WARWICK—Council Rock South came into the hockey season with great expectations. To date, those expectations have been met.
The Golden Hawks scored three times in the first 10 minutes of the opening period and went on to a 7-4 non-league win over Holy Ghost Prep Monday night at Revolution Ice Gardens. It was the Hawks’ second win of the new season.
Illia Mukhin led the way for South by delivering a hat trick. Nikita Volobuiev added two goals of his own. Kevin Koles provided three assists.
It was a performance that put future opponents on notice.
“I think we’re playing great,” Koles said. “I think we’re moving the puck well. We’re communicating and doing all the right things, and playing good as a team.”
Volobuiev got things started for the Hawks 4:30 into the first period. Jake Weiner made it 2-0 just 16 seconds later.
A.J. Prete cut the lead in half when he scored for the Firebirds (0-1) at the 9:45 mark, but Mukhin found the back of the net at 13:36 to give South a 3-1 lead after one period.
The fast start sent a powerful message.
“Obviously scoring the first goal is very crucial in the game,” Koles said. “It gets our momentum going.”
Volobuiev and Holy Ghost Prep’s Brian Kinniry traded goals in the second period before Mukhin scored twice in a span of three-and-a-half minutes to give his team a 6-3 lead 6:23 into the third.
The Hawks stayed in control the rest of the way, although they spent more time in the penalty box than assistant coach Colin Murphy would have preferred. The two teams were whistled for 19 infractions, nine of them to the Hawks.
“We need to stick to our game,” Murphy said. “We kind of fell into [taking bad penalties]. We’ve got to regroup and kind of figure out that we need to play more as a team.”
Murphy noted the importance of doing the little things right.
“Mainly going back to the fundamentals,” he said, “and just kind of like we instill in these kids every year, that penalties kill us.”
Kinniry finished with two goals for the Firebirds, who were playing their first game with John Richie behind the bench.
“Especially at forward, we have a lot of young guys that need to figure out what their roles are,” he said, “and where they fit in this team. Obviously, we’re still adjusting lines but Council Rock South is going to be one of the best teams in the state at any level this year.
“It was a good test for us, I thought we got a little better as the game went on but obviously we’ve got a lot to learn between now and the end of the season.”
Richie noted that a number of his players are assuming new roles this season.
“For the most part, all these guys play on solid club teams,” he said, “so I don’t think game speed is an issue. But, for some of the younger guys, adjusting to the strength and some of the bigger guys will take a little bit of time, but I think overall I’m trying to figure out what the roles will be; who’s going to be a goal scorer, who’s going to be a grinder, who’s going to bring physicality, those types of things.”
Holy Ghost Prep 1 1 2—4
Council Rock South 3 1 3—7
First-period goals: Nikita Volobuiev (CRS) from Jordan Sarne, 4:30; Jake Weiner (CRS) from Jackson Mosley, 4:46; A.J.Prete (HGP) from Brendan Schultz, 9:45; Illia Mukhin (CRS) from Kevin Koles, 13:36 (pp)
Second-period goals: Volobuiev (CRS) unassisted, 2:51 (sh); Brian Kinniry (HGP) from Prete and Matthew Cholaj, :04
Third-period goals: Mikhin (CRS) from Volobuiev, 2:56; Mikhin (CRS) from Koles and Weiner, 6:23 (pp); Kinniry (HGP) from Nathan Romer, 10:39 (pp); Chas Tovsky (CRS) from Koles, 13:03 (sh); Anthony Valeriote, 15:52
Shots: Holy Ghost Prep 30, Council Rock South 30
Hockey Happenings 