Boys Ice Hockey Wins Season Opener

The Summit High School boys ice hockey team bombarded Jonathan Dayton with 49 shots on goal and came away with the 2-0 victory in its season opener at Warinanco Park last night.

Dayton goalie Dan DeBeau shutout the Hilltoppers (1-0) through most of the first. Senior forward Trevor Silverstein's broke the scoreless tie on a shot with 44 seconds left in the period. It proved to be the only goal DeBeau gave up, as Summit didn't score again until late in the third on an empty netter by senior tri-captain forward Bobby Lawrence.

"He's been their starting goalie for four years and we've had struggles with him in the past," head coach Keith Nixon said. "It took us a while to get to him, and we tried to beat down the door from in close way too often."

Summit scored its first goal from just inside the blue line, rather than bringing the puck up any closer to DeBeau. This caught the Bulldogs defense off guard, as they set up in anticipation of the Hilltoppers crashing the net once again.

Junior defenseman Michael Tsiang passed the puck along the boards through the neutral zone to a wide open Silverstein who wasted no time in taking the shot. DeBeau had little time to react as it went past his stick on the right side, giving Summit a 1-0 lead.

"(Silverstein) was smart enough to get up a little bit higher above the hash marks," Nixon said. "He got a good quick shot off and I really didn't think DeBeau had much of a chance on it."

Silverstein stayed on the attack throughout the night, nearly scoring two other times in the first period alone.

"He played a solid game," Nixon said. "He moved the puck well and got some good opportunities. He's been around so he knows what he needs to do out there."

DeBeau did not back down after allowing the first goal. In the second period he made even more incredible saves, including two in a row with 15 seconds left.
                                            
The Hilltoppers had a breakaway with two players and no defenders to beat. DeBeau made the first save on his left side with his leg padding, and then dropped his stick and dove across the net to stop the shot on the right side off the rebound from going in.

Penalties plagued both teams and created multiple 4-on-4 situations. There were 14 penalties called, and the Bulldogs' Brian Camp got ejected due to a major game misconduct penalty with less than five minutes remaining in third period.

The Hilltoppers committed five penalties.

"A game like this is kind of tough to play," Nixon said. "You always like to have the power plays, but on the other hand it messed up the flow of the game. You are trying to get three lines rolling, and then all of a sudden your on the power play again and that third line is not getting out there."

Needing to score a goal late in the third, Dayton pulled DeBeau for the extra attacker. The tactic did not pay off though, as Summit took a 2-0 lead on Lawrence's goal with just 1:11 remaining. Senior forward Jon Santina got the assist.

Summit's next game is against Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School at the Union Sports Arena on Friday at 4:10 p.m.

"We know what we need to work on, we know where our weaknesses are and we just have to keep building on that," Nixon said. "We'll hopefully adjust and get more quality opportunities."