By TIM IRVING
If you showed up late to the Bill Gray’s Iceplex on Tuesday for Webster Thomas and Pittsford hockey, you probably missed all the action. The Titans scored two goals in the first seven minutes and made it stand up for a 3-1 win over the Panthers.
Eighteen seconds into the game, the Titans got into the Panthers’ zone, Mike Swartzenberg’s shot from the right point was tipped in by Zack Wolfe and Thomas took the quick lead.
With over eight minutes still left in the opening period, Dylan LaChance got the puck in the right face-off circle and dropped it for Jack Stappenbeck. His wrister went off the paddle of Pittsford goalie Ryan Graney and spun up over his head and dropped over the goal line for a 2-0 Titans’ advantage.
Still in the first period, just under five minutes left, Pittsford’s Lucas Procious snapped off a shot from just inside the Thomas blue line through a screen and the Panthers cut the lead in half, 2-1.
From there, the goalies and the defenses settled in. Pittsford’s Brian Judge thought he’d netted the equalizer late in the second but the net came off its moorings and the goal was waved off.
“It’s a grind for goalies because they’re starting every other night if you’re the starting goalie and you’re seeing lots of shots and with practices in between and both goalies just settled down as the game went on and made some big saves for both teams,” Thomas head coach Dave Evans said.
The Titans added an empty net goal late as LaChance put the puck home with under a minute to play.
Jackson Gruttadauria earned the victory in nets for the Titans, he’s 2-1 on the year.
“For our guys, it was a good team effort, especially in the third period. We held them to shots on the outside, we didn’t give them a lot of chances so, guys are buying in real quick,” said Evans, whose Titans improved to 3-1 on the season.
The Titans face Fairport Thursday and then rival Schroeder on Saturday.
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