ROCHESTER — When you think Dover-Spaulding hockey, you think of an intense, physical and emotional game that is often not decided until the third period.
Not on Saturday.
Dover swarmed their short-handed rivals from the get-go, scoring eight goals in two periods en route to a convincing 8-2 victory at the Rochester Arena to improve to 10-3-1 with its fifth consecutive win. Spaulding fell to 2-8.
“It’s Spaulding. It’s a rivalry game, so be ready for a war,” said Dover coach Mike Young. “The guys came out and set the pace early. We were pretty physical. Our pace for the first couple of periods was exactly what we were looking for.”
Seven different Green Wave players scored, led by freshman Colby Roy with two goals and an assist. Also lighting the lamp were Josh Ball, Jameson Goodridge, Jared Turgeon, Garrett Swan, Nick Marchuk and Wyatt Allaire (assist). Aiden McDonough had three assists. Dover outshot Spaulding 48-16.
“I’ve seen them play four or five times and that was the best I’ve seen them play,” said Spaulding coach Jamie Ferullo of Dover. “They’ve got a lot of speed, bigger speed, so it’s tough.”
Garrett Langis (assist) and Tanner McDougal scored for the Red Raiders.
Spaulding played without two key players, top forward Ryan Ellis and freshman defenseman Brandon Grondin, both out with concussions. Without Grondin, the Red Raiders were forced to cycle three defensmen against a bigger and deeper team.
Dover was without senior captain Alex Schlapak, out with an injury. Even so, Dover’s superior depth allowed it to skate three lines with its extra helping of forwards, a luxury Spaulding did not have.
“We wanted to set that pace,” Young said. “I knew they had a short bench to begin with. I knew if we could grind it down low and get pucks deep in our forecheck and make them have to go 200 feet, we could wear them down.”
Brendan Stanley had 29 saves in two periods, an effort that certainly prevented Dover from having 12 or 13 goals after two stops. Matt Lacey had 11 saves in the third period.
Dover’s Austin Gilbert stopped 16 of 18 shots.
Ball put the Green Wave up 1-0 in the first with a shot from the left point that squeezed by a screened Stanley.
Roy scored from in tight to make it 2-0, and Goodridge’s breakaway was initially saved by Stanley, but then kicked in by a Spaulding player to put Dover up 3-0 after the first.
Turgeon’s power play goal at 6:23 of the second widened the Dover lead to 4-0.
Spaulding finally answered with a nifty short-handed tally by Garrett Langis to cut the lead to 4-1 at 7:48 — a momentum shift that lasted all of 80 seconds.
“He did a nice job creating something by moving his feet,” Ferullo said. “Just a tough break they go down and score on the breakaway."
Swan’s short-handed breakaway goal at 9:08 made it 5-1, the beginning of a Dover barrage that also included scores by Marchuk, Allaire and Roy (with 11 seconds to play in the period).
“We always preach get the puck deep, go to work,” Turgeon said. “We set the pace early. It just worked out tonight. We got the puck deep. Even the first shift, we had three chances to score. From there we were just buzzing the whole night."
Dover hosts another of its rivals, St. Thomas (10-2), Wednesday at the Dover Arena. Spaulding plays at Kingswood the same night.