Recap for games of October 22 & 23
Crossing line of overconfidence
With coach missing for first two periods Sunday, ’Cats fall into early
three-goal hole that ultimately takes its toll in their first AJHL defeat
There is a fine line between cockiness and overconfidence, and the New York Junior Bobcats had treaded to perfection through the first nine games of their Atlantic Hockey League schedule.
On Sunday, however, they finally crossed that line.
Playing most of the first two periods without head coach Aleksey Nikiforov – who spent Thursday through Saturday in Ontario, Canada watching his son Vlady play for the OHL’s Barrie Colts – the host Bobcats came out flat and quickly fell behind. They battled back to tie the score at 4 in the third period, but the energy they spent crawling out of a pair of three-goal holes eventually took its toll, as Hudson Valley had the last laugh.
The Eagles’ 5-4 victory on October 23 clinched a weekend split at The Rinx in Hauppauge and knocked the first-place Bobcats (9-1 AJHL) from the ranks of the unbeaten.
“Whenever you beat up on a team, you always, no matter what, get cocky,” explained Bobcats rookie forward Angelo Vrachnas (St. James/Smithtown H.S. East), who had a goal and two assists in Saturday’s 8-3 win over Hudson Valley, then continued his hard work and hustle in Sunday’s loss. “Cockiness is good and bad. It is good because you want to know and believe you’re the best, but it can also be your own worst enemy, and we shot ourselves in our own foot.”
That’s because their feet weren’t moving fast enough on the ice.
“They [Hudson Valley] were a good skating team, and they were beating us to the pucks,” explained veteran forward Tony Romano (Smithtown/St. Anthony’s H.S.), who netted goals in the final minute of the second period and opening minute of the third as the Bobcats drew even at 4. “We made careless defensive errors as well as taking too many unnecessary penalties.”
Goaltender Evan Hyndman (Monument, CO) played solidly for the game’s final 28 minutes, but the Bobcats already trailed 4-1 when he came into the game, so he needed to be perfect. He stopped nine of the 10 shots he faced, with Eagles forward Brett Saari netting the game-winner off assists from Kevin Switek and Geoffrey Swanson 3:23 into the third period.
“Soon after we tied it up, there was a lost draw in defensive end,” Romano said, “and [the Eagles] were able to capitalize right after they won the face-off.”
Neither team scored in the game’s final 16:37, leaving the Bobcats (14-2 overall) with their first league loss.
“I didn’t expect us to lose [on Sunday], but probably the kids were a little bit overrated in their ability. They lost because of their cocky attitude,” coach Nikiforov said. “Like I tell them every time, you have to prepare for every game. If you beat them 8-3, it doesn’t mean you’re going to come out the next day and it’s going to be the same thing.”
Nikiforov said he noticed an immediate change in the Bobcats’ collective persona once he arrived at The Rinx with five minutes left in the second period. Vrachnas and Romano agreed.
“I believe whenever your head coach is not behind the bench, you feel almost like you’re missing something, and anyone could tell we were missing something on Sunday,” Vrachnas said. “Aleksey is our head coach, and to become a team is like a puzzle. When you have all the puzzle pieces, everything goes right and it looks nice. When you’re missing a puzzle piece, it definitely looks bad and something went wrong.”
“Aleksey is a big confidence-booster,” added Romano. “Knowing he is there makes a big difference for me [because] he knows how to calm us down and to get us going.”
He sure did on Sunday. First, center Jarrett Gold (East Setauket/Suffolk CC) converted a Romano feed to make it 4-2 with 1:29 left in the period. Just 54 seconds later, Romano scored a power-play goal off assists from Gold and forward Frank Rizzo (St. James/Suffolk CC) as the Bobcats drew within 4-3.
“We got a couple of good breaks with Hudson Valley taking a couple penalties. Rizzo, Gold, and I played very well on those power plays, and we were able to score two important goals,” Romano said. “We applied a lot of pressure right in front of their net, and on both goals the puck just popped right out and we [Gold and Romano] were able to bang them home.”
Forty-three seconds into the third period, forward Patrick Moriarty (Lloyd Harbor/Nassau CC) assisted Romano’s tying goal, making it a brand-new game. The Bobcats ultimately did not complete the comeback, but the defeat could not be pinned on Vrachnas.
“Vrachnas had an even better game on Sunday morning,” Romano said. “He was battling hard and showed that he really wanted to play, especially when we were down. He never gave up.”
Which made the loss even harder for Vrachnas to swallow.
“This was just heartbreaking,” he said. “I mean, we get back into the game, scoring three goals in less than three minutes to tie it, and then somehow, some way Hudson Valley scores [the winner]. So it was definitely a heartbreaking loss… A loss like this shouldn’t happen again.”
Coach Nikiforov will try to see to it that it won’t.
“I’m disappointed. A great team can play without its coach. But I just got another lesson. You can’t leave your team,” Nikiforov said. “That’s why I’m not going to leave my team again.”
The Bobcats did, however, win without their coach on Saturday. Leading the way was center Oscar Von Sydow (Stockholm, Sweden/Suffolk CC), who notched his first hat trick of the season, including one power-play goal and another shorthanded.
Von Sydow also scored what proved to be the game-winner off assists from Vrachnas and forward Alex Satin (Muttontown/Friends Academy H.S.) 6:59 into the second period. It gave the Bobcats a 4-1 lead and quickly answered Hudson Valley’s first goal.
“It was a nice pass from Alex Satin out of the corner that led to Oscar’s stick, and Oscar just sniped it into the net,” Vrachnas said. “What a game Oscar had, and what an addition he has been to our team. Every time I see him play, I see improvement. That’s what we need: another guy who leads by example.”
Vrachnas set the first example on Saturday, breaking a scoreless tie 5:06 into the contest off assists from Rizzo and defenseman Mike Marcou (Kings Park/Smithtown H.S. West). Gold and Von Sydow then followed with power-play goals in a 1:35 span to make it 3-0. Both Gold and captain Mike Coppola (Old Brookville/Nassau CC) tallied two goals and an assist in the game, while Marcou and defenseman Justin Porpora (Hauppauge/St. Joseph’s College) each added two assists.
Coppola scored both of his goals on man-down situations, and now has a team-leading six shorthanded scores on the season. The first came off assists from Gold and Porpora and gave the Bobcats a 5-1 lead 11:08 into the second period; the second was assisted by defenseman Dan Markowitz (Jericho/Portledge H.S.) and made it 6-3 with 4:11 left in the game.
“[Coppola] worked hard to get the second [goal] especially,” Romano said, “splitting two defensemen and then making a shot and getting his own rebound on the breakaway.”
But Coppola, like most of his teammates, was kept quiet on Sunday, leaving a bitter taste in the Bobcats’ mouths and setting the stage for a rebound weekend. It starts on Friday, October 28 in Bridgewater, N.J., where the Bobcats will take on a tough Rockets team at 8:10 p.m. And it continues with two games against the bottom-feeding Washington Junior Nationals on Saturday, October 29 at 6:45 p.m. and Sunday, October 30 at 11 a.m.
The latter two games, which will be played at the Bowie (MD) Ice Arena, appear to be easy wins. But, as the Bobcats learned last Sunday, they cannot afford to take any team for granted.
“I do feel we can use [Sunday’s loss as a lesson] before every game—go back and feel how it felt when we heard the crowd from the other team roaring,” Vrachnas said. “Did we like that? Obviously not. So remembering the sounds of that can also stick in my mind so I know it won’t happen again, and I’m sure everyone on the team believes the same.”
Nikiforov, Vrachnas and Romano said nothing less than three victories this weekend will suffice.
“Nothing less than a win is ever acceptable, and I'm positive that the team will come out even harder with even more fire—especially now that we have had a wake-up call,” Romano said. “We learned that we cannot get comfortable with where we are, and we have to continue to improve and can't take any shortcuts. We especially have to train hard in practices, because the way you practice during the week has a huge impact on the way you play that weekend.”
Needless to say, the Bobcats should expect coach Nikiforov to work them through some difficult practices this week.
GAME 1: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22
1 2 3 FINAL
Hudson Valley 0 3 0 3
N.Y. BOBCATS 3 2 3 8
Goals – NYB: Vrachnas (assisted by Rizzo and Marcou; 5:06 1st), Gold (Romano, Marcou; 13:15 1st, PP), Von Sydow (Porpora, Coppola; 15:51 1st, PP), Von Sydow (Vrachnas, Satin; 6:59 2nd), Coppola (Gold, Porpora; 11:08 2nd, SH), Gold (Markowitz; 12:19 3rd), Coppola (Hubbard; 15:49 3rd, SH), Von Sydow (Vrachnas; 16:07 3rd, SH); HV: Dempsey (Koklin; 4:32 2nd, PP), Harvey (Dorney; 13:22 2nd), Steinour (B. Kenyon; 13:32 2nd). Saves – NYB: Hyndman 8 (11 shots, 34 minutes); Danzi 11 (11 shots, 26 minutes); HV: Vetrano 38 (46 shots, 60 minutes).
GAME 2: SUNDAY, OCTOBER 23
1 2 3 FINAL
Hudson Valley 3 1 1 5
N.Y. BOBCATS 0 3 1 4
Goals – NYB: Rizzo (assisted by Gold and Coppola; 2:30 2nd), Gold (Romano; 18:31 2nd), Romano (Rizzo, Gold; 19:25 2nd, PP), Romano (Moriarty; 0:43 3rd); HV: Scampoli (Conway, Swanson; 5:57 1st, PP), Steinour (C. Kenyon, Wiedler; 10:59 1st), Swanson (Koklin, Sweeney; 18:52 1st), Koklin (Wiedler, Kreuter; 8:00 2nd), Saari (Switek, Swanson; 3:23 3rd). Saves – NYB: Danzi 9 (13 shots, 32 minutes), Hyndman 9 (10 shots, 28 minutes); HV: Fritch 34 (38 shots, 60 minutes).
