AUBURN — Goals have been hard to come by in recent games for the boys’ hockey team from Cony/Hall-Dale/Monmouth.
The Rams have netted just two goals in each of their last two games, both losses that dropped the squad to an even .500 record.
Wednesday, however, was like a breath of fresh air for the Rams’ finishers. The Rams scored four goals in the first period and never looked back in a dominant 13-0 win over the 26ers from Gray-NG/Poland/Oak Hill.
“We haven’t been really doing well scoring goals lately,” Rams coach Chad Foye said. “So this was a good game to get ourselves back on track a little bit and do a little better with that.”
Reed Hopkins had two goals and two assists for the Rams (4-3). Nate Foye had a goal and two assists, while Anthony Brunelle, Riley Dowe and Drew Keithley each had a goal and an assist. The Rams were playing without senior forward Riley Boivin, who was injured last week.
“I thought (Hopkins) played well,” Foye said. “He’s a nifty little guy and he’s good with the puck. He’s shifty.”
The 26ers (0-5) fell behind early and never recovered against a bigger, faster and more seasoned Rams team. The 26ers are young, with just four upperclassmen.
“We don’t have a lot of depth and it doesn’t take much to take the air out of us,” 26ers coach Mike Bishop said.
Goalie Kenny Humphrey faced 43 shots and made 30 saves. The Rams outshot the 26ers 43-5. Bishop mentioned the solid play of defenders Garrett Haskins and Andrew Topham in a challenging game.
“We lost 9-1 to Windham but it was 2-0 going into the third,” Bishop said. “That was our best game by far. It was a legitimate 2-0 game. So they’re capable of playing well.”
Hopkins scored just 2:20 into the game, burying a loose puck from the slot. Then Tyler Dostie scored on a power play at 7:15 with a wrister from the right circle. Keithley scored on the power play at 9:39, and Foye finished the scoring in the first with a goal with 4:16 left.
“The first period was rough,” Bishop said. “They got out ahead with some easy goals. The first four goals were kind of weak.”
The Rams added to the lead with two more power play goals to start the second. That made four goals with the man advantage. Thomas Arps had the first one at 2:13. Then Theo Mahaleris scored at 4:34. Cole Lockhart, Hopkinds and Brunelle all scored in the second to build a 9-0 lead after two.
“We moved the puck around,” Foye said of his team’s power play. “We made some good decisions and found some people around the net.”
In the third, the Rams got goals from Dowe, Logan Nickerson, Brett Sproul and Cam Wilson. Goalies Tom Small and Dalton Bowie combined for the shutout for the Rams.
“I’m pretty happy with how we moved the puck,” Foye said. “I’d like to see us make decisions a step quicker, but we’re getting to where we have to be.”
The 26ers are plugging away. The club has been outscored 57-2 this season but are trying to continue to build and learn from each outing.
“We’ve got to simplify the game,” Bishop said. “That’s a big thing for us. We get a chance to do something but they try to do too much.”
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