SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Blue Streaks are one win away from yet another birth in the Section II Division I Finals.
To do that, No. 2 Saratoga Springs (13-5-3) will have to get through No. 3 La Salle (14-7) and a forward who scored five goals against them in two games—Chris Hunt.
Hunt, a junior, is tied for third in Section II goal scoring behind Bethlehem’s Chris Caswell (20) and Shaker/Colonie’s Kevin Egan (19).
“That’s the key to stopping that team is stopping him,” said Blue Streaks head coach Dave Torres about Hunt. “He’s a major part of their offense and if we stop him we should be OK.”
After Saratoga Springs suffered back-to-back losses against Suffern and Pelham, Hunt found the back of the net three times at the Weibel Ave Rink on January 22.
The Streaks gave up six goals that game—tied for the most they have given up all season.
“Danny Hobbs wasn’t really into the game,” said Torres of his starting goaltender. “He had a mental lapse and I had to pull him.”
Saratoga Springs went on to use three goalies that night.
But the regular-season matchup was a tale of two games, as Saratoga Springs went to La Salle two weeks later and won 5-3.
“I’m looking for a good battle Friday night against these guys,” said Torres, who plans to utilize his team’s speed, put constant pressure on La Salle’s defense and sustain Blue Streaks forecheck as they try to contain Hunt.
As for Wednesday’s 1-0 quarterfinal victory over No. 7 CBA, Torres said the game could have easily been 5-0 or 4-0 if not for the play of Brothers’ goalie Kyle Stockman, who had 27 saves in the game.
“We knew we were going to run into a hot goaltender, which we did,” Torres said. “Kyle Stockman certainly kept his team in the game. We put a lot of shots on him, put pressure on him early but couldn’t get passed him.”
In the second period, Saratoga Springs’ Jake Fauler helped set up the game’s lone goal when he was able to maneuver down the right side, beat his man and feed JT Rafferty to the left.
“It was all defense from there,” Torres said. “Dan Hobbs came up big for us.”
There were no mental lapses for Hobbs against CBA, as he ended the shutout with 18 saves.
Although the quarterfinal against CBA was close, Torres said he does not care about the score as long as it is in the Blue Streaks favor at the end.
“At this point, it doesn’t matter if it’s 1-0 or 10-0,” Torres said. “We’re moving on to the semifinals, which is big and we’re happy with the team effort. We grinded it out. It could have went either way and it went our way. The hockey gods were with us.”
The Streaks and the Cadets face off at 6:45 p.m. tonight at the Weibel Ave Rink. The winner will play either No. 1 Shenendehowa or No. 4 Niskayuna/Schenectady in the championship game at Union College on Tuesday, February 25. The finals are set to start at 7:15 p.m.
