Six goals in a hockey game is normally enough to get a victory. Six goals in a period is usually enough to make a statement. The latter is exactly what the New Hartford Spartans hockey team did to the rest of the Division II East tonight, on its home ice, as the defending New York State Champions erupted for six goals in the second period to defeat RFA by a score of 10-4.
Visit Perfect Game Imaging for a photo album
The Spartans, who improved to 5-0 in the DII East and 7-2 overall, scored a hat trick of hat tricks, getting three goals apiece from Alex Fukes, Michael Critelli and Jason Fitzgerald, as well as a single tally from Kris Martinelli. Clayton Whittemore added four assists and Fukes had three helpers in the big win.
The Spartans jumped out to a 1-0 lead 4:36 into the first period when Captain Jason Fitzgerald took a pass from Fukes and ripped home a slap shot, to give the home team an early advantage.
RFA answered the bell just over two minutes later when Max Bartell let a slap shot go from just inside the blue line, which got past New Hartford goalie Spencer Landry, to tie things up at 1-1.
(Alex Fukes unleashes a bender for the Spartans in first period action.)
Just :40 seconds later, Alex Fukes, our Monster Energy Drink Player of the Game, whistled a wrist shot over the left shoulder of RFA goalie Mike Endres to put the Spartans ahead 2-1. Tim Knaul and Jason Fitzgerald assisted on the score.
Then, in almost a blink of an eye, New Hartford sophomore Kris Martinelli carried the puck into the Rome zone and was met by two defenders in the high slot. Martinelli was knocked off his balance, but somehow maintained control of the puck and slid it past Endres, as he was falling to the ice, putting the Spartans up 3-1 with 7:13 remaining in the opening period.
LISTEN IN TO MHTS GAME HIGHLIGHTS FROM WIBX
The Spartans made it 4-1 with 5:18 remaining in the first when Alex Fukes stuffed home a goal from just outside the RFA goal crease, finishing off a pretty play, which was set up by precision passes from Eric Nitti and Jason Fitzgerald.
(RFA's TJ Reilley (22) and New Hartford's Mike Critelli (6) battle for a loose puck during second period action.)
Though the Black Knights were stunned by the Spartans three goals in four minutes, they were not showing any signs of quitting. Max Bartell notched his second goal of the game with 4:31 to go in the opening period, off a feed from Garrett Reilley, to pull the Knights within 4-3.
Garrett Reilley pulled his his team within 4-3 with just under a minute remaining in the opening stanza, poking a loose puck under Landry and into the Spartans net to score an important power play goal.
TJ Reilley grabbed his second assist on the Black Knights third range finder.
The first period came to a close with the two teams each having 14 shots on goal and New Hartford carrying a one goal lead to the first intermission.
(New Hartford defenseman Chris Luker (9) rifles a shot at the RFA net, as a host of Black Knights and Spartans await the outcome.)
The Spartans opened the second period with three consecutive minor penalties, the last of which was an unsportsmanlike conduct call against Clayton Whittemore for stopping close to RFA goalie Mike Endres and spraying snow into the goalie's face.
The Black Knights went on a 5 on 3 advantage and Max Bartell tied the game at 4-4 on his third goal of the game at the 2:40 mark of the second period, with assists from Garrett Reilley and Kyle Williams.
With the game tied at 4-4, everything was pointing to a see-saw battle of two fine offensive units for the remainder of the game.
So much for predictions and so much for being able to figure out how a high school hockey game in the Division II east is going to pan out!
(New Hartford goalie Spencer Landry (1) kicks one out during third period action.)
New Hartford rattled off 6 unanswered goals over the next 12 minutes, chasing Mike Endres out of the RFA goal, to put New Hartford up 10-4 after two periods.
Michael Critelli scored all three of his goals in the second period, which along with two goals from Jason Fitzgerald and one from Alex Fukes in the middle frame, extinguished any hope of an RFA comeback.
Sophomore goalie Spencer Landry settled into his groove in the middle period as well, stopping 5 of the 6 shots he faced.
(It's a bird, it's a plane, no...it's Kris Martinelli flying through 3 RFA defenders. #8 somehow stayed with the puck and scored an acrobatic 1st period goal. )
Much to the credit of the visiting Knights, they never quit until the final buzzer sounded in the third period and neither team was able to score another goal, propelling New Hartford to a 10-4 win and a perfect 5-0 mark in the D-II east, good enough for sole possession of first place.
RFA, on the other hand, dropped its second straight league game to fall to 4-2 in the division, 5-4-1 overall. MIke Endres and Anthony D'Urso combined for 30 saves on 40 shots for RFA, while Spencer Landry stopped 22 of 26 shots for the Spartans.
After the game, Alex Fukes described what it felt like to get a big win at home; "We wanted to come out tonight and take it right to them and we did, scoring that first goal quickly," the junior forward explained, adding, "The loss to Glens Falls this week was a wake up call for us for sure. We got off to a slow start against them and we got beat, now we come home and we know this league is going to be tough all season and we just can't allow ourselves to look past any team".
(Alex Fukes - Tri-Valley Beverage / Monster Energy Drink Player of the Game,)
Fukes finished the game with three goals and three assists for six points to earn Monster Energy Drink Player of the Game honors.
New Hartford returns to action on Tuesday when they travel to the Aud for a matchup with Proctor. RFA meanwhile makes its third straight league road trip, a Tuesday night date with the Westmoreland Bulldogs at the Whitestown Community Center.
BOXSCORE
1 2 3 Final
RFA 3 1 0 4
New Hartford 4 6 0 10
