Dayton Ends Three Game Skid With Blowout

Senior forward Michael Tarantula got his second hat trick in less than a week as the Jonathan Dayton hockey team crushed West Orange High School 8-0 on Monday night at Warinanco Park.

The win snapped Dayton's three game losing streak that began against A.L. Johnson on January 6. On the flip side, West Orange has now lost five in a row by a combined score of 43-2.

From the opening faceoff, the Bulldogs controlled the tempo. They kept the puck in the Mountaineers' zone through the first three minutes, unloading shots on goalie Teddy Steinhart. Dayton out-shot West Orange 44-17 for the game.

With 9:36 remaining in the first, Tarantula netted his first goal off of assists by sophomore defenseman Jonathan Stern-Charles and senior forward Brian Camp. Later in the period Tarantula made it 2-0 Bulldogs with an unassisted goal following a faceoff to Steinhart's right.

"Tarantula leads by example," head coach Andrew Trimble said. "He shows up and goes to work. He sets the pace, plays in all three zones and is everything you could ask for."

Early in the second period Dayton struggled with penalties. Camp got a four minute penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct and then junior forward Bobby Houston was hit with a two minute minor for tripping. The consecutive penalties gave West Orange a 5-on-3 power play for one minute before committing a holding penalty.

"We put ourselves in a bad position with penalties, and that was their opportunity to take the momentum if they scored," Trimble said. "But when they called a timeout and it was a blessing, because we were able to bring everybody in and refocus. We were really able to take it to them at that point."

During 4-on-4 play, Camp scored an unassisted goal by maneuvering between two Mountaineer defenders. It came with nine and a half minutes remaining in the period.

Thirty-seven seconds later Dayton scored on a power play to go up 4-0. Junior forward Jake Kozlenko recorded the goal with assists from classmates and forwards, Bobby Houston and Mark Vax. The Kozlenko-Houston-Vax line produced another goal later in the period with Kozlenko getting his second of the night.

Trimble likes the makeup of this line because each player brings a different component of the game to their opponents.

"(Kozlenko) is more of the cerebral player," Trimble said. "He thinks the game really well and always stays in the right position. Vax is more of a high energy player, and Houston is the tallest kid so he adds the physical element. Since they are all juniors, the vision is to keep them in their roles and let them develop a lot of chemistry, because we're going to have them for another year."

Before Kozlenko's second goal, Tarantula completed his hat trick as the last in a string of three goals by Dayton in less than a minute.

Vax made it 7-0 Bulldogs with 3:55 remaining in the second. He was assisted by freshman forward Bob Fiorilli and Kozlenko.

Near the end of the period, matching penalties were assesed to Camp for unsportsmanlike conduct and Mountaineer Corey Feigenbaum for roughing. The penalties balanced each other out and 5-on-5 play continued, but Camp's frequent trips to the box are cause for concern for Trimble.

"It's unfortunate because he's a senior and he's supposed to be a leader," Trimble said. "Instead he is taking these mindless penalties. You can't play 5-on-4 against a team in our conference that has more depth and talent. It just destroys us, and hopefully that registers with him."

Junior defenseman Matthew Neubauer scored the game's final goal with 7:54 left in the third. Trimble hoped to get three goals in the final period to make it a mercy rule victory and end the game sooner, but more penalties put a damper on that possibility.

"My desire was to go out there and finish the game in the first five minutes," he said. "But once you are playing down a man, the game is going to be prolonged because you can't generate the offense. So at that point we got kids on the ice who don't normally play."

Dayton's next game is on January 13 against Governor Livingston at 5 p.m. at the Union Sports Arena.