Tyler Riter

Tim Duffy

Tim Duffy and Tyler Riter, of the Orchard Park High School Federation hockey team, have been selected to play in the 9^th Annual Scotty Bowman Showcase,  Monday, April 15 at First Niagara Center.

The showcase features three all-star hockey games between high school aged players from the Buffalo and Rochester areas. There are three teams from each area: Seniors, Juniors, and Junior/Prep.

The first game begins at 6 p.m. and pits all-star squads from each city made up of players in their junior year of high school against one another, competing for the Tim Horton Memorial Cup. Following the junior game, the senior teams from each city will square off in a 7:30 p.m. contest to decide who will be awarded the Bowman Cup. The Rochester Seniors won last year’s Bowman Cup, improving to 2-6 all-time.

After the senior game, junior- and senior-aged players from Buffalo and Rochester who play prep school or junior hockey will face off at 9 p.m. for the Rick Martin Memorial Cup. All three games will consist of two 22-minute halves.

The event is named after the legendary Scotty Bowman, the winningest head coach in NHL history. Bowman will be in attendance to present the Bowman Cup to the victorious senior team.

Riter, a junior forward, and Duffy, a junior defenseman, helped the Quakers to an 11-9-1 record this past season.

Five Orchard Park hockey players will be heading to Chazy, NY this weekend to help Buffalo Stars compete for a chance to represent the State of New York in the National Championships in San Jose, CA in early April.

Alexa Ditonto and Bernadette O’Connell play for the Stars U19 team while Mikaela Ditonto, Jessica Urbank, and Megan Urbank represent the U16 Stars squad.

For more information – check out the WNY Hockey Now article

[Update courtesy of Liz Ditonto: Other Orchard Park players heading to States this weekend include Nadine De Nijs with the 19U West Seneca Wings, Tatum Walber & Olivia Jacobs with the 16U Buffalo Regals, and Frangelica Bautz with the 14U Hamburg Hawks. Thanks, Liz!]

Quakers shut out in playoffs by rival Frontier

For the second straight season, Orchard Park’s boys hockey season ended with an opening round playoff loss to rival Frontier, and the second straight season the Quakers were eliminated by shutout.

At the Northtown Center in Amherst Friday night, the Quakers and Falcons skated scoreless for the first two periods. The contest remained without a goal until Nick Ortiz scored the game-winner on the power play for Frontier at 13:27 of the third period.

Bob Piotrowicz (left) of Frontier collides with Orchard Park’s Ryan Cox during a playoff battle between rivals at the Northtown Center Friday evening. Photo / James Goller

The Quakers played a tough contest, but could not muster a goal.

“I thought we played well,” said OP coach Derek Gilham. “We didn’t any mistakes. I thought we out-worked them. I thought we played well.”

Each team has chances to score in the opening period, but nothing too threatening. As the physicality of the game increased in the second period, so did the scoring chances. Frontier controlled the start of the period, but was held without a goal by the solid play of OP’s junior netminder Charles Kritkausky (18 saves). The Quakers had chances at the doorstep of Frontier goalie Cooper Soto, but could not convert. Later in the period, Tristan Lukowski appeared to score, but the referee ruled the puck did not fully cross the goal line.

View the entire photo gallery

As the ice was cleared to prepare for the impending third period, it was evident an intense fifteen minutes of playoff hockey was ahead.

With only three total penalties called in the first two periods, OP and Frontier each killed off a penalty at the start of the final period. Frontier then took an interference call midway through, but successfully killed it off.

The third period’s fourth penalty, and the final one called in regulation, came with 2:46 left in the game and proved to have a devastating impact for the Quakers.

Junior Ryan Cox, who did an impressive job shadowing Frontier’s top scorer Bob Piotrowicz (15G, 16 A in 13 games) all game, was whistled for an interference call. On the subsequent man-advantage, Nick Ortiz took the puck from Soto, skated the length of the ice and put the puck past the right shoulder of Kritkausky to break the tie with just 1:33 left in the game.

“Two minutes left in the game, you have to understand where you are in the game,” Gilham said of the official’s penalty call on Cox. “Let the kids play the game and let them dictate what happens. That was an awful call. I feel bad for the kids. That’s a call the official just shouldn’t make.”

The battle between rivals was an even contest throughout. Each team put 19 shots on goal and was called for three penalties each up until Cox was sent to the box late.

“It could’ve gone either way,” Gilham said of the game. “We figure where are this year. We had four or five losses by Christmas and only lost four the rest of the year. We took three or four penalties a game all season. They should have been rewarded. To think that we lost today by a late penalty is really not fair to these kids.”

The Quakers finish the season with a record of 11 wins, 9 losses and a tie.

Orchard Park  - 5^th seed (Record: 5-7-1) versus Frontier – 4^th seed (Record: 7-6)

Northtown Center at Amherst – Friday, Feb. 15 at 6 p.m.

Charles Kritkausky will make his fourth career playoff start in the opening round of the playoffs versus Frontier tonight. Photo / James Goller

Orchard Park and Frontier will face off in the opening round of the Section VI hockey playoffs for the second season in a row. Frontier defeated Orchard Park 2 to 0 in last year’s playoff.

Despite a slow start to the 2012-2013 season, the Quakers boast a 4-2-1 record in their last seven games with a tie versus Niagara Wheatfield (2nd seed, 7-4-1), and big wins versus Canisius, Williamsville North, and Lancaster.

“Right now, we’re playing our best hockey,” said OP coach Derek Gilham. “It’s not what we did at the beginning.”

The last meeting between OP and Frontier came Jan. 28 at Hamburg Town Rink where the Falcons defeated the Quakers, 3-1. After exchanging a pair of power play goals in the first period, the teams played a scoreless second period before Bob Piotrowicz scored two third-period goals to seal the victory.

The recent strong play of the Quakers has the team confident it can achieve a different result than the last two meetings.

“A lot of these teams are going to under-think us,” said OP defenseman Jake Biasillo. “Frontier’s been saying they’re not afraid of us, but they should be. We’re ready for them.”

Orchard Park junior goalie Charles Kritkausky (3-7-1, 2.82 GAA) will make his fourth career playoff start. He is 1-2 in playoff games with four goals allowed.

Frontier goaltender Cooper Soto is expected to get the start in net for the Falcons. Soto made 22 saves in the last season’s playoff shutout. He has earned a 5-6 record with a 3.55 goals against average this season.

Frontier – Point leaders: Bob Piotrowicz (15 G, 16 A), Gavin Evancho (8G, 5A), Nick Ortiz (7G,12A)

Orchard Park  - Point leaders: Tyler Riter (5G, 10A), Tristan Lukowski (4G, 5A), John Januszkiewicz 6G, 2A), Tyler Whiteaker (3G, 5A)

Orchard Park and Frontier Rosters (PDF)

The Orchard Park-Frontier girls hockey season came to an end with a 3-2 loss to Amherst-Sweet Home in the opening round of the WNY hockey playoffs Monday night at the Northtown Center in Amherst.

Orchard Park-Frontier came into the game seeded fourth while Amherst-Sweet Home had the fifth seed, but defeated OP-F twice in three games during the regular season.

Orchard Park-Frontier finishes the season with an overall record of 9 wins, 8 losses and 2 ties.

View the entire photo gallery

Here are the highlights of the playoff game from the Twiiter (@OrchParkSports):

Williamsville defeats West Seneca in girls hockey, 4-1. Clearing ice then warm-ups. Probably looking at 9:35 puck drop.

Game note for hockey between OP/Frontier and Amherst/Sweet Home: ASH won two of three during reg season. Both wins came here at Northtown.

This game needs to start. Listening to an awful remix of Gangnum Style and Too Legit To Quit.

Useless pre-game fact: 17 pucks on the ice for warm-ups.

Mikaela Ditonto seeing a lot of shots early but making all the stops for OPF.

Amherst Sweet Home scores power play goal at 9:45 to take 1-0 lead.

OPF ties it up with an even strength goal from Laura Jankowski. It’s 1-1 after first period.

The fact that Amherst Sweet Home has players with red, yellow, white and black helmets bothers me more than OP boys hockey wearing red socks.

OPF dominating second period with scoring chances, but nothing going in.

Orchard Park Frontier finds the net with a goal from Tatum Walber to go up 2-1 over Amherst Sweet Home after two periods.

Physical third period for non-contact girls hockey.

ASH on power play with 8:36 remaining and trailing 2-1.

Power play goal from Amherst Sweet Home ties it at 2-2.

Another power play opportunity for ASH. Tied 2-2 with 7:12 left.

Amherst Sweet Home scores at 12:00 to go ahead 3-2.

OPF goes on power play with 1:06 left. ASH leads 3-2.

Amherst Sweet Home defeats Orchard Park Frontier in girls hockey 3 to 2.

Junior Ryan Cox scored two goals in OP’s 4-2 win over Lancaster Sunday.

Orchard Park finished the regular season in boys hockey with a 4-2 win over Lancaster Sunday evening at Buffalo State College.

Senior Kevin MacKrell and junior Ryan Cox each scored a pair of goals while junior Tyler Riter earned a pair of assists. Junior metminder Tim Wysocki made 16 saves.

Orchard Park out-shot Lancaster, 29 to 18.

The Quakers finish the regular season with an 11-8-1 overall record with a 5-7-1 mark in Federation play.

Orchard Park will play Frontier in the first round of the playoffs, Friday, Feb. 15 at 6 p.m. at the Northtown Center in Amherst.

View the entire photo gallery

Sophomore goaltender Mikaela Ditonto helped Orchard Park-Frontier to 9-7-2 record. Photo / James Goller

The Orchard Park-Frontier girls hockey team capped off its regular season with back-to-back contests on Monday and Tuesday.

The team earned a 6-1 win over Lancaster Monday and played to a 1-1 tie with Williamsville Tuesday.

Orchard Park-Frontier finishes with 9-7-2 record in regular season play.

Federation playoffs begin Monday, February 11.

Click here to view and purchase photos from the season

Here are photos from the Lancaster win at East Aurora’s outdoor rink:

Senior Tyler Whiteaker scored a hat trick and earned two assists in a 5-0 win versus Will North Saturday. Photo / James Goller

“We finally got momentum going and we’re beating the good teams that we need to beat.” – Tyler Whiteaker

Tyler Whiteaker’s five-point night, including a hat trick and two assists, helped lead the Orchard Park hockey team to a 5-0 shutout victory over Williamsville North at the Northtown Center in Amherst Saturday evening.

The Quakers (9-6-1 overall, 4-6-1 in Fed) have earned five points in their last three games which included a 2-2 tie versus Niagara Wheatfield, and a 5-3 win over Canisius on Thursday.

“We told them before the Canisius game that this is playoff hockey,” OP coach Derek Gilham said after the Will North win. “In playoffs it’s one and done. I said to them today, that this team [Will North] has put a lot of hurt in us in the past, but you have to get over that you’re playing Williamsville North. If we didn’t win today then Thursday was kind of a wasted game. This was a big win for us.”

Whiteaker notched his first goal at 2:13 of the opening period and followed with his second at 6:42 to give the Quakers a 2-0 lead after one period.

Whiteaker earned assists on OP’s two second-period goals. While the OP forward line was making a change, Whiteaker made a nice poke-check that lead to a breakaway goal by Joe Copella. Whiteaker then assisted on a goal by Tyler Riter before scoring his third goal of the night midway through the final period.

“We finally got momentum going and we’re beating the good teams that we need to beat,” Whiteaker said in a post-game interview.

Charles Kritkausky stopped all 21 Spartan shots to preserve the shutout.

“I have confidence and I just kind of know I’m going to stop everything,” said the junior netminder. “The defense is the most important part, because without them I’d be hung out to dry every time. You see them fighting in the corners for the puck. It’s their battles that make it easier for me.”

The Quakers’ hard work continues to yield dividends, according to Gilham.

“We always work hard and we’re supporting each other so well,” he said. “We’re not giving up chances up front, and offensively, we’re going to hard spots we didn’t used to go to, and we’re getting rewarded.”

Orchard Park is scheduled to play Frontier at the Hamburg Town Rink Monday at 5 p.m.

“Once you win, it makes it feel like a habit,” Kritkausky added. It makes it easier to win. It’s the little things, winning the battles in the corner, blocking shots, taking hits to clear the puck. Those are the things that are winning games that we used to give up goals on at the beginning of the year.”

View the entire photo gallery here

Junior Luke Meyer scored two goals in OP’s 5-3 win over Canisius Thursday.

The Orchard Park boys hockey team picked up a huge win with a 5-3 victory over Canisius at the Northtown Center in Amherst Thursday evening.

“It feels great to finally get that big win that matters,” senior Joey Copella said after the game. “We played that (game) like it was playoffs and that’s how will play here on out.”

Four different Quakers picked up goals with Luke Meyer netting two, including an empty-netter late in the third period. John Januszkiewicz, T.J. Maloney, and Tyler Riter also scored.

The Quakers, who were coming off a 2-2 tie versus Niagara Wheatfield Monday, improved to a 3-6-1 record in Federation play (8-6-1 overall) while the Cruasders fell to a 6-2 mark in Fed.

“Our confidence has gone up significantly,” Copella added. “We finally are going into the rink knowing we will control the game and get wins.”

Orchard Park is scheduled to play Williamsville North, Saturday at 5 p.m. at the Northtown Center. The Spartans defeated OP back on Dec. 9, 4-1.

“Saturday is a must-win and we are confident we will beat North.” said Copella.

Check out photos from the Orchard Park hockey season

Charles Kritkausky makes one of his 23 saves Monday. Photo / James Goller

Orchard Park and Niagara Wheatfield played to a 2-2 tie in boys hockey action Monday at Leisure Rinks.

The visiting Falcons netted the game’s first goal in the opening period, which was answered by OP defenseman Tim Duffy to tie the game at 1-1 after the first period.

After the Quakers failed to convert a three-minute power play, Niagara Wheatfield took a 2-1 lead midway through the second period, a lead which the Falcons held up until two minutes remained in regulation.

Already on the power play, the Quakers pulled goalie Charles Kritkausky from the net to send an extra forward on the ice.

The result was a shot from the point by Tyler Riter that was tipped in by Joe Copella to tie the game.

“We wanted to run an umbrella up top with Riter shooting the puck,” OP coach Derek Gilham said following the contest. “It worked. Copella was the guy that we basically said to just go down the middle of the ice. We had two guys in front to take the goalie’s vision away. Joe was left by himself. It was a good goal.”

The Quakers dominated the overtime period, but could not score despite a minute and 22 seconds to start the period.

Kritkausky stopped 23 shots in the game.

The tie moves OP to a 2-6-1 record in federation play, while Niagara Wheatfield’s record moved to 5-2-1.

View the entire photo gallery

Junior Ryan Cox scored a natural hat trick during Orchard Park’s 5-0 win over Hamburg at Leisure Rinks Thursday. Photo / James Goller

Ryan Cox’s natural hat trick ignited the Orchard Park boys hockey team (7-5) to a 5-0 win over Hamburg at Leisure Rinks Thursday.

After Taylor Ferrino netted a goal to give the Quakers a 1-0 lead after the first period, Cox went on an assault with three consecutive goals in a span of just 22 seconds early in the second period.

The incredible and very special accomplishment happened so fast that it surprised Orchard Park’s junior captain.

“I was surprised,” Cox recalled after the game. “That’s the first time that has happened, so I didn’t know what to do.”

Cox credited his teammates with helping set up the opportunity to achieve the astonishing feat.

“It started with (Tyler) Riter back-checking,” said Cox. “He blocked that two-on-one that could have resulted in a goal. We got the momentum and went back the other way.

“It was the hard work on their part on the goals. I was just in the right place.”

Riter scored OP’s fifth goal. Junior Charles Kritkausky earned the shutout in net for the Quakers.

The Quakers’ defensive unit continues to play strong with limiting their opponents’ scoring opportunities.

“I think we just work hard,” OP coach Derek Gilham said after the shutout. “I think we have the six best defensemen in the league. We’re asking Charlie to make the easy saves. I think at the start of the year, he was feeling he had to make that big save. He looked calm and steady in the net tonight.”

Orchard Park teammates, including Ryan MacCarrick, took to Twitter after the win to congratulate Cox.

My boy @wswings6 getting that hattie in 22 second #stillinshock

— Ryan MacCarrick (@RyMac7) January 18, 2013

Photos from Thursday’s win over Hamburg:

View the entire photo gallery

John Januszkiewicz

Senior John Januszkiewicz scored four third-period goals to help lead the Orchard Park boys hockey team past Lockport with a 7-3 win at the Northtown Center in Amherst Saturday.

The victory improved the Quakers to an overall 6-4 record.

Januszkewicz may have had five goals if it weren’t for a second-period power play being waved off by the official, who allegedly did not see Januszkiewicz slap the puck in after it hit the leg of Ryan MacCarrick.

Here’s the video. My apologies for not knowing how to put it in slow-motion.

After falling to St. Joe’s, Williamsville North, and Canisius to start the season, the Quakers have won six of seven contests, including winning the Christian Brothers Academy of Albany tournament where senior Ryan Cox was named MVP.

Despite their recent success, the Quakers aren’t where they want to be at this point in the season.
“The four games we’ve played against good teams, we’re 0 and 4, so we’re still working,” said Januszkiewicz. “We have a lot of work to do.”

OP continues to out-shoot opponents, but hasn’t found a way to consistently score. In the team’s loss to Niagara Wheatfield on Friday, the Quakers out-shot the Falcons, 36-14, but managed to allow four goals and score just once.

“I think we play timid,” Januszkiewicz added. “We have to bear down. We have to figure out a way to bury pucks and work harder.”

The Quakers will have another shot at St. Joe’s when they play the Marauders on Sat. Jan. 12 at the Northtown Center at 3 p.m.

View the entire photo gallery from OP’s win over Lockport

Senior Kevin MacKrell assisted on two OP goals Sunday. Photo / James Goller

Five different players scored in the Orchard Park boys hockey team’s first win of the season Sunday.

With losses to St. Joe’s, Williamsville North, and Canisius to start the season, the Quakers continued to play strong defense in the 5-0 win versus Niagara Falls.

“I didn’t think we did anything differently than the first three games,” said Orchard Park coach Derek Gilham. “We were talking before the game. We’ve given up 45 shots in three games going into this. To be 0 and 3, and giving up an average 15 shots per game is ridiculous.”

While the Quakers have done a good job of limiting opponents’ shots, one area of play in which Gilham would like to see more consistency is the team’s mental approach to each game.

“We’re a good team, but we need to have that mentality that we’re going to win every time we step foot on the ice,” the coach added.

Orchard Park  showed the desire to put the Wolverines away right from the first puck drop. The Quakers come out firing the puck on net and easily out-shot their counterparts, 51-7.

“We needed that win,” sophomore Tristan Lukowski said following the victory. “We didn’t have a lot of confidence after going 0 and 3.”

Jeff Palczewski scored the first goal on an assist from Kevin MacKrell in the opening period. Lukowski added a power play goal in the second, before the Quakers earned three third-period goals from Mike Kline, Tyler Riter, and TJ Maloney.

“We knew we were a stronger team, so we had to get pucks on net and things would go good from there,” said Lukowski.

Orchard Park was scheduled to play New Hartford today at the Northtown Center, but inclement weather canceled the contest. The Quakers are scheduled to play Sweet Home on Friday at 3 p.m. at the Northtown Center, and travel to Albany for a tournament Dec. 29-30.

Photos from Orchard Park’s win versus Niagara Falls: (View the entire album here.)

The Orchard Park-Frontier girls hockey team improved to a 3-3-1 record with a 5-4 win over West Seneca at the Town of West Seneca Ice Rink Friday.

Senior Bernadette O’Connell scored two goals. Junior Stephanie Pickard picked up a goal and an assist, while sophomore Tatum Walber earned a pair of assists.

OP-Frontier and West Seneca were tied 2-2 after one period. OP-F scored three second-period goals to pull ahead and held on despite two third-period goals from West Seneca.

Here are some photos from the win:

View the entire photo gallery

Senior Tyler Whiteaker (left) battles a Canisius opponent for possession of the puck’s during Orchard Park’s 4-1 loss to the Crusaders Monday evening at Leisure Rinks. Photo / James Goller

“You can’t fault the effort at all tonight. We had good discipline too. We played hard the whole night.” – Orchard Park coach Derek Gilham

View photos from the OP hockey season

Its best effort of the season wasn’t enough to push the Orchard Park boys hockey team past Canisius on Monday evening at Leisure Rinks. After a disappointing 4-0 loss to St. Joe’s in the season opener and a subsequent 4-1 loss to Williamsville North, the Quakers dropped its third game of the season with a 4-1 loss to the Crusaders.

Canisius took a 1-0 lead in the opening period when a clearing shot while on the penalty kill was mishandled and found the back of the OP net.

After a wild first period that saw a combined ten penalties (Can. 6, OP 4), Orchard Park had a chance to tie the game on a penalty shot that was issued as a result of a trip on Tyler Riter. The Quakers were denied, but sophomore Tristan Lukowski tied the game later in the second period with a 5-on-3 power play goal, which was set up by a strong play from senior John Januszkiewicz to keep the puck in the Canisius end of the ice. Lukowski banged home a rebound to tie the contest.

Less than a minute later, Canisius scored its second goal to go ahead for good. It took an outstanding effort from Canisius goaltender Connor Naughton to turn away 48 shots to secure the victory for the now 3-0 Cruasders.

“We took it to them the majority of the game, other than maybe a three-minute flurry in the second period the puck never left their zone,” OP coach Derek Gilham said following the loss. “You can’t fault the effort at all tonight. We had good discipline too. We played hard the whole night.”

Orchard Park struggled to score despite eight power play opportunities on 12 penalties by Canisius.

“I thought we looked okay on the power play, except when things weren’t going perfectly, we were standing around,” Gilham added. “We have to attack the goal better. The positive note is we had them on their heels.”

Despite the team’s three losses, Gilham is pleased his team has improved.

“Unfortunately, we gave up a couple easy goals tonight, and we didn’t get rewarded with anything,” he said. “We want to get better every game, and we did today. That’s for sure.”

Mike Kline and the OP boys hockey team looks for its first regular season win tonight versus Canisius at Leisure Rinks. Photo / James Goller

Quakers looking for first regular season win

It’s been a difficult start to the season for the Orchard Park boys hockey team. The Quakers suffered losses in their first two contests with a 4-0 shutout loss to St. Joe’s and a 4-1 loss to Williamsville North.

Orchard Park looks for its first win of the regular season tonight versus a 2-0 Canisius squad that has outscored opponents, 16-3, including a 3-2 win over Frontier.

“This is a very important game,” said junior forward Mike Kline. “We want to prove ourselves against the best. Everyone takes OP lightly and we need to change the culture.”

The Quakers went 4-0 during the pre-season, but have scored just one goal in the regular season and allowed eight.

“I’d like to see us let loose and go play the game how we know how to play,” Kline added. “Don’t play scared; just go out there and take it to the other team.”

Tonight’s game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start at Leisure Rinks.

Senior Jacob Biasillo scored OP’s lone goal in a 4-1 loss to Williamsville North Sunday. Photo / James Goller

The Orchard Park boys hockey team suffered its second regular season loss with a 4-1 defeat to Williamsville North on Sunday.

The Quakers were hoping to make a splash by taking down one of the historically stronger teams in Western New York, but the Spartans proved too strong.

After allowing a pair of late first period goals, the Quakers trailed 3-0 when the Spartans struck again 2:30 into the second period.

Senior defenseman Jacob Biasillo put Orchard Park on the board when he sunk a shot from the point into the back of the net on the power play. The Quakers appeared poised for a comeback, but their momentum was squashed when the Spartans responded with their fourth goal just 25 seconds later.

The remainder of the game went scoreless for over 25 minutes.

For the Quakers, who lost its first game of the season to St. Joes, the schedule doesn’t get any easier with an impending matchup versus Canisius scheduled for Monday, Dec. 17. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start at Leisure Rinks.

View the entire photo gallery

Senior forward John Januszkiewicz tied for the team lead with 9 goals last season. Photo / James Goller

Last season was not a successful run for the Orchard Park hockey team. After finishing the 2011-2012 campaign with a 5-14-1 mark, the Quakers are hopeful a new attitude and new crop of players can make this year’s team forget about last year’s struggles.

“We’re a whole different team,” said senior forward John Januszkiewicz. “We have so much speed and depth this year.”

Only ten players on OP’s 20-man roster return from a season ago, and just eight saw significant ice time.

“I like this group of guys a lot,” said Januszkiewicz, who tied for the team lead with nine goals last season. “We will go deep into the playoffs.”

Leading the Quakers this season will be a familiar mask in the goal crease. Netminder Charles Kritkausky enters his third season as the team’s top goaltender.

“It’s his third year here,” said OP coach Derek Gilham. “He’s a huge key to our team.”

After an impressive freshman season, Kritkausky struggled as a sophomore, and has prepared himself for an improved junior year.

“I just have to stay aggressive and big in the net,” said Kritkausky. “I’m not really a giant so I have to cover as much net as possible and keep my angles, and do what I have to stop the puck from there.”

Kritkausky will be helped on the defensive end by a pair of senior defensemen, including team captain Jacob Biasillo and Kevin MacKrell. Junior Tim Duffy returns to the defensive core.

Along with Januszkiewicz at forward is senior Tyler Whiteaker, who scored 3 goals and 5 assists last season. He will be joined by junior Tyler Riter (3G, 5A) and sophomore Robert Zwirecki (4 goals last season). Senior Joe Copella, junior Ryan Cox, sophomore Tristan Lukowski, and freshman Kevin McParlane should be key contributors to the offense.

“If we work hard and play for each other there isn’t much to keep us from making a strong playoff run if we can keep improving,” Kritkausky added.

The biggest factor for the Quakers in striving toward success is their ability to battle adversity.

“I think the biggest thing for us is we’re going to run into difficulties during the game,” said Gilham. “How we present ourselves is important. Last year, we couldn’t fight adversity at all. Good teams are going to go through stumbling blocks and make it through.”

2012-2013 Orchard Park Boys Hockey Roster