fourth place in Division III.

The ‘Canes scored three goals in the first period and two each in the second and third periods, while goaltender Nick McGhie posted his first shutout of the season, turning aside all 20 shots that he faced in the game to secure the win.

Vets received a big confidence boost with the win, as it got handed a lopsided 9-2 loss against Ponaganset on December 20.

“It was nice to see the kids bounce back after a little layoff,” head coach Mike Boyajian said. “They played well and they’re really starting to move the puck well, which we’ve been focusing on in practice. We got some good defense and some really good goaltending from Nick McGhie tonight, which helped out a lot.”

The game was pretty tight to start the first period, with not much room to navigate. But the ‘Canes drew a cross-checking penalty against Mt. Hope at the 4:51 mark, giving them the opportunity to get on the board first, and they did.

With just 25 seconds remaining in the man-advantage, Tim Chaffee found a seam in the Huskies’ penalty kill and made a nice feed to Dylan Tindle, who one-timed a shot past Mt. Hope goalie Kyle Depoy from the top of the left circle, giving the ‘Canes a 1-0 lead.

Vets got another goal from its special teams just over four minutes later, but this time it was from its penalty kill unit.

After the Huskies iced the puck, David Kowalik won an offensive-zone faceoff back to Chaffee at the point, who beat Depoy glove-side with a slap shot. The shorthanded tally put the ‘Canes up 2-0 at 10:30 of the first period.

Noah Kane would put the ‘Canes up 3-0 with just 23 seconds left in the first period, as he finished off a nice pass from Collin Csoszor out of the cycle.

All-in-all, Vets got contributions from just about everyone in the win, with six different players combining for the seven goals.

“Every kid is doing their job and we’re starting to see it all come together,” Boyajian said. “We switched the lines around after the last game and I thought it really paid off. We’re starting to see kids use each other, rather than playing as individuals. It makes a big difference, as you could see out there tonight.”

In the second period, it was more of the same.

Csoszor netted both of Vets’ goals in the second period. The first coming just 1:26 into the period on a shot from the right circle and the second coming on a shot from the slot that beat Depoy over his glove, going off of the crossbar and in to give the ‘Canes a 5-0 lead.

On Csoszor’s second goal in-particular, Kane and Brandon Major did some nice work below the goal line before finding Csoszor open in the slot.

Vets’ top two offensive lines caused nightmares for Mt. Hope’s defensemen, getting pucks in deep all night and grinding away to generate quality scoring opportunities.

“We’ve been stressing puck movement and we really saw that in those two lines tonight,” Boyajian said. “We have a lot of young kids – some freshmen and sophomores and a couple of juniors that are mixed in there. They’re starting to get more comfortable with each other.”

Austin Cramer-Lacoursiere and Greg Fontaine found the back of the net for the ‘Canes in the third period. Cramer-Lacoursiere got behind the Huskies’ defensemen and cleaned up a rebound off the right pad of Depoy, while Fontaine let a rocket go from the point that beat Depoy to make it 7-0.

Throughout the game, McGhie didn’t have to make too many saves, but he did make an impressive kick-save on a late Mt. Hope power play to preserve his shutout.

“When he had to make the saves, he made the saves,” Boyajian said. “We wanted to see if he could go out there in the third period and finish the game strong and he did. He made a couple of key saves towards the end on their power plays, so it was nice to see Nick stay focused for 45 minutes tonight.”

For the game, Vets outshot Mt. Hope 25-20, but the ‘Canes had many more high-quality opportunities.

The ‘Canes will look to ride their solid play into two big games next weekend.

They’ll play at 9 p.m. against Woonsocket at Adelard Arena on Friday night, before hosting Scituate on Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. at Thayer Arena.

The two teams obtain a combined 1-13 record, so it’ll be a critical weekend for Vets, who currently sits four points behind third-place Johnston/North Providence Co-op.

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