Mt. Berry, Ga. - A trio of hat tricks from
Tyler Banfield,
Michael McKenzie, and
Joey Cuthbert, plus timely saves in net by
RJ Maraski helped Berry to pull away in the second half and defeat Piedmont, 15-7, at Valhalla Wednesday night.
Maraski made 11 of his 12 saves in the second half to help Berry (3-0) fight off a pesky Piedmont squad that scored the first two goals of the third quarter to cut Berry's lead to 10-6. The Lions (1-2) would score just one more time against Maraski the rest of the way, with the Vikings scoring five of the game's last six goals to salt the game away.
"We challenged [RJ] to make some saves, and he absolutely came out and stepped up for our defense," BC head coach
Curtis Gilbert said. "Our defense really left him out to dry, but [RJ] is another stud for us. He really stepped up and made some door-stop saves for us."
The first half was an offensive slugfest between the two squads, with Berry leading 6-4 after the first quarter. After Piedmont scored the first goal of the game,
Noah Steiner scored right after the next faceoff to tie the game. The faceoff win was one of 16 in the first half for
Nick English, who was perfect on faceoffs in the opening 30 minutes of action.
Berry scored after the next faceoff as Banfield scored his first of the game to make it 2-1 for the home side. Piedmont would even the score, but another faceoff win led to another goal for the Vikings, this one from McKenzie, as Berry made it 3-2.
Piedmont would score two consecutive goals to take a 4-3 lead with just over five minutes to go in the opening quarter, but that would be the last lead of the game for the guests. Banfield and
Connor Ryan scored to give the Vikings the 5-4 advantage, then McKenzie scored with the man-advantage to make it 6-4 after one quarter of play.
The Vikings would shut out Piedmont in the second quarter, 4-0.
Dillon Marchant, Cuthbert, McKenzie, and
Jake Sheerin each scored for Berry to make it 10-4 through two quarters of play.
"I like how we fought for 60 minutes," Coach Gilbert said. "[Piedmont] challenged us goal-for-goal there, and then we had a really good run in the second quarter."
Banfield finished with a six-point night as he added three assists to go with his three goals. Marchant also added two helpers to have three points on the night.
Avery Jenks had five of the seven goals for Piedmont in defeat.
The Vikings will be back in action this Saturday when Methodist University visits Valhalla. Opening faceoff is set for 1 p.m.
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