Hockey: Wide-spread scoring makes first round a breeze for Edison
- Share via
WESTMINSTER — As far as Edison High’s ice hockey team is concerned, the regular season might as well have been one long training exercise.
The playoffs are ultimately where the Chargers are going to be judged, as they were a finalist in the Anaheim Ducks High School Hockey League’s Division 3 bracket a year ago.
A strong regular season earned Edison a cozy first-round matchup against Palm Springs United, and the Chargers were able to take advantage.
The Chargers spread the wealth around as nine different players recorded a point in the team’s 7-0 first-round win on Thursday night at The Rinks Westminster Ice.
James McGuire, Tommy Logan, Jake Gealy, and Nico Santoro had a goal and an assist apiece.
“Any time that you get into a playoff situation in any sport, getting production from multiple people is always a good thing,” Chargers coach David Walker said. “It alleviates a little bit of pressure off of guys that typically put up the majority of your points.”
Savannah Gutierrez made 17 saves for the shutout.
Edison (11-3-0-1) will face Chino Valley (11-4-0-0) in the second round on Saturday (5:35 p.m.) at The Rinks Lakewood Ice. Chino Valley beat Beckman, 5-4, in the first round.
Ryan Osterkamp opened the scoring on the Chargers’ first shot of the game. Daniel Johnson had the shot from the left-wing boards, and Osterkamp tipped it past Palm Springs United goalie Sam Clay-Lund (29 saves).
James McGuire doubled Edison’s lead with 5:25 left in the first. Luke Vanderveen was hammering the puck into the pads of Clay-Lund, and when the puck came across the crease, McGuire was there to finish it off.
“Throughout practice, Coach [Walker] has always said keep one guy high in front of the net while the other two cycle down,” McGuire said. “Nico Santoro, he had it behind the net and tried doing the wrap-around.”
“It bounced free. Luke Vanderveen, he took a shot. It just crossed the net, and I got the goal.”
Edison took its 2-0 lead into the second period. The Chargers pulled away with a four-goal frame.
Defenseman Tommy Logan started the fireworks when he scored from the blue line off a clean face-off win by McGuire.
The team was feeling good at that point, and some of the players were loose enough to have some fun with the coaching staff.
Prior to the penalty kill, Logan and Sephten Clevenger asked their coach if he had ever seen a short-handed goal.
The response came back, “No, no. It doesn’t exist.”
As the shift was about to begin in the offensive zone, they replied, “We’ll show you.”
When Logan’s wrist shot found the back of the net, the Chargers defensive pairing pointed to the bench and yelled, “That’s a short-handed goal!”
As the second period wore on, the skill players on Edison found themselves with open ice. They took advantage of the open space, as Trevor Arsenault and Gealy were able to deke their way around the goaltender for unassisted goals.
Blake Luevano also scored in the second.
Edison led, 6-0, after two periods, shortening the game. When a team leads by five goals or more at any point in the third period, the game is played under a running clock unless the trailing team gets back to within two goals.
The third period possessed little drama other than the preservation of the shutout. Gutierrez’s greatest test came midway through the period. Rams forward Ethan Olmstead got two shots off on the doorstep, but Gutierrez fell down on her side to take away the bottom of the net.
In a blowout victory, discipline got away from the Chargers in the third. Arsenault and Gealy combined for five minor penalties, a source of concern for a team with ambitions of making a deep run in the tournament.
“Those two guys, they kind of play with an edge,” Walker said. “It’s not something that is shocking that they get themselves into those situations.”
Walker added that those mistakes need to come to an end, as each opponent the rest of the way will be better than the last, and they will be more equipped to capitalize on power-play opportunities.
Twitter: @ProfessorTurner
