Playing without an important player is something that River Dell has had to endure for most of the first two weeks of the season. With Kevin Barry missing because of the ACT testing, the Golden Hawks were faced with a hole in their offense. It had them struggling through the first half on Saturday against Paramus.
Teamwork took over in the second half, enabling River Dell to move on to a 9-3 win over the Spartans that increased their record to 4-2. Paramus fell to 1-5 a day after they had garnered their first win of the season over Newark East Side.
“We sputtered in the first half,” River Dell head coach Brian Rendine said. “We knew the goals were going to come with the guys working through it. They stepped up and found a way to get it done.”
The Hawks were dominant in two areas of the game and they became the keys to their wins. They scored on their first three man advantage situations, finishing three of five in the game while denying Paramus on all five of their man ups. They also got a solid performance from sophomore Conor Davidson on faceoffs. He won 10 of 15 on the day, including 8 of 10 in the final three periods.
That enabled River Dell to control possession and keep Paramus from mounting any serious threat in the second half. Combined with 16 saves from Ben Sagerman, the Hawks scored the final five goals of the game after the Spartans got within 4-3 in the opening minute of the third quarter on Joe Stross’ second goal of the game.
River Dell made it 5-3 a minute after Stross’ score when Brendan O’Connell scored off his own rebound. Steve Luca added a third period goal before the Hawks got a trio of tallies in the final period. In all, seven different players scored goals, with Luca and Mike Neville getting two each.
“This was a team effort,” Rendine said. “This is something that we’ve been waiting for, these guys coming together. You have your missed opportunities, but the bigger picture, the things the box score won’t tell you, is that when you play the way we did today, that’s what really makes the difference.”