Short was long on goals, with five, and added five assists for a school-record eight points as the Rams ripped St. Pius X 17-1 at Blades Multiplex Arenas.
Short added his team-leading sixth goal of the young season Monday evening, when the Rams (2-0) rallied to nip host Eldorado, 3-2.
 Newcomer James Bostian comes up with a big third-period save against Eldorado. |
“The first two shots on goals for us were fluke goals, I think,” he explained. “And that’s what we’ve been telling these guys: “Shoot the puck, shoot the puck.” Things are going to happen if you shoot the puck.
“Don’t make it pretty — we’re not a pretty team, never have been,” he said.
The Rams opened the contest with a pair of goals in the first minute, as Michael Kalaber and Short lit the lamp.
The Eagles nearly made it a 2-1 game when they were handed a penalty shot. Newcomer James Bostian stopped the threat with a great save, and 1:25 later, the period ended.
Neither team scored in the second period, even when the Rams were short two men for 1:02. Bostian came up big again when he stopped Gene Castello’s breakaway.
Rams defenseman Derek Camacho was sent off the ice for two minutes for tripping, and the Eagles’ Castello converted their power-play opportunity to make it a 2-1 game.
Later, with Zachary Wallace in the penalty box for hooking, Eldorado converted another power-play opportunity to knot the game at 2-all.
Then 28 seconds after Castello was sent off the ice for a penalty, Patrick Brewer scored on a short-range wrist shot to give the Rams a 3-2 lead.
Bostian “stood on his head,” in hockey lingo, the rest of the way to keep the Eagles from tying the game, although a Rams’ penalty in the game’s final minute gave them hope.
Short won a faceoff to Bostian’s left and shoved the puck up the ice, nearly scoring an empty-net goal. Eldorado had a two-man advantage at the time, after a melee in front of Bostian, coupled with pulling the goalie in an attempt to knot the game.
Tim Camacho said he probably was guilty of running up the score at Blades Multiplex Arenas Monday night, when they scored the game’s first eight goals, in the rout of the Sartans.
“We would probably not have run the score up, but being it was St. Pius,” he said, recalling the Sartans’ approach to the 2007 championship game, when they arrived at the Santa Fe rink in limousines, wearing sunglasses and exiting to blaring music.
“Let ‘em at it,” Camacho said. “Let’s have fun.”
In addition to Short’s great outing, Elliott Pope had four goals and three assists, Jordan Farnholtz and Calaber each had a hat trick and two assists, Brewer had two goals and a pair of assists, and Kevin Saavedra assisted on three goals. Ray Rivera notched his first varsity goal, Camacho said, and “He got to keep the puck.”
“The refs came over and told scorekeepers to run (the clock without stopping it),” Camacho added. Rio Rancho out-shot the Sartans 37-14 in the game.
“Four-peating? I don’t even like to talk about it,” Camacho said. “This will be the most difficult. Without two full squads or guys that can skate back and forth? I’d like to see it happen.”
The Rams are without two veterans from last year’s team, Steve Casaceli and Robby Webb, who aren’t seniors this year but left to play hockey elsewhere.
“We’ve got about four ‘core’ kids,” Camacho said of his current team. “Some will have to double-shift, triple-shift.”
Also important for another shot at a blue trophy this season, Camacho said, are keeping the players eligible grade-wise and avoiding injuries.
“If we can keep everybody healthy, we can make a run at it,” he said, surprised when Bostian, “a new kid from Florida,” arrived on campus and told Camacho he played goalie.
“The kid’s incredible,” Camacho said, knowing he had reneged on promoting last year’s back-up goalie, Erin Machek, to starter this season after the graduation of last year’s starter, JoJo Griego. “I made a comment if we get an NHL goalie in here, she won’t play.”
Bostian, of course, isn’t an NHL goalie, but the sophomore has shown he’s a top-notch guy to place between the pipes.
Slap shots: Assessed five penalties in the game against Eldorado, Derek Camacho drew a one-game suspension. Tim Camacho drew the same sentence because the Rams amassed 15 or more penalties in their game with the Eagles.
… The Rams played well in the preseason showcase at the Outpost Oct. 25-26. The Rams tied Los Alamos 3-3, defeated Eldorado 4-2 and then lost to Santa Fe, a composite team, 4-3.
… The state championship tournament will be played in Rio Rancho, Bob Pope said, although he was unsure if it would be at Blades or the Santa Ana Star Center.
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