Archbishop Wood looked the part of the conference’s top team in its 10-0 win over Wissahickon Wednesday. To view photos of all the action, please visit the Photo Gallery.
WARMINSTER - Archbishop Wood squared off with Wissahickon in a battle between Su
burban One American conference opponents jockeying for playoff position. While the Vikings are sitting pretty secure with the top spot in the division, the Trojans are in a fight for their playoff lives.
Wood jumped all over visiting Wissahickon, scoring three goals in the first period and never looking back. The Vikings went on to earn a 10-0 shutout mercy rule victory and, in the process, looked every bit the part of the American Conference's top squad.
“I thought we played well,” Wood captain Kyle Gallen said. “We brought our ‘A’ game. We’re trying to get ready for playoffs. We had to really step up tonight.”
The star of the contest was Wood forward Kevin Neiley. Neiley scored two goals and had two assists to go along with plus seven for the game. Neiley attributed his offensive production with defensive commitment and teamwork.
“We just played a defensive game - [we’re] a defensive unit,” Neiley said. “Defense first, that’s kind of our motto.”
Wood was able to use its speed as its best weapon, forcing Wissahickon into taking penalties and wearing them down as the game wore on. The Vikings found themselves on the power play repeatedly throughout the whole game, registering a power play goal on four out of six chances.
“We work on our power play every practice,” Wood coach Sam Gallen said. “Some things didn’t work like I wanted tonight.”
As the game progressed to the later stages, Wood’s speed resulted in Wissahickon fatigue and led to a Vikings offensive eruption netting five goals in just over six minutes of play.
“I think [our speed] wears teams down,” said Neiley. “Like tonight going in [to the third] 5-0 and ending up winning 10-0, they were just worn down.
Wood was able to use the game as a confidence builder as well as an opportunity to send a signal to the rest of the league. With a little extra cushion in the standings, the Vikes also have the luxury to work certain players and lines.
“We’ll probably see these guys in the playoffs, so it was kind of a gear up for us and a gear up for them,” coach Gallen said. “We’re just trying to get in the right mindset moving forward.”
With the regular season set to wrap up and the playoffs looming Wood remains a confident but humble bunch, especially after a decisive win over a quality opponent.
“Coming down the stretch, everybody is producing,” Neiley said. “We’re playing probably our best hockey going into the playoffs. Playing like this nobody will beat us.
“A 10-0 win against a team that we’ll probably end up seeing in playoffs, it’s a good foreshadow for what we’re going to see.”
“We’re pretty confident, but we don’t want to be too confident because then we might go in and not do too well,” Kyle Gallen added. ‘We just have to keep our ‘A’ game.”
In other words, the same game they brought to Wednesday’s showdown against the Trojans.
ARCHBISHOP WOOD 3 2 5-10
WISSAHICKON 0 0 0-0
Period 1
AW – Kevin Neiley (unassisted) 5:55
AW – Matt Mandes (powerplay) (Nick Patton, Bailey Nixon) 7:23
AW – Kevin Neiley (Nick Patton) 15:53
Period 2
AW – Matt Mandes (powerplay) (Troy Potts) 8:27
AW – Matt Mandes (Kyle Gallen) 14:13
Period 3
AW – Nick Patton (Kevin Neiley, Ryan Meinke) 1:02
AW – Michael Anzideo (powerplay) (Patrick Cavanaugh, Shane Lydon) 3:25
AW – Shane Lydon (powerplay) (Kevin Neiley) 4:52
AW – Shane Freeman (Bailey Nixon) 5:19
AW – Michael Anzideo (Kyle Gallen, Matt Mandes) 6:11
Goalies:
John Capinas (AW) 7 shots, 7 saves
Jordan Fromm (W) 40 shots, 30 saves
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