High School Sports

Benamati, Lind guide BHBS to win over rival Niskayuna

The BHBS hockey team knew this was one of the biggest games of the season, and nobody was more excited for it than junior forward Alec Lind. He made his presence known in a big way on Saturday night.

Lind had 3 goals and an assist, for his second hat trick of the season and his third 4-point game, and linemate Tino Benamati had 3 goals and 2 assists for his first career 5-point game, and his 6th game this season with at least 3 points, as the Spartans cruised past archrival Niskayuna/Schenectady 7-3.

The scoring opened late in the first period, when Sam Swingruber got to the net and finished off a great pass to Benamati to make it 1-0 BHBS. That would hold as the score at the end of the period.

The Spartans controlled the entirety of the period, but knew they needed to get some more separation on the scoreboard. So they did. Alec Lind found the net with 12:12 remaining in the 2nd to make it 2-0. That was followed by two goals in just 41 seconds by Benamati to quickly open the game to 4-0 in favor of BHBS. N/S got one back 2 minutes later, when Kevin Canty found the back of the net to cut the lead to 3. The Spartans quickly shut down any momentum that was gained by the Mohawks, as Benamati skated to a breakaway and finished off the hat trick just 21 seconds after Nisky’s first goal. It was 5-1 BHBS after 2.

The Mohawks were able to strike first in the 3rd, when Evan Maloney ripped a slapshot home to cut the lead to 3 again. But again, BHBS responded, this time off the stick of Lind, and it was 6-2 just 1 minute later. Lind scored again with 9 minutes remaining to polish off his hat trick. Kevin Canty scored his second goal of the game with 4:28 remaining, and that would hold as the final score, 7-3.

Lind and Benamati’s corresponding hat tricks marked the first time in team history that two players each recorded hat tricks in the same game. Mark Stocker made 21 saves for his 6th win of the season. Shots were 46-24 in favor of BHBS.

The 15th-ranked Spartans won their fifth straight game and improved to 11-4-1 (7-3-1 S2). They will next face off against Taconic Hills (MA) next Friday. N/S falls to 4-11-1 (2-7-0 S2). They will go up against Tri-Falls on Friday.

GOALS:

1st Period:

0:52 (BHBS)- Sam Swingruber (12) ASST: Tino Benamati (15), Graem DeLong (5)

2nd Period:

12:12 (BHBS)- Alec Lind (15) ASST: Tino Benamati (16), Nick Koszelak (16)

8:36 (BHBS)- Tino Benamati (13) ASST: Geordan Buffoline (19)

7:55 (BHBS)- Tino Benamati (14) ASST: Geordan Buffoline (20), Matt Russell (2)

5:12 (N/S)- Kevin Canty (10) ASST: Evan Maloney (7)

4:51 (BHBS)- Tino Benamati (15) ASST: Alec Lind (15), Geordan Buffoline (21)

3rd Period:

12:57 (N/S)- Evan Maloney (9) ASST: Joseph Laurange (7), Kevin Canty (17)

11:57 (BHBS)- Alec Lind (16) ASST: Geordan Buffoline (22)

9:01 (BHBS)- Alec Lind (17) ASST: Geordan Buffoline (23), Brody McCarthy (3)

4:28 (N/S)- Kevin Canty (11) ASST: Joseph Laurange (8), Evan Maloney (8)

 

 

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