Flyers Fight Way Past Farrell Hockey

If you want to see Frank Bendl upset, you really have only needed to be at Flushing rink on Wednesday night after time expired against Msgr. Farrell.

“I’m really not happy with the way the team played,” the Chaminade head hockey coach said of his front line. “To me, the 4-nothing score and the 4-1 score was not indicative off the game. To me it was a much closer game; one goal either way when it’s two-nothing makes all the difference in the world. They played right with us.”

The Flyers had jumped out to a 2-0 lead on an unassisted Liam Fitzgerald shot and a goal from forward James Henry.

“The same as last game,” Bendl said. “That pulled us apart a little bit, but it’s too close for comfort. To me, for my team, it’s too close for comfort.”

Coming off a 4-1 win the previous game against the same team, it’s a little understandable how then penalties piled on for both teams – “chippy” was the word Flyer forward James Henry used, interestingly enough the same as his coach – with 10 for each and a suspension on both sides thrown in for good measure.

That’s what really set Bendl off, losing John Stevenson for three games with matches against Iona and St. Anthony’s next week.

“I think it’s a little chippy at the end of the game, winning four-nothing for that to happen,” the grizzled coach said. “I’m not happy; there’s no reason for it. We talked to him about it before and if you don’t know by now at this level before you’re headed off to college that when you’re in a scrum, it’s a 4-0 game, there’s 4 seconds left in the game and you can’t walk away, you deserve to be suspended for 3 games; my player and their player.”

Six minutes earlier Andrew Veglucci had incurred his own penalty for roughing with Farrell’s John Rella, which also had to be broken up by the refs.

Stevenson’s forces the Flyers to do without for the next three games, further compounding a situation where their lines are not at top form. They also have fewer games played than any other team so far this season and will have to make up ground which will put even more pressure on their lines.

“We haven’t been playing well. The last couple games we’ve been playing, to me, very sloppy,” Bendl said. “It’s a sad situation on control and emotions. When somebody takes the extra shot on you, you need to back away, especially with 2 seconds left in a 4-0 game.”

With their lines not performing up to their coach’s standards, Chaminade (5-1) will have to rely even more on goalie Brandon DeStasio, who has been in net for each of the team’s five wins this season.

“I wanted to make sure that I maintained the shutout for my guys, especially the way they were playing in front of me,” DeStasio said after stopping 25 shots. “I just wanted to stay focused and make sure that I made the saves that mattered to my team.”