Braves Impressive in 2 Game Weekend Sweep
The Talawanda Braves rode some solid goaltending by Sophomore Daniel Atkin for a 4-0 win in Indianapolis over Cathedral Chatard on Friday night and snared a league win over Alter, 7-2 on Sunday, in Dayton. The Braves rebounded from a shaky showing in Toledo the weekend before and appear ready to defend their SWOHSHL Championship going down the stretch. The win over Alter pushed their league leading record to 6-1-1.
Talawanda 4 Cathedral Chatard 0
Braden Park scored twice and Zach Phillips scored and assisted twice, pacing the Braves to victory. Pat Gray scored the other Brave marker and Dan Atkin kicked away 26 shots for the victory. Ben Eckhoff and Ben Hoover, with assists each, led a stingy defense along with Matt Finch and Eric Humfleet.
The Braves led 1-0 after one period with Zach Phillips tallying. Talawanda led 2-0 after two with Park depositing a rebound off a Phillips drive for a power play score. At the 3:01 mark of the third, with Chatard on the power play, Senior Pat Gray, poked away the puck at his own blueline and went in all alone to score the back-breaker for a 3-0 lead. Park re-directed an Eckhoff blast for a power play score at 5:33 of the third to seal the win at 4-0. In the last ten minutes, Atkin was tested several times. Determined to record the shutout, he made a toe save with 5 minutes to play to preserve the zero.
Talawanda 7 Alter 2
This league contest was anybody’s game going into the third period. The Braves never trailed but were clinging to 3-2 lead after two periods. Goalie Dan Atkin stopped 13 of 14 shots in the second period, two of them at the 5 minute mark from point blank range. Atkin made a pad save 30 seconds into the third to frustrate the Knights and Talawanda poured it on with four unanswered goals to capture the league win.
Ben Hoover could not be contained on this Sunday afternoon. The smooth skating Senior scored the first three Talawanda scores and added a fourth in the third period outburst. He provided the Braves a 2-1 lead in the first period with two end to end rushes that ended with dazzling finishes at the net. Matt Finch working hard, drew an assist on the second goal. Hoover scored on the Braves first shot on goal in the second period to make the score 3-1, with Eric Humfleet earning his first of 3 assists on the day. But a competitive Alter squad out shot the Braves 14-7 and pulled to with in one goal and trailed just 3-2 entering the final stanza. Pat Gray tipped in a Finch point shot on the power play at 7:04 of the third to extend the lead to 4-2. Hoover delivered the knock out punch a minute later with a short handed unassisted tally. Braden Park and Humfleet hooked up for the sixth score and Park added insurance with an unassisted laser to close out the scoring and a 7-2 win.