The Nighthawks were determined to redeem themselves after the unpleasant loss against Barrington last week. Facing the Warren Blue Devils Saturday night, the Nighthawks got the job done with a 6-0 shut out, dealing with multiple Warren penalties along the way.
First Period
The Nighthawks tried to score early in the game, with Lincoln Park junior Tony Ercoli and Ida Crown junior Ethan Herman trying to push the puck into the goal. The Blue Devils eventually got the puck out of their zone and crowded around the Nighthawks’ goalie, Taft freshman Jason Dorsche. The five Nighthawks on the ice rushed to protect Dorsche and successfully blocked all Blue Devil attempts. Ida Crown junior Seth Greenberg tried to score from the left side, but couldn’t put it in. Many shots on goal were put up, including by senior Nick Clark. Junior Nick Brummitt and Niles North sophomore Stefan Vlad battled against the boards but couldn’t come up with goals either. The Blue Devils’ defensemen made a sloppy pass, which Niles North sophomore John Kinne intercepted, but also fell short. Not too long after Kinne’s interception, he made the first goal of the night, assisted by Herman, making it 1-0. Warren had their first penalty of the night, boarding. That specific Blue Devils’ player would go on to make three more penalties by the end of the game. Ercoli, Brummitt,and Vlad all tried to capitalize on the power play, but could not. Once the Blue Devils were full strength, Greenberg and Clark, who wound up a slap shot, tried to advance the score to 2-0. However, the player to accomplish this was Kinne. Towards the end of the period, Brummitt and Clark almost collided, but both came away unscathed.
Second Period
To start off the second period, Brummitt brought up the puck, but to no avail. The Blue Devils brought the puck to the Nighthawks’ end, but senior Eli Sherman successfully pushed the puck out of the zone. Greenberg and a Blue Devils’ player both took penalties, making it four on four. Sherman poked the puck away each time the Devils’ attempted to get past Dorsche. Ercoli tried to stick handle his way into a goal, but was blocked by the Blue Devils’ goalie. A truly beautiful play was when Brummitt got down on his knees at the point and kept the puck in play in the Devil’s zone. Though Ercoli was thwarted earlier, he put the puck above the goalie’s head, hitting the top of the net, for the third goal of the night, making it 3-0 Nighthawks. The Blue Devils let their frustration come out when they pushed Ercoli down not too long after, but the next penalty was taken by Brummitt, who was called for slashing. Clark, w ho is the captain, tried to discuss the call with the referees, but it stood. The most infamous penalty of the night was ironically taken by Clark not too long after Brummitt’s call, when a Blue Devil tried to instigate a fight with Clark, who tried to shake him off so he could productively play, a tactic the Blue Devils were clearly not employing. The Blue Devil was charged with roughing, but so was Clark, a call the fans let the referees know they were displeased with.
Third Period
To start off the third period, Kinne took a boarding penalty. Ercoli and Vlad both attempted to score goals, with Vlad being the successor, making it 4-0 Nighthawks. He was assisted by Sherman. Not too long after, Niles North senior Benji Berg-Einhorn, assisted by Sherman, made the fifth goal of the night. Berg-Einhorn had two more attempts after, but came up empty. In the last minutes of the game, Clark was called for roughing again. Luckily, the Blue Devils didn’t capitalize, and Greenberg put the puck away, making the final score 6-0 Nighthawks.
Clark feels that the team persevered against an instigative team.
“We didn’t play to our potential, however we still managed to win. I feel that for the most part we displayed discipline even though the other team was chippy. We scored on some good offensive opportunities set up by good movement of the puck, and our passing was solid,” Clark said.
