NISKAYUNA: Mohawks edge Dutchmen

Wednesday, January 17, 2007 -11:53 a.m.

The Niskayuna-Schenectady hockey team narrowly escaped defeat last Saturday night against Guilderland in Capital District High School Hockey League Division I action at the Schenectady County Recreational Facility in Glenville.

After the Mohawks blew a three goal lead in the third period, Zach Perlstein bailed his team out with a power play goal to give them a 5-4 victory.

We got a 4-1 lead, and I think our guys relaxed a little bit, Niskayuna-Schenectady coach Todd Templeton said. "Guilderland's a good club, and they battled hard. They never quit after being down, they kept coming, and we relaxed. We gave them a couple of opportunities, and they capitalized on them."

The Dutchmen had two goals disallowed in the game including one on a power play that would have tied the game at four.

"I normally wouldn't have any beef with the referee, but I was a little upset with the two disallowed goals," Guilderland coach John DeRubertis said.

Guilderland (6-9 overall, 5-2 league) would score the tying goal on that same power play less than a minute later when sophomore Dan Dickinson skated through two Mohawk defenders and beat goalie Scott Hartz with a shot over Hartz's shoulder.

Dickinson took an ill-advised hooking penalty at neutral ice a minute later, and it proved costly to Guilderland. Perlstein (1 goal, 3 assists) wasted no time on the power play, scoring four seconds into the man advantage. Matt Kelly won the face-off and sent the puck over to Perlstein, who was stationed just inside the blue line. Perlstein fired a slapshot high past a screened Brendan Glennon for the goal.

The Mohawks' (9-4-2, 3-2-2) opened up the scoring in the first period after senior Reuben Dacher-Shapiro tipped in a Perlstein blast from the point. The Dutchmen knotted the score at 1 with a power play tally by freshmen Greg Warnken, but N/S regained the lead when Dacher-Shapiro beat Glennon with a low soft wrist shot through the legs.

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