By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Publisher
ATLANTIC CITY — A young Egg Harbor Township ice hockey team was hanging in there pretty good against Clearview Regional on Monday night in the Eagles’ 2016-2017 home opener at Flyers Skate Zone. Perhaps the Eagles were inspired by the pregame ceremony in which last season’s South Jersey High School Hockey League’s Parent Division banner was unveiled.
But the Pioneers took advantage of some EHT defensive lapses in the second period, putting up four goals to take command before cruising to an 8-0 victory that put Clearview firmly in first place in the early going of the division schedule.
Clearview (3-0) nearly took the lead in the first period, but hit the post on its best scoring opportunity. EHT (0-2) killed a penalty, and freshman goalie Cameron Carmen made a couple of saves to keep the Pioneers off the board. But in the second period, Clearview’s superior passing opened up a lot of scoring chances, and the Pioneers began converting.
Less than two minutes into the second period, Cole Dyar came up with a steal at center ice, forcing a two-on-one situation. He dished off to Anthony Manzo, who put a shot past Carmen to give the Pioneers a 1-0 lead. EHT struggled with penalties in the second period, putting a lot of pressure on its defense. Clearview scored again with 13:17 left in the period when Nate Smith took advantage of some sloppy defense in the Eagles’ zone and dished to Hunter Tamburro, who scored to make it 2-0.
“We just have to pick ourselves up and get ready for the next game. That’s all we can do. You win some and you lose some. There’s not really much to say,” said Eagles’ first-year coach Scott Brock. “We started taking some penalties, started playing a man down, and we got a little sloppy. We weren’t moving the puck, we weren’t skating, and they took advantage.”
Later in the second period, Clearview’s Nick Ramos went the length of the ice and scored the first of his two goals. Chase Dyar added a goal with 5:45 left, knocking home a rebound to push the lead to 4-0.
“We have to take care of ourselves. We have to stay out of the (penalty) box and play 48 minutes of hockey,” Brock said. “We have to skate hard, move the puck, and start getting some shots on net.”
The Pioneers out-shot the Eagles 38-12, and that offensive pressure started to wear on Carmen and the Eagles’ defense. Because of limited ice time, EHT only gets to practice one day per week, and Clearview was able to take advantage of the Eagles’ inexperience. The Pioneers tacked on four more goals in the third period, including the second of the game for Ramos and Manzo, and one each from Cole Dyar and Smith. Carmen finished the game with 30 saves, while Clearview goalie Ross Higgins was forced to make just 12.
Egg Harbor Township’s best scoring chance came late in the third period, when Jacob Feliciano broke free after a face-off in EHT’s end, but Higgins stopped the shot to preserve the shutout.
Things won’t get any easier for the Eagles in their next game, as they travel to take on unbeaten Cherokee (2-0) next Monday at 7 p.m. in Pennsauken. The Eagles’ next home game at Flyers Skate Zone is Friday, Nov. 18 at 6:20 p.m. against Holy Lenape Valley.
Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays