Ice hockey: Northern Highlands 5, Indian Hills 4

First, it was a two-goal lead for Randolph before a three-goal comeback in the final five minutes gave Northern Highlands a 4-3 win on Wednesday.  They took it one step further on Friday night at the Ice Vault in an NBIL encounter with Indian Hills.

This time, the Highlanders went down 3-0 early in the second period, but they didn't wait as long to put together another come-from-behind effort that resulted in a 5-4 triumph that keeps them on the heels of Ramsey in the league race.

With Mahwah on tap on Saturday evening, does this mean they'll go one more rung up the ladder and see if they can come back from four down?

"No way," NH head coach Jason Beswick replied, adding that, "we have a good winning attitude, and we believe we can win any hockey game we're in."

Part of that belief comes from the Highlanders' ability to score goals in bunches.  That prowess came in handy after Indian Hills (10-5-1) opened the game with three tallies.  Justin Ramirez and Hunter Blatz got first period goals and Sean Mangold scored 1:43 into the second period for the Braves, who had won four in a row and five of the last six.  The three goals came in the first six Hills shots against Jordan Nathan.

"We were like individuals out there, yelling at each other," defenseman Brandon Fruchter said of the first period.  "After that, we came together as a team.  We said we can't be arguing, we need to do it together."

Ryan Kelly got the first two goals for Northern Highlands (12-2), the first at 4:59 and the second shorthanded at 7:51.  The latter score seemed to energize the Highlanders and shift the momentum.  Indian Hills began to look like a team trying to prevent goals instead of score them.

Penalties also hurt the Braves, with Pat Erstling's getting the tying goal at 11:14 of the second period.

"We work on our power play a lot," Erstling related.  "We try to work it down low first and step out and try to get a shot.  John Hite and I were working it in the corner, and he got it free to me and I put it on net."

Highlands had an incredible 22-4 shots on goal advantage in that middle stanza, and after the ice cut they continued to pressure the offensive zone.  It finally paid off at 3:42 with Erstling's second of the game.

"We came down on a 2 on 1, and I gave it to (Hite)," Erstling recalled.  "His shot didn't go, but it bounced up in the air and I got the rebound on my backhand."

Indian Hills could not even get a shot on goal over the first half of the third period, with Highlands thwarting the Braves in the neutral zone.  With their thinned out defense, NH once again was forced to rely on its offense.  Fruchter himself didn't even skate the warmups, trying to take some wear and tear off his banged up ankle.  He took a puck off the skate a week ago and has a bone bruise that will likely hinder him the rest of the season. 

"It's a little frustrating," he admitted.  "We don't have that depth we had before, so we're trying to make up for it with heart."

A Brave turnover at the blue line was converted into a 5-3 Highlander lead when Andrew Milanesi clanged one home off the left post at 11:32.  That score became more important when Ryan Larkin, in his first game back from an appendectomy, rocketed a shot that was saved  by Nathan only to see John Broggi collect the rebound and score with 1:38 to go.

"I guess we were riding the wind from the Randolph game," Erstling admitted.  "We didn't expect to walk over this team, but (the slack off) just kind of happened.  We picked it up in the second period."

"Unfortunately, we had a kind of Randolph layover," Beswick agreed.  "We've had a lot of games recently, and it's a lot mentally.  It was a test, and we came back to get the win."