A month ago, the Shaker/Colonie hockey team was in the middle of a tough stretch of games and wondering if it had what it took to get back to the Section II Division I finals.
Following last Friday’s 3-0 Sectional semifinal victory over Shenendehowa in Clifton Park, the Jets know they belong.
We are extremely excited, said Shaker/Colonie coach Steve Hudak. `It’s funny. At the beginning of the year, we thought we were going back to the finals. Then we hit a lull [in January]. We found out we weren’t as good as we thought we were. So, we’re actually excited to be there [in the finals] again.`
In truth, the Jets (14-6-2) lost to some good teams during the month of January, including Shen and Saratoga Springs. But they needed a spark to regain their confidence.
The spark came in the form of senior goaltender Jim Lanne and the Shaker/Colonie defense. Since the Jets’ 3-2 loss to Shen Jan. 29, Lanne has allowed three goals over the last five games including shutout victories over Christian Brothers Academy and Shen in the playoffs.
`What he’s done the last two games is he hasn’t let the other teams into the game early on,` Hudak said of Lanne. `He’s playing like a senior, and he doesn’t want the season to end.`
Lanne came up big early on against Shen (13-7-2). The Plainsmen flew out of the gate, but Lanne made a pair of key saves to take some of the wind out of Shen’s sails.
`I didn’t want to give them any chance to get in the game,` said Lanne.
If Lanne’s early saves took away some of Shen’s momentum, Brian Seniw got rid of the rest. Seniw received a perfect pass from Joe Chiara to start a breakaway, and he finished it by shooting the puck past freshman goaltender Brian Walter for a 1-0 Jets lead. The game was only 4:09 old.
`They had a young goaltender in there, so getting a goal on him early on was big,` said Lanne. `I think we got into his head.`
Seniw struck again 3:24 later. This time, the senior forward stormed the net to pick up a loose puck and stuff it past Walter to give Shaker/Colonie a 2-0 advantage.
Shen tried to get some of its early momentum back, but it had a hard time generating quality scoring chances against Shaker/Colonie’s defense. The Jets allowed only six shots on goal in the first period, all of which were stopped by Lanne.
That theme carried over into the second period. Despite a couple of early lapses, the Jets continued to frustrate the Plainsmen with good defense and timely saves by Lanne.
`We came into the game knowing that controlling the defensive zone and the neutral zone would be the key,` said Hudak.
Walter did what he could to keep Shen in the game, making several key saves early in the second period before giving up a power play goal to Ryan Phillips that gave Shaker/Colonie a 3-0 lead.
Shen’s frustration showed late in the second period. The Plainsmen took several penalties, including two on one play with less than one minute left. That gave Shaker/Colonie a two-man advantage to start the third period.
Fortunately for Shen, it killed off the penalties. But the one thing the Plainsmen couldn’t do was get the puck past Lanne, who finished with 15 saves.
`What changed the momentum was our missed opportunities,` said Shen coach Juan de la Rocha. `[Lanne] made some nice saves, but he left some second-chance opportunities, and we couldn’t capitalize on them.`
Shaker/Colonie advances to Thursday’s Sectional final against Saratoga Springs at Union College. The top-seeded Blue Streaks edged LaSalle 2-1 Saturday to punch its ticket to Achilles Rink.“