The Amity Spartans were on the road in Milford on Saturday, for a match-up with the Staples Wreckers.
Under the leadership of head coach Michael “Scooter” Richetelli, the boys took his words to heart and practiced hard since their last game.
First Period
They skated onto the ice like winners with a new attitude, confidence, and determination. Just 5:02 into the first period, Justin Miller stunned the Wrecker’s goalie by getting one into the net, assisted by co-captain Nick Kiwanis.
Seven minutes later, Staples answered with its first goal, tying the game.
Second Period
Bent on breaking the tie, the Spartans came out on fire and Connor Bath, assisted by Kiwanis, wasted no time in making that happen. 1:06 into the second period, the Spartans again took the lead 2-1.
Third Period
The Spartans never lost momentum. Feeling that winning spirit, Bath made the move and quickly scored an unassisted goal at 1:07. At 4:28, Kiwanis made an unassisted goal, pushing the Spartans even further ahead at 4-1 (This may have been the empty-netter sliding perfectly from center rink into the net). His victory lap included a one-knee slide like Jason Csejka used to do.
Rounding things out Bath came through with a hat trick with only 2:39 remaining. Amity won its first game of the season, playing superbly and working well together.
NOTE: It would have been hard not to notice that the referees may have been related to some of the Staples players as there appeared to be a bias against the Spartans. Amity’s boys were put into the penalty box for offenses that the Wreckers had done and gotten away with ten times over.
Why the player who slammed into Jason Dittman nearly knocking him out, was never penalized is beyond us.
There was another Wrecker that I call “the enforcer” who should have been in the box for roughing a few times. Without outing him, his number was between 6 and 8. Why the refs turned a blind eye to his antics is beyond me.
Coach Richetelli said, “It happens. You gotta keep playing, you can’t stop. What I was most proud of is we kept our cool, took our penalty went to the box and did what we had to do.”
He added, “We were a little sloppy early, but then we worked hard and got pucks into the net and good things happened. We still have work to do, but we’re on our way.”
