Wall Knights: My Site News

While Wall was looking to add to its 6 game unbeaten streak, Middletown North was set on avenging an earlier 5-4, last second loss about a month ago. So as expected, the checking was both tight, clean, and hard throughout. Wall struck first with 4:12 gone by when Cohen (1G, 1A) fed Big Ben Dier for a snapshot and quick lead.  Cohen then gathered a loose puck in the slot 2 minutes later and zipped a shot past the partially screened Lions netminder to up the lead 2-0 and close out the 1st period scoring. The Lions had seen this act before though and rallied to halve their deficit 4 minutes into the 2nd. Wall would respond with a tally by Ciccarelli, who grabbed another loose puck left in the slot by the Lions 'D', to regain the 2 goal cushion. North then opened the 3rd looking to reclaim the momentum. With nearly 5 mins gone, their hard work would pay off when a scrum in front of Gianni would result in a Lions goal to cut the lead to 3-2 and a suddenly uncomfortable 1 goal lead for Wall. As luck would have it, but with time playing their enemy, North's power play would be given a shot at heroics when Wall took a debatable tripping penalty with under 2 on the clock. With time running short, Wall was suddenly under seige in their own zone. Several failed clearing attempts cost them dearly when a Lions forechecker fought off a Wall defenseman in the corner and zipped a quick pass thru traffic into the slot. An unattended North weakside winger would capitalize when he crashed the net, settled the puck and roofed the tying goal with 3.5 seconds on the clock. Though extending their streak, Wall nonetheless left the sheet with the bittersweet taste of a tie rather than a win. Toms River East comes into WSA on Monday for the regular season finale  - see you there.... ;-) 

Another Catholic school, this time the Lancers, hosted Wall at WSA looking to end the Crimson Knight's undeafeated streak of 4 games. As expected, familiarity played true as both squads looked to gain an edge on the sheet. Wall struck first on the speed of Fitch and his nifty shooting 2 minutes in. Not a minute later, Quinn would deposit one past the stunned Lancer netminder to up the ante 2-0. Vianney regrouped to notch one minutes later on some back-and-forth play. Taking advantage of some of his speed, and luck, McCarthy then tallied another with under 3 in the period to go up 3-1 on a helper by Velke. The Lancers then retalliated to cut their deficit to 1 goal when they scored with under a minute remaining to close out the frame at 3-2. Saint John's maintained their momentum by grabbing a loose puck and firing on net for a quick one to tie the game at 3-3 just tics off the clock to start the 2nd period. Looking to regroup, the Knight's luck went ever so south on a deflected Lancer shot that managed to find home for a 4-3 lead. Wall then regrabbed the 'mo' by playing smart defensively and across the neutral zone, narrowly missing on several opportunities in net-mouth scrambles. The Knights hard work paid off when Wehrhann fired on net to retie the game at 4-4 with 5:47 on the clock. With time running short it looked like another tie would ensue, but some smart blueline play led to a nice tip-in by Cohen when Diaz fired on net, for a 5-4 lead and game win. The Knights look to continue their streak against Jackson on Super Bowl Sunday. 

Wall's JV should officially be given the nickname 'heart attack kids' because it seems no lead is quite safe - not for them or the opponent. Last night's episode was a rerun of a JV Classic game played against Middletown North. North came into the match looking to avenge the earlier loss, but was immediately put on their heels when Wall's attack took charge. The deluge started when Ciccerelli popped a feed from Spencer only a minute and a half gone by into North's net. Five mins later, McCarthy blasted a puck past North's netminder garnering Velke (1G, 1A) the helper. Big Ben Dier then gathered a loose puck in the attack zone and deposited an unassisted goal to put Wall up 3-0. And just like that, someone turned off Wall's attack and turned on North's. With two minutes remaining in the period, a Middletown shot found net and was quickly followed 35 seconds later to cut the deficit to 1 goal. North began the 2nd period with the same spunk they closed the 1st. Maintaining neutral zone play and a measure of momentum, Middletown pressed on and found the back of the net to tie the game at 3. Wall then sought a momentum change by flipping goalies. Showing mettle of their own, Wall settled down and regrouped when Velke accepted Holmes' pass and pushed his shot past North's goalie to regain the lead and close the period at 4-3.  The 3rd frame saw Wall extend their lead as Bruno (1G, 1A) and Fitch combined on a neat play netting Fitch a pretty goal. At 5-3, it looked like Wall had weathered the storm, only North had other ideas when their power-play cut the gap to 5-4.  Oh, baby - another nail biter!  Wall was then given a power-play with under 3 minutes remaining that should have put the game away, but North's luck prevailed when a Wall slapper riccocheted to a North player for a semi-breakaway resulting in a goal and a tied matched. Holy cow - what next? Wall's Bruno, taking matters into his own hands literally, flashed his speed and stickhandling prowess, by grabbing a neutral zone puck, zipping around a couple of North checkers and unleashing a wicked bottle-popper with 28.1 seconds on the clock to recapture the lead. Geepers - what more could a game give you? Well, how about the sweet sound of a North 'rocket' pinging off the far post and bounding harmlessly away with 1 second left on the clock? Wow! Wall looks to even matters against RBC this coming Sunday. See you there!

As anticipated, St. John Vianney wasn't going to play the role of pushover despite their 0-3 record to date. Wall, on the other hand, was looking to pick up where they left off against Manasquan. And sure enough Wall made it look that way, when Ben Dier (2G, 1A) picked up a loose neutral zone puck, zipped in on the Vianney goaltender and netted a quick goal 33 seconds into the match to take the lead. But St John would not be outdone. They'd rally capitalizing on some quick plays, their power play, and a touch of luck, to grab a 4-1 lead after two frames. The start of the third played out quite differently though. Almost as if on cue, the Wall offense decided enough was enough. On a seemingly harmless play, a neat pass from defenseman Wuestneck (2 assists) to Ciccarelli would notch a goal to suddenly spice up the game with 7 minutes left to play. And spicy it got, for as we all know, a 2 goal lead is a frontrunner's nightmare waiting to happen. And sure enough, with the clock playing Wall's enemy and just creeping under the 2 minute mark, a mad dash up ice by Wall would result in a scoring opportunity scrum in front of the Vianney net. Corso, sneaking in from the point, made Vianney pay with a seeing-eye deposit when Dier, garnering himself an assist on the play, fed him the puck. So much for the 2 goal lead! With the scoreboard now precariously at 4-3, Vianney's players scrambled to hold off Wall's attack. But some quick thinking by the Wall coaching staff would test St John's mettle. With under a minute to go, and the game on the line, a timeout was called by Wall. And quite the timeout it must've been too. Winning the ensuing faceoff as well as the puck possession battles that followed, Wall quickly knocked on the door yet again. Unselfish play had been the night's mantra for Wall so it was no surpise when Wuestneck, seeing the clock ticking towards 26 seconds, unselfishly read the play and fed Big Ben Dier, rather than taking a blueline blast. And a great play it turned out to be! Dier, likely having his best game to date, gathered the pass and unloaded for his 2nd tally of the night helping to secure both the comeback and Wall's undefeated streak. Next up is the Gold Coast Arena JV Classic, where Wall is hoping to continue their success.....The Classic starts on Monday. Check the calendar for more info....

In much the same way a Devils - Rangers game provides one of the slumping clubs the lift they need to get ontrack, so was the case when Manasquan hosted Wall last night at Gold Coast Arena. Wall's superior speed was immediately evident as the ice slanted for nearly the entire first period in their favor, and quite honestly, for most of the game. But it would be the Warriors that would draw first blood on a slapper from above the right circle past Emmons who was starting his 2nd game of the season in net. Wall would have none of that though as they stepped up their attack. They retaliated quickly depositing several very pretty give-and-go goals to put their netminder at ease allowing him to settle into the game. With the defense nicely setting up the offense through the neutral zone, the Crimson Knights rang shots off posts, did their best Gretzky immitations with backdoor plays and dominated the sheet taking complete advantage of the Warriors throughout the remaining frames. When it was all-said-and-done, the Knights posted a 7-3 win against their archrival, and in the process presented netminder Emmons his first official win as a high school goalie. As is the case many times in the NHL, games between rivals can often lead to a streak of good fortune with the hockey gods for the winner. Hopefully, the Knights will find that to be true and will look for more of the same against a strong St. John Vianney squad ...

To all JV coaches, players, parents, and fans: This is where we will be posting all the information that pertains to your squad. We'll post game recaps (when we can), commentary, reschedules, etc. all based on communications from the coaching staff and their helpers.  You can reference just the JV schedule, practices, and games by changing the 'Select Season' box to '08-09 Jr Varsity' or simply reference the Calendar, which will list both Varsity and JV events. If you've any thoughts as to how you'd like this site to help further, don't hesitate to email the Asst webmaster at qedt@yahoo.com) or Head Webmaster at devulsfan@yahoo.com ... Enjoy! Go Wall ! ... ;-)

No JV dryland today due to the late game with CBA last night !!

The Wall JV players knew they had their hands full entering last night's game against this particular foe. For years, the CBA squads branded themselves an elite organization with its excellent play and last night they continued that tradition exhibiting very strong play and proving their mettle, in securing a 7-0 win at WSA. The Wall players fought throughout though. The squad did their best on the attack, played strong defense, backchecked hard, and even laid several monster bodychecks on the CBA players all to no avail. It would simply take alot more than that to beat this opponent. CBA, on the other hand, enjoyed the slanted ice, and even a 5-on-3, firing all kinds of bouncing pucks, screen shots, and lazers at the Wall netminders from angles everywhere on the sheet, eventually skating off in accustomed fashion - with the 'W'. Wall, having gained another game of experience, looks to rebound against a game Middletown South team this Saturday.  Go Wall !