Certain players can take over a hockey game when the need arises. Reed Surak displayed that talent Monday night.
The senior scored three goal as the Whippets downed West Chester Henderson 5-2 in an ICSHL Ches-Mont encounter at Ice Line. The Whippets improved to 5-4 on the season and 3-2 in the Ches-Mont and now put together a three-game winning streak.
It was the first loss for Henderson which had opened the season with eight consecutive wins (The Warriors are 5-1 in the Ches-Mont)
“The last three games we’ve kind of played back to ourselves,” said Downingtown West coach Brett Mackell. “I think this was our best game start to finish tonight, especially defensively. We were really responsible, we didn’t give them many chances.”
It was the Whippets who had the bulk of the chances in the first period; they outshot the Warriors 14-7 in the first frame. But it was Henderson that got on the board first, thanks to Hunter Haas who launched a rocket from the left wing and beat Downingtown West netminder Tom O’Brien 6:19 into the opening frame.
Surak answered for the Whippets with 7:13 left in the period.
The star of the opening session however was Henderson goaltender Matt Cieslukowski, who made 13 saves in the opening 17 minutes.
But Surak got the better of him 7:57 into the second period when he collected a loose puck in the neutral zone and went down the right wing before depositing the puck inside the right post.
Haas scored his second goal of the game with nine seconds left in the period to tie the game and complete a splendid combination that involved teammates John Catania and Declan Herr.
The third-period belonged to the Whippets Brady Cusa put in a rebound of Bruce Schuler’s shot midway through the period. Surek completed his hat trick when he found the top shelf off a feed from Schuler with 4:57 left in regulation before Schuler scored a goal of his own with 1:50 remaining.
Surak noted that the Whippets controlled the pace of play after the first period.
“I think as a team we picked it up,” he said. “We definitely wanted that win, we were hungry for it.”
Surak said the Whippets have evolved since the start of the season.
“We started the season a little rough,” he said. “A couple bad bounces here and there but I think as a team we all came together and decided we wanted to win.
Henderson coach Tom Aughey credited his team for its effort.
“It was a good battle” he said. “The 5-2 result I don’t think was indicative of the score, but we were a little slow tonight, Downingtown played very well, especially [Surak].”
• Henderson entered the game as the top-ranked team in the inaugural Class A Flyers Cup rankings.
West Chester Henderson 1 1 0—2
Downingtown West 1 1 3—5
First-period goals: Hunter Haas (H) from John Gordon, 6:19; Reed Surak (DW) from Mark Bronshteyn, 9:47
Second-period goals: Surak (DW) unassisted, 7:57; Haas (H) from Blake Platz and Declan Herr, 16:51 (pp)
Third-period goals: Brady Cusa (DW) from Bryce Schuler and Aleks Kepiro, 8:27; Surak (DW) from Schuler, 12:03; Schuler (DW) from Ryder Jones, 15:10
Shots: Henderson 27, Downingtown West 36; Saves: Matt Cieslukowski H) 31, Tom O’Brien (DW) 29
Hockey Happenings 