FRUITPORT TOWNSHIP - Freshman goalie Bear VanDyke has made a ton of big saves in a lot of games for the Reeths-Puffer hockey team this season.
But he was never better, or made a bigger difference, than on Saturday, when the Rockets had their big chance to get even with rival Mona Shores.
VanDyke was at the top of his game from the early minutes of the contest, making all of the more routine saves, and at least a half dozen pretty spectacular ones, allowing R-P to claim a very big 3-1 victory over the Sailors in front of a big crowd at Lakeshore Sports Centre.
The victory was the fourth in five games for Reeths-Puffer, which improved to 11-7-1 on the season.
R-P goalie Bear VanDyke makes a save. Photo/Jeremy Clark
It also provided sweet revenge for R-P, which lost to Mona Shores by the very same score late last month.
“After losing to them, that was pretty bad, and we wanted it more than them this time,” said VanDyke, who inherited the R-P goalie job from his brother, Huck VanDyke, who minded the net last season.
VanDyke ended up stopping 27 of 28 shots in the game. He made a strong bid for a shutout for most of the contest, before the Sailors finally got one past him with about four minutes left in the third period.
Perhaps his most impressive save came late in the second period, when a Mona Shores player got the puck during an R-P power play and broke in alone on the Rocket goal, only to be denied by VanDyke.
There were several other moments when VanDyke faced one-on-one situations with Sailor snipers and came up big each time.
R-P's Dom Switzer rips a shot. Photo/Jeremy Clark
“Sometimes it’s a little bit scary, but you just have to stay in your mindset,” VanDyke said.
Nothing VanDyke does surprises R-P head coach Bill Zalba, even in big games like Saturday’s.
“Unbelievable,” Zalba said. “I’ve said it after every game – he’s a freshman goalie who plays well beyond his age. He has a lot of confidence, and his competitiveness and compete level are just off the charts.
“He’s showing everybody how good he is right now, and he’s only going to keep getting better.”
R-P's Eli Cuti watches his shot head toward the goal. Photo/Jeremy Clark
VanDyke may have been the top star in the game, but he was followed closely by sophomore forward Dom Switzer, who scored two of the Rockets’ three goals.
Switzer played elite travel hockey last winter and skipped his freshman season with the Rockets. But he has been in the crowd for some of the R-P-Mona Shores showdowns in the past and was eager to get in on the fun.
“I saw the big crowds and fun games, and I just knew this was a game that I wanted to be a part of,” Switzer said.
He scored once in the first period and once in the second, both on long wrist shots that found their way into the net.
Switzer now has nine goals on the season, including three in the past two games.
R-P's Tyler Cuti checks a Mona Shores player against the boards. Photo/Jeremy Clark
“It was just about me simplifying my game, getting a better mentality before games, and having these teammates back me up,” Switzer said about his recent hot streak.“These guys boost me as a player and a person. I love these guys.”
The Rockets have been blessed all season with various scorers hitting hot streaks, one after the other, and Zalba believes Switzer fits well in that group.
“We’ve got a lot of guys whose job it is to put the puck in the net, and he’s one of them,” Zalba said. “He’s been hard on himself the last couple of games, but I just keep telling him, stick with it, kid.
R-P's Sheldon Frederick battles for the puck. Photo/Jeremy Clark
“He’s got a cannon for a shot. Yesterday he scored two goals in practice, and I told him, tomorrow, I need you to be selfish and fire that puck.”
The Rockets started the game slowly and had to count on VanDyke to stop a flurry of Mona Shores shots early in the first period.
The Rockets drew first blood, however, when Eli Cuti scored from close range with 5:42 left in the first.
Switzer scored his first goal with 1:23 left in the period on a hard wrist shot from right circle, and R-P led 2-0 at the first break.
Most of the second period was scoreless, until Switzer scored again from long range, just seconds after an R-P power play expired, with only 28 seconds left in the period.
R-P's Owen Silvis tries to get a shot off. Photo/Jeremy Clark
Mona Shores scored the only goal of the third period when Nathaniel Barnett broke the shutout with 3:58 left in the game.
R-P won despite being outshot 28-23. The Rockets were very strong on the penalty kill, holding the Sailors scoreless in three opportunities.
Looking back, Zalba thinks the Rockets may have been a little tight in their first meeting with Mona Shores, but that wasn’t the case on Saturday.
"It’s a younger group, nerves take over a little bit sometimes, and I think they got that our of their system,” the coach said. “We just decided to come today and play hard, put the puck on the net and see what happens.”