Knights Drop Season Opener
to Willy North

Despite tallies by senior Adam Reask and junior Woody Hudson, the Knights were bested by Section 6 power Williamsville North 4-2 at the Utica War Memorial, on November 23.

After a scoreless first period that saw McQuaid senior goaltender Brian Johnson turn away 12 shots, Williamsville opened the scoring at 4:02 of the second with a power play goal by Nick Koch, assisted by Mark Maraschiello and Matt Clifford. McQuaid tied the score with its own power play goal at 7:32 of the second when senior Adam Reask, assisted by juniors James Sturnick and Andrew Lane, slid the puck past W-N goaltender Parker Gahagen. Williamsville answered at 10:23 of the second on a goal by Clifford off an assist by Grant Rickan.

North extended its lead to two goals at 10:43 of the third period when Maraschiello picked up a rebound of a Clifford shot in the low slot and slid the puck past Johnson. The Jesuit Knights answered 16 seconds later, when junior center Woody Hudson took a pass from senior forward Brent Sanderson and rifled a shot past Gahagen.

McQuaid's chance to tie the game suffered a serious blow, when at 13:00 the combination of Maraschiello and Clifford struck again. Clifford controlled a face-off deep in the McQuaid zone and passed to Maraschiello, who whistled a high shot past Johnson for his second goal and third point, Clifford's fourth point of the game and a 4-2 victory for North.

McQuaid's Johnson had 33 saves, while North's Gahagen made 20 stops.