They say it's hard to beat a team three times in one season. Not so if you are the New Hartford Spartans. The visitors turned the trick, thanks in part to a Clayton Whittemore hat trick, beating the RFA Black Knights 4-2 to put a damper on the Romans Senior Night festivities and ending any hopes the hard charging Knights had to wrestle the DII crown away from the defending champs.
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RFA had gone 5-0-1 in league play in their last six games entering tonight's New Hartford game. The Spartans had won five in a row themselves and came in averaging 7 goals a game in league play. Something had to give, eh?
Speaking of the defending DII champs, New Hartford now (14-3-1) is rounding into the form needed to make another run deep into the post season as defending New York State Champs. Ranked #3 in the latest poll, it seems to be all systems go for the Spartans.
Everything is in place, senior leadership from the likes of Clayton Whittemore and Jason Fitzgerald, to go along with great play from underclassmen like goalie Spence Landry and forward Alex Fukes.
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(Matt Dematteo honored on the ice on Senior Night.)
Speaking of Jason Fitzgerald, he and his brother Eric had a big trip to Rome dishing out two assists each.
All this, plus the fact that New Hartford has three of the top five scorers in the division, has Coach John Cunningham and company ready for another fun run.
RFA, on the other hand, must now set their sites on at least grabbing a home playoff game and then hoping for another shot at the Spartans to try to dethrone the champs.
New Hartford started the 'third times a charm' run back in November with a 6-5 win over RFA in the Utica College Holiday Hockey tourney.
(RFA's Matt DeMatteo (2) is a fraction of an inch away from tying the score in the third period, but New Hartford goalie Spencer Landry has other plans.)
The second time the Spartans rang the Knights bell was on their home ice on January 2nd when New Hartford smoked the Romans 10-4. Friday night's win was a hard fought 4-2 battle royale in front of a raucous bunch of Knights fans who were set for an upset.
Cue the senior leaders. Clayton Whittemore did what you want to do in a tough environment, shut the crowd up. How did Clayton do that?
He put one past a stunned Mike Endres, with just 1:12 off the new clock at Kennedy Arena, to make it 1-0, before the big crowd had settled in. Another team leader, Jason Fitzgerald assisted on the goal.
When the night was over, Whittemore had another hat trick and his 31st goal of the season.
(Perfectly Legal....RFA's Mike Pekarski (11) and New Hartford's Jason Fitzgerald (18) collide in front of the law during second period play.)
With the crowd quieted by the lightning quick Spartan marker, both teams skated hard but skated away empty for the remainder of the fast moving first period.
Joe Betar skated in all by his lonesome and let a low liner fly toward Endres, only to be turned away with 12:39 left in the first period.
The Black Knights had their chances as well, as TJ Reilley, who can beat anybody, zinged one at Spencer Landry from a sharp angle, only to be turned away with 6:37 left in the opener.
Just twenty seconds later, Nick Tardugno had the best chance to tie, deking Landry to the left side of the net but shooting just past the right pipe missing a wide open Spartans net.
Both goalies were on top of their games. Mike Endres, one of two RFA seniors honored on Senior Night, Matt Dematteo was the other, was lights out stopping everything the frustrated Spartans threw at him. Dematteo made the most of his Senior Night picking up two assisits.
(RFA's T.J. Reilley (22) looks for a shot in the slot as Spartans goalie Spencer Landry (1) locks in.)
New Hartford outshot RFA 20-10 after one. On the night, Endres stopped 50 New Hartford shots, an amazing feat. New Hartford outshot Rome 54-35 over the three periods of play.
Despite being completely outplayed on their home ice, the Knights and Coach Greg Cuthbertson had to feel good about their chances.
RFA shot themselves in the foot with a late, Max Bartell, penalty that carried over into the second stanza.
Endres came up big again, stoning a streaking Alex Fukes before the penalty was killed off.
Speaking of penalties, Jason Fitzgerald got a timeout of his own, giving the Romans a chance to tie with 12:00 minutes left in the second. Max Bartell, back on the ice, broke free looking for the tie, only to be turned away by Spencer Landry. Landry stopped 33 pucks on the night.
Most of period two was played the same way with both teams getting chances but not cashing in. Not until Clayton Whittemore deposited one in the bank and cashed in big time with 1:42 left in the second to make it 2-0 Spartans. Whittmore cut in front of a streaking Knight and went the other way rifling one past a diving Mike Endres.
(Mike Endres celebrates on Senior Night.)
The goal frustrated RFA to no end, as the Knights went down 5-3 after trips to the sin bin by the Reilly brothers. Thanks to Endres efforts in goal the scoreboard did not blink.
The Spartans owned the second stanza and after two outshot RFA 41-21. It was now or never for the Romans and what ever the boys were told during the break seemed to pay off with a hard fought third. RFA looked faster, sharper and hungrier for much of the final period and made a game of it, scoring twice to get the fans on their feet.
The third did not start out well or end well for the home team, but the middle was all theirs.
Starting a man down, the visitors smelling a win, put the pressure on and the pressure paid off as Clayton Whittemore scored his third of the night just :20 seconds in to make it 3-0.
Instead of folding up and fading away, RFA seemed to realize it was now or never.
Now came when RFA's Eric Joyce scored a power play goal of his own to make it 3-1 at the 3:43 mark of the third. Joyce made Spencer Landry pay, ripping a onetimer home to ignite the crowd.
For some reason, New Hartford got sucked in by the hard hitting Knights and got caught retaliating and setting up another power play chance for the home team.
A chance they didn't squander. With Jason Fitzgerald in the box, TJ Reilley made it 3-2 as he sped up ice and beat the Spartans back, streaking in, to unleash a low liner that found its way past Landry with 3:41 left in the third. Talk about loud, the crowd was really into it now.
Trouble is, New Hartford's Alex Fukes acted like a neighborhood bully, popping a little boys balloon and letting the air out of the arena when he scored off a faceoff in front of RFA goalie Mike Endres.
(New Hartford's Clayton Whittemore (21) looks for a rebound in front of RFA goalile Mike Endres (1) early in the game.)
The shocked netminder really didn't have a chance as Alex raised his stick to the sky after scoring his 19th goal of the campaign. With just 2:31 left, the 4-2 lead was too much for the Knights to overcome.
When the horn sounded, the Spartans celebrated their division clinching win on enemy ice. Not a bad way to head into the post-season.
New Hartford, has two games left in the regular season, Wednesday at home against Cazenovia and Thursday on the road in Clinton.
RFA has just one game left, a Thursday road game against Hamilton.
NEW HARTFORD 4 ROME FREE ACADEMY 2
1 2 3 Total
New Hartford (14-3-1) 1 1 2 4
RFA (11--2) 0 0 2 2
Stars on Ice:
RFA
Mike Endres- 50 saves
TJ Reilley-1-goal
Eric Joyce-1 goal
Matt Dematteo- 2 assists
Garrett Reilley-1 assist
Kyle Willliams-1 assist
New Hartford
Spencer Landry- 33 saves
Clayton Whittemore- 3 goals
Alex Fukes-1 goal- 2 assists
Eric Fitzgerald- 2 assists
Jason Fitzgerald- 2 assists
Nick Decrisci- 1 assist
