Bruins capture fourth straight

Eight days after South Side failed to register a shot on goal in the first half of a Conference B-I comeback win at Carey, the Cyclones kept Baldwin goalie Brett Dadiego busy throughout last Thursday’s non-league matchup but couldn’t overcome a three-goal halftime deficit for a second straight game.

Dadiego, a junior, stopped a career-high 27 shots and senior Tyler Harper scored four goals and dominated faceoffs to lead the Bruins to a 9-7 victory. Junior Mike Ainbinder added a hat trick and senior Chris Mertens chipped in two goals for Baldwin, which won its fourth in a row and improved to 6-4 overall.

“Brett’s the most underrated player in the county in my opinion,” Baldwin coach Rich Garguilo said of Dadiego, who has 32 saves during the winning streak. “He didn’t get off to the best of starts this season, but he’s back in a groove and working hard. He was great today,” he added.

South Side senior Bryan Gerrato score three times in a span of 1:51 late in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough. Senior Pat Finnerty had a pair of goals and juniors Peter Clark and Billy Moore added one apiece.

“We’re not bringing the level of focus and intensity we need to be successful against a good team,” coach Steve DiPietro said after the Cyclones slipped to 5-3 overall. “We made too many mistakes across the board. When we did score and had things going our way, we couldn’t keep the momentum up.”

Harper’s work on draws was a big reason why Baldwin kept South Side at an arm’s length after building a 4-1 halftime advantage. “We haven’t really had problems on faceoffs,” DiPietro said. “Sean [Kenny] has done a great job for us. We changed it up a little bit with Gerrato, but their kid Harper is quick and agile and was able to win most of them today.”

Harper said he noticed the Cyclones were locking down the wings prior to draws and “felt I could win it forward every time.” “It’s another good win for us,” he said. “Our confidence is growing.”