Once again, the Warhawks took to the ice with a short bench starting the game with only 8 skaters. Undaunted, the Warhawks went toe to toe with the Rock Ridge/Patriot team. The first period ended 0-0 thanks to outstanding goaltending at both ends of the ice. Sophomore goalie Dean Kern made several acrobatic saves early on and then it was the Rock Ridge/Patriot’s goalies turn as he shut down the Warhawks with several big saves of his own.
The Warhawks caught some magic early in the second period when sophomore forward Kamron Sarmadi arrived at the rink after competing for Madison’s swim team earlier in the evening. Kamron made his presence felt immediately with a goal on his first shift of the evening. Less than two minutes later, senior Matt Bacigalupo tickled the twine to put Madison up 2-0. And the flood gates were open. Madison would go on to light the lamp several more times before the period would end with Madison holding a commanding 5-0 lead.
The third period picked up where the second had ended with Madison netting three more goals before Rock Ridge/Patriot could break Dean’s bid for a shutout. But the evening’s excitement was not over yet, with only eight seconds left in the game, freshman Justin Shayne netted his first Northern Virginia Scholastic Hockey League (NVSHL) goal, launching the large and enthusiastic Madison student body cheering section into a frenzy once more.
Clearly, this was the most complete performance for this young Madison team. Goaltender Dean Kern was spot on tonight. The three-man defense rotation of Justin Roberts, Noah Thompson and Johna Ezzard played flawlessly. And 9 goals in the final two periods tells the tale of just how well the offense played.
