High school hockey: Amherst completes dominant run to Parma Holiday Tournament title

PARMA — It was Parma's holiday hockey tournament but Amherst made itself right at home, capping a dominant extended weekend with a 6-0 win over the Redmen in the title game at Ries Ice Rink. Sophomore Joey Kramer scored a hat trick for the third time in the four-game tournament and added three assists as the Comets (12-3) blew the game open with a three-goal second period. Kramer scored 12 goals and assisted on 14 in the tournament. Overall, Amherst outscored its opposition 33-2 in the four games that started Thursday. Against Parma (15-3), the Comets had a 46-17 advantage in shots on goal after both teams had eight shots in the first period. Amherst coach Steve Morris liked how his team shut down Parma after the first. "If you can do that defensively, and that's what we try to stress, everything else takes care of itself," he said. "That happens when you're working hard and you're playing the game right. I thought we did that really well in the second and third periods." The Comets got on the board first just 51 seconds into the game when Kramer took a feed from his brother Jacob, curled around the net and jammed the puck in past Redmen goalie Colin Pinson. Amherst scored three times in the first 5:56 of the second to blow it open. "I was a little disappointed with how we deviated," Parma coach Joseph Gaudino said. "We held them to eight shots in the first period and were only down 1-0. We played them earlier this year and they got us 5-4. They're a good team. They're very disciplined and they're fast. "That was the difference, their speed. It doesn't matter that they only have eight or nine guys on their team ... they have the right eight or nine. If you don't play perfect position against them and start taking penalties you're in trouble." Jacob Kramer, a senior, closed the scoring in the second and assisted on a pair of goals in the third. He ended the game with three assists and four points to go with his younger brother's six-point effort. Jacob assisted on two of Joey's goals, and Joey assisted on Jacob's. "That goes back all the way to when we played at Mite level," Jacob Kramer said. "We always have played together and know exactly what each other are doing. We make plays like it's the back yard. I think we've just always had that chemistry, known where each other are going." Amherst was able to control the flow of the game thanks to a massive 36-11 face-off advantage. "Winning face-offs and playing good defense is a great combination," Morris said. "If you do that you start of controlling the puck, and if you have the puck on your stick instead of theirs good things will happen for us. "When we can control the puck we can keep the puck low and cycle the puck. We can keep our feet moving and that's good for us." Amherst goalie Brody Grove stopped all 16 shots he faced, but gave much of the credit to his blue-liners. "The defense did a great job," Grove said. "We knew they had a couple of players that can really fly so they just locked them down early. Any shots they got off were just easy, side-of-the-net shots. The defensemen did a great job of pushing them to the outside." After the win, Jacob Kramer said he thinks the Comets are hitting their stride. "We have a lot of confidence," he said. "I think everyone on the team is starting to understand what we have to do and how to play their position a lot better. I think that's why we've been putting up big numbers, because everyone knows what their job is and is executing it." Contact Mike Perry at 329-7135 or macsportstalk@gmail.com. Amherst 6, Parma 0 FIRST PERIOD: (A) Joey Kramer (Jacob Kramer, Avery Winkelman), 14:09. Penalties: (P) Robbie Gudin (2:00 - roughing), :33. SECOND PERIOD: (A) Jacob Kramer, power play (Joey Kramer, Nathan Harmych), 14:07; (A) Joey Kramer (unassisted), 10:26; (A) Jacob Kramer (Joey Kramer, Nick Ciura), 9:04. Penalties: (P) Matt Higginbotham (2:00 - slashing), 4:34. THIRD PERIOD: (A) Joey Kramer (Winkelman, Jacob Kramer), 13:48; (A) Thomas Hall, power play (Jacob Kramer, Joey Kramer), 5:40. Penalties: (P) Higginbotham (2:00 - slashing), 10:44; (A) Harmych (2:00 - high sticking), 9:23; (P) Robert Takacs (2:00 - cross-checking), 7:09; (A) Aidan Brattoli (2:00 - slashing), 2:31; (P) Higginbotham (2:00 - elbowing), 1:05. Amherst 1 3 2 - 6 Parma 0 0 0 - 0 Shots on goal: Amherst 46 (8-19-19), Parma 17 (8-6-3). Goalies: Amherst – Brady Grove (17 shots, 17 saves), Parma – Colin Pinson (46 shots, 40 saves). Faceoffs won: Amherst 36, Parma 11; Power plays: Amherst 2-4, Parma 0-2.