S. Glens Falls 5, Glens Falls 2

South Glens Falls High ended 5 seasons of frustration at the hands of arch-rival Glens Falls, getting two goals from Shawn Weller and a 38-save effort from Jeff Mabb to take the Division II title.

South High (17-7-0) beat Glens Falls for the first time since December 1996.

"It's beyond words. I know we've beaten them a couple times in our history, but this is my first time,'' coach Bill Carey said. "This is the first sectional win we've ever had, period. Last year they beat us 8-1 in the sectionals. Then they beat us during the regular season this year, but we beat them when it counted most.''

The victory sends South High to the state regional tournament, where it will play at the champion from Section I (Westchester area) next Saturday for the right to advance to the state Division II semifinals.

"I thought in the beginning of the year that we had a good chance,'' Nabb, a senior, said. "When we took a 3-1 lead into the third period, I was pretty confident we were going to do it. Then we got another goal at the start of the third period.''

South Glens Falls opened the scoring on Weller's power-play goal at 3:50 of the first period. The close-in shot culminated a sustained attack by the Bulldogs, with each Greg Beecher and his brother, Jeff, each getting an assist. Each of the Beechers also scored a goal, as did Jeremy Delisle.

The Indians' Elliot Edwards tied it at 1 at 10:09 of the period, buzzing a slap shot from just inside the blue line.

South High took a 3-1 lead into the final period on goals by Delisle and Greg Beecher, the latter coming on a breakaway when he stole the puck at center ice and skated in close to put a wrist shot past Kyle Merkosky at 10:56.

Jeff Beecher got his goal 33 seconds into the third period, stuffing home a rebound to make it 4-1. Pat O'Brien's backhander at 10:17 got Glens Falls (19-6-0) within two, but the Bulldogs' Weller finished things with a power-play goal with 16 seconds left.

Final pairings fixed after tonight's games

By ALAN HART, Staff writer
First published: Saturday, February 16, 2002

Top-seeded Shenendehowa High and third-seeded Saratoga High will be the host teams at their home arenas on Tuesday for the Division I quarterfinal doubleheaders of the Section II Hockey Tournament.

Complete quarterfinal pairings will not be finalized until all of tonight's games, the final night of the regular season, are concluded. But Shenendehowa, champion of the Suburban Division of the Capital District High School Hockey League, is clearly the No. 1 seed in Division I (large schools) and will play the No. 8 seed -- either Niskayuna or Guilderland -- at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday at Clifton Park Arena.

Saratoga, the No. 3 seed, will play either Bethlehem or Christian Brothers Academy at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Weibel Avenue Rink in Wilton.

The semifinals are scheduled for Thursday at BIG Arena in Delmar. The championship game is Saturday, Feb. 23, at Glens Falls Civic Center.

The tentative schedule: DIVISION I Quarterfinals Tuesday

At Weibel Avenue Rink -- La Salle vs. Queensbury, 5 p.m.; Saratoga vs. Bethlehem or CBA, 7:30 p.m.

At Clifton Park Arena -- Shaker vs. CBA or Bethlehem, 6 p.m.; Shenendehowa vs. Niskayuna or Guilderland, 8:30 p.m. Semifinals Thursday

At BIG Arena, Delmar, 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. Championship Saturday, Feb. 23

At Glens Falls Civic Center, 8:30 p.m. DIVISION II Championship Saturday, Feb. 23

Glens Falls vs. South Glens Falls at Glens Falls Civic Center, 6 p.m.

Times-Union
Saturday, February 16, 2002

La Salle shows Shen the door

Bailey-Yavonditte stops 31 shots, records shutout

By ALAN HART, Staff writer
First published: Saturday, February 16, 2002

La Salle 3 Shen 0

TROY -- In some ways, the game meant absolutely nothing. But La Salle Institute goaltender Tys Bailey-Yavonditte knew better.

Bailey-Yavonditte made 31 saves for his third shutout of the season Friday night, lifting the Cadets to a 3-0 upset of Suburban Division champion Shenendehowa in the final Capital District High School Hockey League game of the year for both teams at Hudson Valley Community College.

Mike Van Baaren scored a goal and an assist, and teammates Jimmy O'Connell and Ian Singleton each scored as La Salle, which finished behind Glens Falls in the Independent Division standings, finished regular-season play at 14-9-1 overall, 9-4-1 league.

Shenendehowa, which outshot the Cadets 31-14, fell to 18-6-0, 11-3-0.

"It didn't mean anything (seeding-wise) for the (Section II) tournament, but I think we definitely needed to win this game,'' the senior goalie said. "It's going to help us a lot going into the tournament, playing so well against Shen. It's a team we've always had a good rivalry with. I was happy to win tonight, too, because it was Senior Night and my last home game here.''

Bailey-Yavonditte had to be at his best in the second period when the frustrated Plainsmen fired 13 shots at him. His best save of the night may have come with 7:52 remaining in the middle period when he made a sliding save to stop an attempt by Ramon Posada in front of the net.

"I was trying to take the angle away from him,'' said Bailey-Yavonditte, who earlier this season posted shutouts against Niskayuna and CBA.

La Salle took a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by O'Connell and Singleton. Van Baaren scored on a breakaway with 31 seconds left in the second period to finish the night's scoring.

"Tys played well tonight -- just like he's played all season,'' said Cadets coach Tim Flanigan. "As a team, I thought we pressured them and played the body well tonight.''

Shenendehowa coach Juan de la Rocha was not overly dismayed with the outcome.

"Fortunately, this one doesn't matter that much. I thought it was a heck of a game, but their goaltender made all the difference,'' de la Rocha said. "Sometimes the gods are on your side, sometimes they aren't.''

If Shen and La Salle win their quarterfinal games on Tuesday night, they likely will play each other in the semifinals on Thursday at BIG Arena in Delmar. Bailey-Yavonditte and de la Rocha both said they wouldn't mind seeing that happen.

"I hope we do play them. I know a lot of the Shen guys,'' Bailey-Yavonditte said.

"If things go well for us both in the first round, we would probably see them again the way the schedule is set up,'' the Shen coach said. "Tonight as the game was winding up, the kids on the bench were saying they can't wait to see these guys again. They don't think they got beat; they thought they got unlucky tonight.''

By WARREN ALBER

alber@poststar.com

ICE HOCKEY-- Glens Falls-6,  Niskayuna-Schenectady-3

GLENS FALLS -- The regular-season league championship was on the line and the Glens Falls High School hockey team needed a big goal in the third period.

So Ryan Bennett stepped into the spotlight, scoring twice at the Rec Center on senior night to break a tie and lift the Indians to a 6-3 victory over Niskayuna-Schenectady, clinching the Capital District High School Hockey League championship.

Tied, 3-3, heading into the third period, the pesky Mohawks had bottled up Glens Falls' top line of Brian Herlihy, Tom Girard and John Naylor. 

"We knew we needed to step up," Bennett said.  "It takes the pressure off of everybody when we can get scoring from some other places."

Bennett's first goal, four minutes into the third period, came after an extended scrum in front of Mohawks goaltender Kyle Glenn.  Standing among the nine bodies packed around the crease the puck finally squirted to Bennett on the side, and he flipped in into the net.

Four minutes later, Bennett found himself skating down the left-wing boards when Scott Wyle kicked the puck loose.  Bennett skated toward the goal, and when Glenn committed to a pass, Bennett roofed it short side, his fifth goal of the season, sending the Indians (12-2-0) CDHSHL, 18-5-0 overall) to their championship.

"Producing like that was more than what was expected of us," Bennett said.  "Our job is to keep the puck out of the net.  Anything else is gravy."

The Mohawks (3-9-1, 8-12-2) chased Glens Falls starting goaltender Nick Vitouski at 11:04 of the second period after Thomas Gatta picked the upper corner behind the senior.  Gatta's goal came 12 seconds after Louis Croce deflected a shot home.

Kyle Merkosky replaced Vitouski and didn't face any shots over the final four minutes of the second period.  Merkosky stopped all 10 shots he faced in the third.

"I needed to shake things up," Glens Falls coach Pat Murphy said.  "Obviously, the guys responded."

Bennett led the charge on the third line.

"They have been doing their job keeping the puck out of the net," Murphy said.  "But when they got that first one, you could see the relief of the guys on the first line.  Nobody was happier on the bench than the guys on the first line.  Then they got the second one."

Relaxed with the lead, Girard put the game away at 11:56 of the third with a 40-footer into the upper right corner.

"It's funny.  These guys are league champions, and they are happy," Murphy said. "But from the beginning of the season, they are have been focused on playing well in the postseason, winning as many games as they can in the postseason."

Bennett believes his scoring can become contagious.

"We look to that first line to score a lot of goals for us," Bennett said. "Hopefully this was carry over into the playoffs because if the rest of us can start scoring and take the load off of them, we could do some really good things."

ERIN R. COKER- THE POST-STAR
South High's Shawn Weller, left, battles with Saratoga's Josh Roberts.

South High captures tourney

By WARREN ALBER

alber@poststar.com

GLENS FALLS -- Shawn Weller and his South Glens Falls High School ice hockey teammates found themselves in a weird situation Monday afternoon. They needed the team they had beaten the day before to give them the Glens Falls Grandstanders Holiday Classic championship.

South High, which beat Queensbury, 7-3, in the first game, needed Saratoga Springs to beat Glens Falls for the Bulldogs to claim the tournament title and possibly gain some stature among its Capital District High School Hockey League brethren.

"It's different rooting for the team you had just beaten the day before," said Weller, the tournament MVP who scored five of his team's seven goals against Queensbury. "But we knew we needed Saratoga to win a period and the game for us to win the whole thing. We were hoping they could pull it out and they came through for us."

When Blue Streak Luis Oles' 40-foot slap shot from the top of the slot beat Glens Falls goaltender Nick Vitouski high to the stick side with 9:16 to play in the third period, the Bulldogs were on the edge of their Civic Center seats hoping Saratoga could hold onto its 4-3 lead.

As goaltender Alex Glessing kicked aside John Naylor's shot -- Glens Falls' final quality scoring chance with 38 seconds to play -- South High could start celebrating.

"Hopefully, winning this tournament will give us some legitimacy," said Weller, whose Bulldogs are 9-0 in CDHSHL action, 10-1-0 overall. "People are going to have to realize now that we are for real, that they are going to have to play us tough to beat us."

Queensbury did just that in the opening game, but as they had in their first-round game, the Spartans had some third-period defensive lapses that scuttled any chance they had to win.

Entering the third period tied 2-2, Queensbury grabbed the lead on Andy Carpenter's goal at 2:40.

Weller responded, scoring unassisted at 3:25 and posting his fourth goal of the game at 8:15, giving the Bulldogs a 4-3 lead.

Greg Beecher's blue line slap shot caromed off a defender and into the net for a 5-3 lead at 11:18, Drew Chapman scored from his belly at 12:59, and Weller capped off the first five-goal game of his career at 13:20 to produce the final margin.

"Winning our game was more important than winning the tournament," South Glens Falls coach Bill Carey said prior to the Saratoga-Glens Falls game. South High lost twice to Queensbury last year, the Spartans' first in the league.

"I have been hearing all year about how we were a better team, how we were going to beat Queensbury," Carey said. "It was time for them to stop talking the talk, go out and play the game to win, and they did. If this win leads to us winning the tournament, we'll take it."

By winning two periods and the game, the Bulldogs added four points to the 3 1/2 they earned in their 5-4 win over Saratoga on Sunday.

Glens Falls, which took all five points from Queensbury on Sunday, only needed to win one period and have the game end in a tie to claim the title on a tie-breaker.

Enter the Blue Streaks (8-4-0), who were playing their fourth game in five days. Saratoga jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the first period on goals by Oles and Shane Mongeon. The Indians (5-3-0), on goals by all-tournament team member Tom Girard and Naylor, tied the game entering the third period.

Glens Falls went ahead on Pat O'Brien's first of the season at 2:24. The Streaks quickly answered on Stephen Musci's fourth of the year at 3:23, and after a Glens Falls timeout, Oles scored South High's tournament winner.

"We weren't thinking about the outcome of the tournament," Saratoga coach Jeff Harrington said. "This was a two-point league game, and we wanted the win. These were a bunch of tired kids who logged a ton of ice time the last five days. During their timeout, I told my kids, 'Do what you've got to do to win the game,' and they came through."

After the game, Glens Falls held a 20-minute team meeting in its locker room.

"We had some defensive zone coverage problems, and there are areas of our game that we need to work on," first-year Glens Falls coach Pat Murphy said. "The kids played hard, the effort was there, but we have to focus more on the team approach. There are a lot of good parts of our game, but we all still have to get on the same page, from the coaches to the players, and (the locker room) is the place to address that stuff."

Notes: Weller led all scorers in the tournament with six goals and two assists. Joining Girard (2-3) on the all-tournament team were Glens Falls goaltender Kyle Merkosky, South Glens Falls forward Jeff Beecher (2-3), Saratoga forward Jamie White (3-2), Queensbury defenseman Sam Gersten and Saratoga defenseman Dave Shapiro. Glens Falls defenseman Dave Brochu was given the sportsmanship award, and South Glens Falls earned the school spirit award. ...Three of the four games in the tournament counted as CDHSHL games, with only the Glens Falls-Queensbury matchup a non-leaguer.



Game 3

South Glens Falls 1 1 5 -- 7

Queensbury 0 2 1 -- 3

First period -- 1, SGF, Weller 15 (J.Beecher), 14:31 (pp). Penalties -- Weller, SGF (roughing), :37; Rueckert, Qby (roughing), :37; Rozell, Qby (hitting after whistle), 1:46; Cote, SGF (interference), 8:42; Reuckert, Qby (hooking), 10:14; Sheldon, Qby (hitting from behind), 13:03.

Second period -- 2, Qby, Davis 2 (Meade, Drake), 5:09. 3, Qby, Scala 2 (Ludemann), 10:41 (pp). 4, SGF, Weller 16 (J.Beecher), 11:36. Penalties -- Weller, SGF (interference), 7:31; Levo, SGF (hooking), 9:40; Levo, SGF (interference), 12:00; Cote, SGf (interference), 14:21.

Third period -- 5, Qby, Carpenter 2 (LeRoy, Gersten), 2:40. 6, SGF, Weller 17, 3:25. 7, SGF, Weller 18 (Cote), 8:15. 8, SGF, G.Beecher 4 (Reddick), 11:18. 9, SGF, Chapman 9 (J.Beecher, Wood), 12:54. 10, SGF, Weller 19, 13:20. Penalties -- Davis, Qby (tripping), 5:14; Buell, SGF (roughing), 14:21.

Shots on goal -- South Glens Falls 8-5-20--33; Queensbury 3-20-4--27.

Power-play opportunities -- South Glens Falls 1 of 4. Queensbury 1 of 6.

Goalies -- South Glens Falls, Mabb 7-1-0 (26 shots-23 saves). Kobor, 12:54 third (1-1). Queensbury, Collyer 3-5-0 (33-25).



Game 4

Saratoga Springs 2 0 2 -- 4

Glens Falls 0 2 1 -- 3

First period -- 1, SS, Oles 12 (White), 3:50. 2, SS, Mongeon 3 (Daley, Gentile), 4:30. Penalties -- Roberts, SS (slashing), 8:22; Magner, SS (hooking), 13:54.

Second period -- 3, GF, Girard 10 (Richardson), 3:40. 4, GF, Naylor 7 (Girard), 14:13. Penalties -- Girard, GF (hooking), 4:52; Gentile, SS (roughing), 6:35; Mongeon, SS (roughing), 6:35; Young, GF (unsportsmanlike conduct), 6:35; Naylor, GF (unsportsmanlike conduct), 6:35; Oles, SS (elbowing), 10:18; White, SS (tripping), 14:46.

Third period -- 5, GF, O'Brien 1 (Bennett, Edwards), 2:24. 6, SS, Musci 4 (Capasso), 3:23. 7, SS, Oles 13 (Mongeon), 5:44. Penalties -- Gentile, SS (elbowing), 7:38; Fleury, GF (holding), 9:35; Usas, SS (interference), 9:35.

Shots on goal -- Saratoga Springs 9-11-9--29. Glens Falls 9-10-8--27.

Power-play opportunities -- Saratoga Springs 0 of 1; Glens Falls 0 of 5.

Goalies -- Saratoga Springs, Glessing 1-0-0 (27-24); Glens Falls, Vitouski 3-1-0 (29-25).

By WARREN ALBER 

alber@poststar.com 

 
GLENS FALLS -- The Glens Falls hockey team already has the respect 

of every team in the Capital District High School Hockey League. 

The South Glens Falls squad is looking to earn some, which adds 

to the importance of the second day of the Glens Falls Grandstanders 

Holiday Classic today at the Civic Center. 

 
The Indians (5-2-0), who advanced to the semifinals of the state 

tournament last year, blew past Queensbury 5-0, earning all five 

tournament-scoring points in the opening game Sunday, while 

South High (9-1-0) scored five straight goals before holding off 

Saratoga Springs, 5-4, in the second game, earning 3 1/2 points. 

 
In the tournament scoring format, two points are awarded to the 

winner of each game, and one point is awarded to the winner of each 

period. For periods that are tied, each team gets a half-point. 

 
The teams switch opponents today, with the Bulldogs facing 

Queensbury at 12:30, followed by Glens Falls and Saratoga at 2:30. 

 
"This game, the whole tournament is very important to us," 

said South Glens Falls forward Jeff Beecher, who scored two 

goals and an assist for the Bulldogs. "Winning it would give 

us a lot of respect." 

 
With only three winning seasons in the 14-year history of the 

program, South High hasn't been a team to strike fear into its 

opponents, but with its 8-0 league record, including a pair of 

wins over Saratoga already, the Bulldogs are showing some staying 

power. 

 
"I think this team has the potential to be the best team in school 

history," coach Bill Carey said. "I don't know if we are going to 

be able to win this tournament. We can't control who wins the 

tournament, but I'm more concerned about winning our next game. 

The bottom line is, it's a league game, and we are still the only 

undefeated team in the league. As long as we are still winning 

games -- and there are a lot of teams in the league who still 

can't believe, yet, that we are good enough to keep winning -- 

eventually teams will take notice of us." 

 
Some already have. 

 
Saratoga (7-4-0), playing its third game in four days, built a 

2-0 lead 19 seconds into the second period. But the Streaks had 

the momentum taken away on power-play goals by Shawn Weller and 

Beecher during a three-goal second period. Beecher and Drew Chapman 

scored third-period goals to give the Bulldogs a 5-2 cushion before 

the Blue Streaks made the game close on goals by Andrew Usas and 

Jamie White (giving him the hat trick). 

 
"We were feeling a little uncomfortable on the bench at the end of 

the game," Beecher said, "but we are getting used to winning close 

games like these." 

 
Glens Falls, playing for the first time in 15 days, spent the first 

30 minutes of its game just getting used to playing again. 

 
The Indians, on goals by Derek Keays at 9:12 of the first period 

and Brian Herlihy at 3:25 of the second, took advantage of poor 

defensive-zone coverage by the Spartans to scored three times in 

the first six minutes of the third period -- two by John Naylor -- 

to put the game away. 

 
The key was a penalty-kill in the first 90 seconds of the period. 

 
"We needed to get that power-play goal to get back in the game," 

Queensbury coach Dean Williams said. "When we didn't get it, and 

they scored their third goal, mentally, we shut down." 

 
The goal was set up by a defensive breakdown. 

 
Naylor, standing to the right of the Queensbury net, had a tap-in 

goal after his deflection was stopped by goaltender Mat Beaulieu 

after the Spartans (5-5-0) failed to clear the zone. Two minutes 

later, Naylor was again left alone down low and had another tap-in 

goal -- his sixth of the year. 

 
"We didn't have the best start, but we are concentrating on playing 

more as a team," Naylor said. "Everyone got it together by the end 

of the game. We stepped it up in the third period." 

 
The win was costly for the Indians. Keays dislocated his right hip 

and broke a finger with six seconds remaining in the third period 

when he slid into the end boards and is out indefinitely. 

 
Glens Falls 1 1 3 — 5 

 
Queensbury 0 0 0 — 0 


First period—1, GF, Keays 4 (Fleury, Young), 9:12. 

Penalties—Herlihy, GF (roughing), 9:26; Davis, 

Qby (hitting after whistle), 9:26. 
 
Second period—2, GF, Herlihy 7 (Girard, Fleury), 

3:25. Penalties—Naylor, GF (hooking), 

2:32; Scala, Qby (roughing), 

3:15; Carpenter, Qby (charging), 

4:22; Edwards, GF (slashing), 

7:17; Keays, GF (tripping), 

9:44; Young, GF (hitting after whistle)

14:42; Ludeman, Qby (hitting after whistle), 

14:42; Herlihy, GF (cross checking), 14:49. 
 
Third period—3, GF, Naylor 5 (Edwards), 

1:43; 4, GF, Naylor 6 (Girard), 

3:24 (pp); 5, GF, Girard 9, 

6:15. Penalties—Gersten, QBY (hooking), 

3:00; Naylor, GF (checking from behind), 

6:01; Davis, Qby, served by Laake, 

minor-misconduct-game misconduct (roughing), 

6:01; Powers, GF (roughing), 6:47; 

Brochu, GF (elbowing), 9:59. 
 
Shots on goal—Glens Falls 10-11-9—30. 

Queensbury 5-5-8—18. Goalies—Glens Falls, 

K.Merkosky 2-2-0 (18 shots-18 saves). 

Queensbury, Beaulieu, 2-1-0 (30-25). 

Power-play opportunities—Glens Falls 1 of 3. 

Queensbury 0 of 6. 

 
 

 
Saratoga Springs 1-1-2—4 

South Glens Falls  0-3-2—5 
 
First period—1, SS, White 13 (Roberts, Oles), 

3:53. Penalties—Levo, SGF (cross checking), 

:13; Shapiro, SS (tripping), :50; White, SS 

(high sticking), 4:39; G.Beecher, SGF 

(interference), 7:55; Travis, SS (boarding), 

11:13; Mongeon, SS (boarding), 11:13; Chapman,

 SGF (hooking), 13:03; G.Beecher, SGF 

(hitting after whistle), 13:22. 

Second period—2, SS, White 14 (Shapiro),

 :19; 3, SGF, Weller 14 (Cole, Chapman),

 2:19 (pp); 4, SGF, J.Beecher 11 (Weller),

 8:35 (pp); 5, SGF, Hart 4 (Weller, J.Beecher), 

13:58. Penalties—Nest, SS (cross checking), 1:35; 

Roberts, SS, double minor (roughing), 7:25; Hart, 

SGF (roughing), 7:25; Oles, SS (hooking), 12:10. 

Third period—6, SGF, J.Beecher 12 (G.Beecher, Cote),

 2:56; 7, SGF, Chapman 8 (Lattimore), 4:16; 8, SS, 

Usas 12 (Oles, White), 5:08; 9, SS, White 15, 12:12

 (pp). Penalties—Roberts, SS (slashing),

 3:51; G.Beecher, SGF (high sticking), 

3:51; Saratoga bench, served by Glotzbecker 

(too many men), 5:16; Usas, SS (cross checking),

6:34; Cote, SGF (hooking), 6:39; G.Beecher, SGF 

(hitting from behind), 11:33; G.Beecher, SGF 

(hooking), 12:45. 
 
Shots on goal—Saratoga Springs 12-11-9—32. 

South Glens Falls 7-11-12—30. 

Goalies—Saratoga Springs, Lent 6-4-0 (30 shots-25 saves).

 South Glens Falls, Mabb 6-1-0 (32-28). 

Power-play opportunities—Saratoga Springs 1 of 7.

 South Glens Falls 2 of 9.