ROSELLE, NJ – Johnson junior goaltender Karol Wieczorek stopped 58 of 60 shots to help the Johnson Crusaders ice hockey team to a victory over conference rival Cranford Cougars by a final score of 4-2 Wednesday night at Warinanco Park.
Wieczorek halted a lot of major scoring chances Cranford threw in front of the net and believes the victory is important for the Crusaders at this early point in the season.
“It’s a big deal, it’s kind of like our next-town rivalry,” Wieczorek said. “It’s a big win for us.”
Wieczorek said he doesn’t pay too much attention to the statistics.
“It was amazing. I was focusing on shot-after-shot,” he said. “[It was all] just focusing on shot-after-shot and not worrying about how many shots I had saved.”
Cranford got on the board first, with freshman Luke Pachkowski scoring his fifth goal of the season 30 seconds into the second period, putting Cranford up on top, 1-0.
The Johnson Crusaders would set the tone over the next four minutes, when junior co-captain Mike Adamowitz’s shot on goal beat Devenney at 2:20 of the second period, tying the game, 1-1. This was Adamowitz’s first goal of the season. Sophomore Jason Applin registered an assist on the Adamowitz goal.
Sophomore Tyler Mekovetz gave the Crusaders the 2-1 lead with his sixth goal of the season, beating Harry Devenney at 4:30 of the second period.
