Offense Powers Caseys Ice Hockey Past Indians in Playoff Matchup

The second period had been a tough one.

Red Bank Catholic was up two goals in its semi-final Handchen Cup ice hockey matchup, but the lead seemed tenuous at best. Toms River South had started to press and had pulled itself back into the game with aggressive play.

At the break, Coach Ken Carlson warned his Caseys that the 5-3 margin wasn’t good enough. They needed to come out with the same intensity that’s defined them the past few games and steal momentum back.

Three unanswered goals and a period later and Red Bank Catholic had done just that as the Caseys beat the Indians 8-3 at the Armory in Red Bank Tuesday night to advance to the finals of the Handchen Cup.

“We talked about coming out with intensity and that’s what we did,” he said following the game. “That was probably the most intense game we’ve played. We played three periods of complete hockey.”

Second seeded Red Bank Catholic set the tone by taking an early lead. Despite some injuries to key players, the Caseys continued moving the puck effectively like they’ve done in recent games and jumped out to an early two-goal lead.

It also helps that the Caseys have Patrick Dwyer leading their team.

The Red Bank Catholic captain scored four goals, including the first two of the game, to lead his team. Arguably the quickest player on the ice, Dwyer used his speed and puck-handling ability to put himself in great scoring opportunities.

“It’s always important to get the first goal, to get momentum,” he said. “We knew coming in that it was a big game. We had a game plan and we stuck to it.”

Despite the lopsided final score, the game was competitive through the first two periods. In what Carlson called one of his team’s best games of the year, the Caseys never relinquished the lead but found themselves on their heels on a couple of occasions during the night.

The Indians – a three seed – outshot Red Bank Catholic 27-24, but in several spots Casey goalie Gavin Gatta made big saves, diving and laying out to keep his team in front.

Red Bank Catholic, 15-6-4, is playing its best hockey of the season, Carlson said. They’ll need to keep it up if they want to beat top-seeded Brick in the Handchen finals Friday at 5:30pm at the Armory.

Brick and its one loss has beaten the Caseys twice this year, though both contests were close – the first it won by two goals, including an empty netter, and the second by just a goal.

Dwyer thinks his team has more than just a chance, as long as they continue to play they way they’ve played in recent weeks.

“They’re a hard working team,” he said. “We have to play just as hard.”