Fair Lawn improves playoff chances

Tuesday, January 28, 2003

By Jim McConville
NJS.com Staff Writer

MONSEY, NY - As the calendar approaches February, head coach Cory Robinson knows that the time has come for his Fair Lawn ice hockey to put the pieces together if the Cutters harbor any hopes of making the state tournament.

They took a step in the right direction on Monday night at Sport-O-Rama, blasting Ramsey by a 10-1 score and evening their overall record at 6-6-1. Ramsey, now 5-10-1, has seen its chances for the state tournament virtually eliminated.

It has been a season of adjustment for Fair Lawn, with Robinson in his first year at the helm and a new system in place. Some of the things he has been looking for are finally taking root.

"I thought our game last Friday (a 6-3 win over Hackensack in which the Cutters used five third period goals to break a 1-1 tie) was a step in the right direction," he explained. "We faced adversity and we answered back.

"This game was another step forward. We scored 10 goals and played our best overall game. As much as the goals was the defense and the passing. There were some good plays out there, and that is what we've been looking for.

"Now, we have a big game against Summit (4-12-1 in the Central Conference Red Division), a team that is much better than their record and playing in a stronger conference than ours (Northern Conference Red). This will be another test and another opportunity to take a step forward."

One of the things that pleased Robinson was the distribution of the scoring. Whereas Dan Woodall had five of the six goals last Friday, he had two against the Rams, as six Cutters hit the back of the net.

Dan Cohen opened the scoring 3:19 into the game, putting in a rebound of a Sean Wilson shot, and Mike Teytelbaum got the first of his three goals in the game 1:18 later, taking a rebound of a Nick Ferrante shot and beating Matt Clifford from the right post.

Woodall got the third goal at 7:11, as Joey Bonafede hit him at the Ram blue line with a clearing pass from just outside the goal line. Woodall came in and beat Clifford top shelf to the right. Fair Lawn made it 4-0 at 9:03, with Ryan Van Grouw poking in a rebound of a Bonafede shot. Mike DePompeo got the second assist and the rout was on.

Ramsey got its lone goal at 11:48 of the first, as Larry Warner took a feed from Chris D'Amato on the left side and launched a rocket that beat Cuttter goalie Mike Kaplan high to the glove side. It was the best of the 10 shots the Rams would get in the game, while Fair Lawn peppered Clifford with 50 shots.

Van Grouw got his second of the game at 6:47 of the second, and it was the lone tally of the period. Skyler Insler set him up on the right side, and he beat Clifford high into the left portion of the net.

The third period saw the Cutters pick apart the Ram defense, as Dan Oniszczuk (from Woodall), Bonafede (from Van Grouw), Teytelbaum twice (both times from Woodall and Oniszczuk) and Woodall (unassisted) scored.

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Jim McConville