Ice Hockey: Paramus Catholic 2, Fair Lawn 0

Over the past few seasons Paramus Catholic has been a major force in Big North hockey.  It was a mere two seasons ago that the Paladins won 27 games and shocked the Non-Public state tournament with their deep run.

The team that takes the ice now is quite different than its recent counterparts, and that is part of the learning process that PC is going through as this season unfolds.  What used to come easy no longer does, and dealing with that is something the Paladins will continue to address as December plays out.

Coming off a rough 8-2 loss the night before, Paramus Catholic took on Fair Lawn knowing that the last thing they wanted to do was go 0 for the first two weekends.  They accomplished that goal with a 2-0 defeat of the Cutter at the Ice House, a game that head coach Keith Bland hopes is the first block in a new foundation.

“We buried ourselves with the mistakes we made (in the St. Joseph loss) and I was really concerned to see how we would come out here today,” he said.  “We didn’t play what I thought was a good game technically, but we did put effort out there and we found a way to get that first win.’

They didn’t make it easy on themselves, often seeing their possessions disrupted by ill-advised passes or passes that were missing the target.  When they did get the offensive opportunities, Fair Lawn goalie Garret Baldacci was turning them aside, coming up with 30 saves and keeping the Cutters in the game.

Fair Lawn was playing without forwards Brian Galvin and Cory Cohen and it was evident in the offense as the lines were not clicking well.  Still, there were chances for Fair Lawn that they didn’t convert.

PC owned a 1-0 lead in the second period courtesy of a Derek Sabato goal on a power play (the only one the Paladins would have in the game) when Mark Williams came in and had an excellent chance to tie it up, only to see that chance go by the boards.

It was still 1-0 in the third when Joe Ferrante had a golden chance 5:26 in, but Paladin goalie John Pitera made a superb glove save on the shot from the left slot.  It was one of Pitera’s 17 saves a day after he was lifted after allowing six of the eight goals to St. Joseph.

“We need him to be solid,” Bland said.  “A lot of those goals last night weren’t his fault, but I could see it wasn’t going his way so we got him out of there.  He answered the bell today.”

Paramus Catholic (1-1-1) got an insurance goal with 4::08 left when Keith Henning came in on a breakaway.  He fanned on the shot and Baldacci couldn’t adjust to the slow puck and Nick Carnevale, trailing the play, was able to chip it in.

“It was rough not having Galvin and Cohen out there,” Fair Lawn head coach Dean Portas said.  “We couldn’t get any consistency and they took advantage of that.  They should be back next weekend.  We’re 1-2-1 now and we’ve got to start putting some wins up.”

Bland shared that sentiment, saying, “I’m glad we got that first win.  From a confidence standpoint, it’s huge, even though we didn’t play well.  You have to start somewhere, and we all know there’s plenty of work to still be done but this group needed to feel good about themselves.”