Madison Ice Hockey Impressive In Win Over Westfield

WOODBRIDGE – The bus carrying the Madison High School ice hockey team was late arriving to the Woodbridge Community Center for Thursday's game with Westfield. So the Dodgers rolled right off the bus and right over the Blue Devils.

Erik Andersson scored two goals–giving him 10 over the last four games–and notched two more assists as Madison won its fifth straight game, beating the Union County team 5-2.

Facing an unfamiliar opponent in an unfamiliar location, the Dodgers continued right where they left off after Wednesday's 9-2 victory against Parsippany Hills.

"We're on a good run right now," said Madison head coach Dave Hansen. "This second part of the season is a good time to get on a hot streak."

The Dodgers put together a superb defensive effort to shut down a Westfield squad that had scored 21 goals in its previous four games. Hansen said the key was stopping the Blue Devils before they could get started.

"We just had to move the puck out of our defensive zone as quickly as possible," Hansen said. "They have some good, quick forwards, and we just had to move the puck hard up the boards, or up the middle. Their stick handling is good enough that if you give them the puck in our zone, they're going to score."

After a feeling-out process that opened the game, lasting just over five minutes and with both teams trading possession without many threats on goal, the Dodgers (7-2-1) struck first.

Seven minutes into the period, Andersson led a 3-on-2 breakaway. The freshman forward took the puck the entire way, launching a shot at Westfield goalie Joe Fleschler. The shot was saved, but Andersson cleaned up his own rebound to get the Dodgers on the scoreboard.

That lead lasted just over two-and-a-half minutes. At the 4:49 mark of the first, Westfield's CJ Meyer flipped a pass into the side netting of Madison's goal. Madison goalie Grant Perry, perhaps expecting a pass across the front of the net, lost track of the puck and moved his right foot away from the right post. Westfield's Nick Attanasio scooped up the puck and placed it into the space vacated by Perry's foot, tying the game at 1-1.

But according to Hansen, the turning point of the game occurred 21 seconds later. With Madison controlling the puck after the ensuing faceoff, defenseman Charlie Olendorp took a slapshot that missed the net entirely. But it took a perfect bounce off the boards beyond the goal line to Andersson, who stood near the left post. He caught Fleschler out of position and scored to give Madison a lead it would not relinquish.

"Erik lifted our guys' spirits a little bit," Hansen said. "He's really been on fire for us."

The Dodgers put together an impressive performance over the remaining 34 minutes of game time, eventually outshooting the Blue Devils, 27-16. A goal from Lou Cecala in the final minute of the first period, and another from Brett Anton 14 seconds into the second period, put Madison ahead 4-1 and forced Westfield coach Dennis Doherty to switch goalies. At that point, the Dodgers had scored four goals on 13 shots.

Westfield (6-3-2) came into the game as the second-place team in the Union County Ice Hockey League, and Hansen knew they would prove a formidable opponent. With a three-goal advantage, he repeatedly yelled out, "It's 0-0! It's 0-0!" as a reminder to his team to continue playing.

"I told them that we just need to win the period," Hansen said. "Don't lose your focus and look at the scoreboard. A lot of times we'll get up 3-1 and a period's over, and we'll sort of lose our way a bit."

Brett Perry's slapshot from above the right faceoff circle made it 5-1 five minutes into the third period. And while Joe Kramkowski earned Westfield a bit of consolation on a soft goal three minutes later–he appeared to be clearing the puck towards Grant Perry from the neutral zone as part of a penalty kill–the Dodgers left Woodbridge with a comprehensive victory.

UP NEXT

Madison conclues its brief two-game out-of-conference swing Sunday night when the Dodgers host the Newton/Lenape Valley co-op team at Mennen Arena (7:45 p.m.). Newton/Lenape Valley was 4-5-1 entering Thursday's game with fellow NJIHL-West Division opponent River Dell. The Dodgers will be the third Morris County team to face Newton/Lenape Valley; Morris Catholic fell to the co-op team, 6-1, while Madison's Haas Division rival Roxbury romped to an 8-2 victory on Jan. 2.

SCORING SUMMARY

Madison    3  1  1  -  5

Westfield  1  0  1  -  2

FIRST PERIOD

MAD- Erik Andersson (from Brett Anton), 7:48

WEST- Nick Attanasio (from CJ Meyer and Henry O'Brien), 10:11

MAD- Andersson (from Charlie Olendorp and Anton), 10:32

MAD- Lou Cecala (from Andersson and Olendorp), 13:25

SECOND PERIOD

MAD- Anton (from Brett Perry and Cecala), 0:14

THIRD PERIOD

MAD- Perry (from Andersson and Bobby Yutcko), 5:42

WEST- Joe Kramkowski (shorthanded, unassisted), 8:35

SHOTS ON GOAL

Madison   12  8  7  -  27

Westfield   6  7  3  -  16