Rams overwhelm Warriors in PIHL opener

By Dean Dellamalva Jr.

MVI Sports

The Ringgold hockey team took control of a tight game early in the third period and frustrated Elizabeth Forward over the final 10 minutes of a 9-3 season-opening win Monday at the Rostraver Ice Garden.

Ringgold (1-0) was paced by a five-point night from junior Nathan Boulanger and a hat trick from freshman Kenny Cadwallader. Zach Kalinowski added a goal and three assists and Hunter Suarez had three helpers.

Leading 4-2 after two periods, the Rams busted out for five markers in the final frame. 

Ringgold head coach Rick Kalinowski asked his team to focus during the second period intermission. That focus helped fuel the outburst.

“I didn’t like that you were seeing (Elizabeth Forward) get through off the draws,” Kalinowski said. “We had to tighten that up. Coming out of the locker room, I said we have to play focused and play like we’ve practiced. We wanted to play behind the net and use the stretch passes and that’s what we did.”

“I think we were a little rusty off the start,” Suarez said. “We really picked it up and played our game in the third period.”

The focus was evident and began to frustrate the Warriors (0-1-0). That frustration ended up leading to some of the players not putting forth the proper effort late in the game.

“I was disappointed in our effort, our boys just giving up, I didn’t feel any passion on our bench,” EF coach John Zeiler said. “There was some bickering going on. With hockey you have good ones and bad ones. We have a quick turnaround, we’ll see how our kids respond.”

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