ORIGINAL ARTICLE

MANCHESTER • Vianney ice hockey coach Brian McGlynn wasn’t going to let a potential victory slip from his team’s grasp.

Sensing the momentum shifting after De Smet had cut Vianney’s three-goal lead to just one midway through the second period, McGlynn called a timeout to regroup his team. The Griffins responded with two quick goals en route to a 6-2 victory in a key Mid-States Club Hockey Association Municipal Division game at the Queeny ice rink Tuesday night.

“There were some things out there that we needed to correct,” McGlynn said. “We needed to get back to playing Vianney hockey.

McGlynn called the timeout at 7:06 after De Smet’s Benjamin Lodes cut the Vianney lead to 3-2 with his third goal of the season.

Vianney answered 20 seconds later with Danny McGlynn’s team-leading 16th goal of the season.

“I just got the pass and shot it and it went right through the five hole,” Danny McGlynn said. “Good teamwork, it was a good breakout.”

Cameron Wuesthoff restored the Griffins’ three-goal lead, finishing a three-on-one by roofing a shot just under the crossbar with 44 seconds left in the second period.

Wuesthoff’s power-play goal in the third pushed Vianney's lead to 6-2.

Danny McGlynn said quick response after the timeout was crucial.

“That brought us a lot of momentum,” Danny McGlynn said. “We picked it up and got two more.”

Adam Rischbieter and Joseph Schulze each had a goal and an assist for Vianney (13-5-1). Joey Boccardi also scored for the Griffins and Nicholas Niemeier made 23 saves.

Daniel Kinzel also scored for De Smet (12-5-3). Daniel Karr made 23 saves for the Spartans.

The game has possible Challenge Cup playoff ramifications as both teams expect to be seeded in the top four when the postseason pairings are announced Sunday.

“I don’t know the mathematics behind that,” Brian McGlynn said. “I think we are neck and neck (with De Smet), maybe this will give us a little nudge.”

Rischbieter gave Vianney a 1-0 lead 63 seconds into the game, scoring his second goal of the season with a backhander off of a breakaway.

Schulze extended the Griffins’ lead off of a fortuitous bounce at the 6:02 mark of the first. Schulze started the play by intercepting a De Smet clearing attempt at the blue line. His original shot went wide but bounced off the end boards directly back to him, allowing him to one-time it into the net.

Boccardi’s wrister found its way through traffic to make it 3-0 for Vianney with 2.7 seconds left in the first. Timothy Pazdernik got the assist.

“I thought we didn’t have the energy that we needed to have against a team like that,” De Smet coach Christopher Durso said. “If you come out flat they’re going to put a couple up on you quick and you’re chasing the game after that.”

Kinzel got De Smet on the board, finishing a perfectly executed two-on-one with Michael Mullen at the 3:28 mark of the second period.

Lodes found the back of the net seconds after the Griffins thwarted a two-on-one with Jack Estes and Justin Reynolds, but that was as close as the Spartans got.

“I thought we had something going there and they got the momentum back and our kids couldn’t battle through it,” Durso said.