CB West picked up its fourth straight win on Wednesday. Ben Reese recaps all the action.
By Ben Reese
WARWICK -- Central Bucks West didn't start off its ice hockey season too well. In fact, the Bucks lost their first three league games and five of their first seven, which included non-league games.
But now, they are making their push for a spot in the playoffs and the Flyers Cup. West extended its winning streak to four straight games with an 8-1 victory over William Tennent Wednesday night at Revolution Ice Gardens.
What got the Bucks going?
"The guys are really buying into what the coaches are saying," said Chris Trefz, who collected a goal and four assists against the Panthers. "We're getting a lot of good three-on-two rushes.
"The guys are starting to take the puck wide, find the high guy. Buying into the system is a big thing.
"After a tough start, we were really able to come together. We're happy to start getting moving."
How about it, head coach Dave Baun? Is that fueling the winning streak?
"I think that we seem to be getting it," Baun said. "When the kids start to realize that 90 percent of this game is moving the puck, they play better and the wins tend to come."
They certainly have. And so has the offense.
In their four-game win streak, the Bucks have scored 32 goals for an average of eight per game. And the defense has been working also, giving up 12 goals or an average of three goals per game.
Trefz led the way for West, which had five players hit the scoreboard. Jake Lang had three goals and Pavel Serhiayenka two. They are Trefz's linemates.
"He played a really nice game," Baun said of Trefz. "When we get good speed through the neutral zone and we get guys working hard without the puck, then things usually work well. Chris has been playing great all season long, but especially the last few games."
Which also happens to be the four games in the win streak.
How about you, Chris? What's working for you?
"My linemates are really playing well," Trefz said. "They're really great to play with, really gifted and fast.
"We have great chemistry and we're scoring some great goals. We move the puck well. We're just having fun."
Fun wasn't what Tennent coach Nick D'Aurizio was having. In fact, he's looking down his bench and not seeing too many skaters.
"We have a couple of suspensions and we have a couple guys injured and we have a sickness going around the team," the Panthers’ coach said. "When you have two guys injured, two guys suspended and two guys sick, you're going to have a short bench. We certainly had one tonight.
"They're key guys, seniors and juniors, that we're missing. When you're missing upperclassmen, it's going to hurt, especially when you're playing a good team like CB West."
Speaking of hurt, Tennent also lost its top scorer early in the third period when Bobby Markus went to the bench with an injury.
"He's our most dynamic player," D'Aurizio said. "He's one of the most dynamic players in the league.
"I knew they were going to key in on him. He expects that at this point. He's doing a good job of working through it."
West got off to a quick start when Serhiayenka scored with 45 seconds gone in the opening period off assists from Trefz and Lang. The Panthers came back to tie the game at 1-1 on David Gray's goal at 7:14, but that is as close as they could get.
The Bucks added two more tallies in the opening stanza. Serhiayenka notched his second goal at the 14:18 mark and Lang got his first with 1.4 seconds left in the period.
Trefz scored his goal early in the second period unassisted. Owen Shields netted the second goal of the period at 14:36.
The third period was all West with three goals. Lang landed the final two goals of his hat trick and Reese Dalzell finished up the scoring.
The win puts the Bucks' league record at 4-3. With the two points for the win, they move up into a tie for third in the Continental Division with Pennridge and CB East, all with eight points.
CB West 8, William Tennent 1
CB West 3 2 3 – 8
William Tennent 1 0 0 – 1
First period: 1, Pavel Serhiayenka CBW (Jake Lang, Chris Trefz) 0:45; 2, David Gray WT (Bobby Markus) 7:14; 3, Serhiayenka CBW (Trefz, Reese Dalzell) 14:18; 4, Lang CBW (Trefz, Serhiayenka) 15:59.
Second period: 5, Trefz CBW (unassisted) 3:17; 6, Owen Shields CBW (Grant Funseth, Aaron Yurigan) 14:31.
Third period: 7, Lang CBW (unassisted) 7:45 SH; 8, Lang CBW (Keith Orlando) 8:24; 9, Dalzell CBW (Trefz) 11:43.
Shots: CBW 23, WT 15. Saves: Nicholas Ritz (CBW) 14, Thomas Lomas (WT) 15.
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