High school hockey: Amherst shuts out Avon Lake a night after having long league winning streak snapped

ROCKY RIVER — Now, that's how you bounce back. While Amherst suffered its first Greater Cleveland High School Hockey League regular-season loss in two years Saturday, it showed no aftereffects Sunday in a stellar 4-0 win over Avon Lake at Hamilton Ice Arena. North Olmsted ended the Comets' 26-game league winning streak, but Amherst rebounded with a strong defensive effort, stout goaltending and an opportunistic offense in improving to 15-4 overall and 5-1 in the White Division of the GCHSHL. The Comets snapped a 12-game winning streak for the Shoremen (18-6, 3-3) in the process. "It was really important for us to bounce back," Amherst forward Nathan Harmych said. "We didn't play well at all (Saturday) against North Olmsted. We really needed to bounce back and get our momentum back for the season." After a scoreless first period, Harmych took a crossing pass from Nick Ciura and jammed the puck home with 10:28 left in the second period. "That was a great shift with the guys who moved the puck well, and Nathan was able to get off good shot," Comets coach Steve Morris said. "You always want to be playing well going to a tournament and this was a good win. Avon Lake is really a good team." The Southwestern Conference Tournament is this weekend at North Olmsted Rec. Joey Kramer picked up the second goal of the period for the Comets, going top shelf on Avon Lake goalkeeper Dllon Aslaksen with 3:56 left in the period. Michael Hughes and Avery Winkelman had assists on the goal. While the Comets offense was clicking, the Shoremen couldn't solve Amherst goalie Brady Grove, who picked up his eighth shutout of the year and fourth in the last five games. Grove turned away all 27 Avon Lake shots. Aslaksen had 27 saves as well "I think Logan (Eicher) getting hurt (against North Olmsted) was a wake-up call for us," Grove said. "We wanted to play well for him tonight after he took a big hit and broke his collarbone. There were only a few times the puck was right in front of me. The defense did a great job pushing it out and limiting their chances." Amherst continued to push the puck on offense, increasing the lead to 3-0 less than two minutes into the third period when Harmych got his own rebounded shot and scored at 13:37. The final goal came at 8:46 when Joey Kramer won a center-ice face-off following a Comets penalty with the puck going right to his brother Jacob, who raced in to score a short-handed goal just nine seconds after being a man down. "If you were scoring this like a fight, we probably win the first period 10-9, but we just couldn't get the puck to bounce our way," Shoremen coach Steve Burns said. "We still felt good being down 2-0, but we just couldn't break through in an evenly played game," Contact James Brady at 329-7135 or jbrady_ct@yahoo.com. Amherst 4, Avon Lake 0 FIRST PERIOD: PENALTIES: (AL) Nick Ospelt (2:00 holding), 7:24. SECOND PERIOD: (AM) Nathan Harmych (Nick Ciura), 10:28, (AM) Joey Kramer (Michael Hughes, Avery Winkelman), 3:56. PENALTIES: (AL) Luke Farthing (2:00 slashing, 10:00 misconduct), 5:59. THIRD PERIOD: (AM) Harmych (Jacob Kramer, Joey Kramer), 13:37, (AM) Jacob Kramer (Joey Kramer), SH, 8:46. PENALTIES: (AM) Ciura (2:00 hooking). Amherst &emsp;&emsp; &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;2 &emsp;&emsp;2 &emsp;&emsp;- &emsp;&emsp;4 Avon Lake &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;- &emsp;&emsp;0 Shots on goal: Amherst 31 (9-13-9), Avon Lake 27 (9-11-7). Goalies: Amherst: Brady Grove (27 shots, 27 saves), Avon Lake: Dillon Aslaksen (31 shots, 27 saves). Power-play opportunities: Amherst 0-2, Avon Lake 0-1.