The 2021 hockey campaign might have been condensed significantly, but last year’s Section I runners-up have wasted little time putting their imprint on the season. On Feb. 24, the ETBE Eagles won their fourth straight contest to open the winter campaign, topping RyeTown/Harrison 5-1 in a dominant performance.
The Eagles controlled time of possession from the outset on Wednesday night, outshooting their foes by a 44-11 margin that was even more one-sided until the Titans were able to gain some momentum late in the final period. Will Stupart led ETBE with two goals and two assists, but Eagles coach Steve Forzaglia credited the team’s inspired defensive play as the main factor in the win.
“We focus on the forecheck and when we play it hard, when we attack it, we can force a lot of pucks back in their end and that’s what happened” Forzaglia said. “When we don’t force it hard or take a body here or there, that’s when we end up having to scramble back on defense.”
As a result of that forecheck, the Eagles’ highly touted netminder, JP Rosabella only faced 11 shots on the evening, surrendering a third-period goal on a breakaway by Matthew Tse. His RyeTown/Harrison counterpart, Clarke Cooper, turned away 39 shots according to the official stats, but Forzaglia believes the number may have been higher given the number of chances his team was able to generate in front of the net.
“We always work on getting the puck looking for shots and getting rebounds,” said Forzaglia said. “We probably should have scored a boatload more because we had a lot more shots than they had registered, but their goalie made a ton of great saves on us.”
At 4-0, the Eagles have been red-hot to start the season, something that Forzaglia chalks up to the high number of players returning from last season’s run to the Division I title game.
“When you have a short season like this, it’s beneficial when most of your team is returning,” he said. “They know our system, they know what to expect and they know how things run and having that definitely makes it easier.”
The Eagles will be back in action on Thursday night when they travel to the Ebersole Arena for another matchup with the Titans. The game will be the team’s third in three days, but Forzaglia is confident that his team will be able to rise to the occasion.
“Obviously playing three games in three nights, our legs are going to be a bit heavy but we just have to be ready to go,” he said. “We’ve got two more games this weekend against Mt. Pleasant, but then we’ll have a bit of a break for a couple of days.”
