Photo by Steve Ognibene
Newstead Homes Kings beat Kelly's Holland Inn Stars, 6-1, on Sunday at the David M. McCarthy Memorial Ice Arena to win the Batavia Men's League Hockey Championship.
The Kings came out of the locker room hot, opening the first period with goals by Dan Eckerson, Evan Eckerson, and David Holtz.
"We knew going in that they were going to come out flying, and we just had to play our game," Evan Eckerson said. "Gary (Schum), our goalie, he played a heck of a game, and you can't really ask anything else of him. He didn't allow a goal until 10 seconds left."
Eckerson said his team scored "not the greatest goal" to take a 1-0.
"But, hey, they all count. They all look the same on the score sheet. That got us on the board and that got us the momentum to keep going through the first period."
In the second period, the Kings took advantage of a penalty, with Shane Wiseman netting a power-play goal, assisted by Mitch Ernst.
The Stars got some quality shots on Schum in the second and third period, but the goaltender was equal to the task.
"This team has been all about energy, checking the whole season long, and today they did a great job in front of me -- pressuring the puck and resolving the turnovers," Schum said. "Defensively, they were just great in our own zone today."
The Kings' netminder kept the Stars scoreless through four penalty kill opportunities in the third period until, with 9.3 seconds to play, Jason Hauesser scored for the Stars.
Evan Eckerson added two more goals late in the third period, getting the hat trick and securing the most valuable player award for the game.
Kings Coach Charlie O'Geen, the last original active member of the league, won his sixth championship.
"We won the championship with Charlie a couple of years ago," Eckerson said. "There's no better guy who deserves it more. He's one of the first ones. He's been here since the start, and he's still here, still winning championships, picking championship teams."
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Photos by Steve Ognibene
