It was a game that was intruiging for a lot of reasons. Tri-Falls came into the game with Section 2’s leading scorer (Jared Thomas), and had been one of the few teams that seemingly had the Spartans number over the last few seasons, including a 4-0 win last season. BHBS is historically good at home ice (16-3-1 over the last 3 seasons), so something had to give.
It was a chippy game right off the bat. There were hits galore, and the BHBS student section was engaged early on. The Spartans struck first on the power play, when Alec Lind pushed home a rebound, making it 1-0. That was it for the first period, which was absolutely dominated by BHBS. They outshot the Rivermen 12-6 in the frame, and Tri-Falls struggled to even get the puck out of their zone at all. But they had an answer. Tri-Falls came out with a big second period, moving the puck and letting their offensive leader, Jared Thomas, do the work. It paid off when Jordan Willis fired a shot that was blocked up front, picked up the loose puck, and put a wrister home past BHBS goalie Trevin Tidmarsh, tying the game at 1. The second period was more about penalties than anything else. There were 7 penalties combined in just the second frame alone, 5 of them to BHBS. There were a couple scrums after the whistle that led to offsetting penalties, and the crowd was really into it.
The offense kicked in during the 3rd period. BHBS came out strong, but faltered when Drew Nizolek scored to give Tri-Falls a 2-1 lead. Things began to look bleak for the Spartans at that point, as just a minute later Henry Koch received a 4-minute major for a hit from behind, giving the Rivermen all the momentum. But Alec Lind scooped up a puck, skated to a breakaway and went forehand-backhand to tie the game with a shorthanded goal. They killed off the remaining penalty time as well following the goal. However, Jared Thomas isn’t Section 2’s leading scorer for no reason. He ripped a wrist shot perfectly over the shoulder of Tidmarsh to give Tri-Falls the lead right back, just over a minute after Lind’s equalizer. BHBS was still controlling the pace of play in the period, however, and it paid off when Geordan Buffoline struck gold, tying the game at 3. Buffoline quickly got hot, scoring again 45 seconds later to give BHBS a 4-3 lead. The game continued to be chippy and rough for the final 7 minutes, but there was no more scoring, leading to a BHBS win.
Calling this game chippy is a bit of an understatement. There were 21 penalties combined between the two teams. 9 of these were roughing calls.
For BHBS, they pick up 2 points with the win, starting off 1-0-0 in league play. Tri-Falls drops to 1-3-0 on the year, and 1-1-0 in the league. It was the first regular-season win for BHBS over Tri-Falls since the 2013-14 season. BHBS next plays Saturday at home vs Shaker/Colonie (1-2-0), while Tri-Falls will face off against La Salle (2-0-2).
GOALS
1ST PERIOD
BHBS (8:46): Alec Lind (3) ASST: Gianni Pleminik (2)
2ND PERIOD
TF (5:21): Jordan Willis (5) ASST: Carter Vanderminden (1), Jared Thomas (6)
3RD PERIOD
TF (13:52): Drew Nizolek (5) ASST: None
BHBS (12:23): Alec Lind (4) ASST: None
TF (11:02): Jared Thomas (8) ASST: Andrew Rizzo (5)
BHBS (7:59): Geordan Buffoline (1) ASST: Sam Swingruber (1), Nick Koszelak (2)
BHBS (7:14): Geordan Buffoline (2) ASST: None
SAVES:
TF: Brendan Meehan 24-28
BHBS: Trevin Tidmarsh 15-18
