BONITO'S HAT-TRICK HELPS VISUALEYES HARPOON THE WHALE

It didn't take long for Team Visualeyes to fire up their harpoon guns against Westfield's Whalers. T.J. Cooper (Hamburg) notched his second goal of the season just ten seconds into the game on some sauce served up from Matt Mesi (OrchardPark) Tuesday evening at Buffalo State Arena.

Visualeyes' leading Whale hunter, Bonito

Sniper Max Bonito (Amherst) led the V to a 7-2 routing of Westfield's, recording his first hat-trick of the season and adding a helper on Mesi's third period rocket. "We played three periods of hockey and that was the difference" said Bonito early Wednesday morning from a crowd of reporters in Visualeyes' dressing room. The V's game winning goal was scored by Bonnito with 6:31 left in the first period from Eric Schottke (Tonawanda).

Schottke finished the night with two goals and one assist, leading his team in scoring with eight points (4G, 4A) after two games.

Center Don Borsuk (West Seneca) added this after the 7-2 win, "I think we really had a good jump in our step last night, everyone was moving their feet, passes were crisp and clean. It was good to see us reach that level so early in the season. Max (Bonito) looked like he is poised for a strong season. If he can play like that, night in and night out, he will definitely be one of the top players in the league. As for myself, I just have to remind myself to keep pluggin' and the points will eventually come. But as long as the team is winning, that is all that matters right now."

Goaltender Adam Roma (Lancaster) put together another spectacular performance, allowing only two goals on 32 shots. The pre-season doubts that Roma's absence from between the pipes may be an issue, look to be vanished. "The first period was a good warm up for me since we went without pucks in warm-ups. That first goal was awesome, any other situation I and I would have benched myself" said Roma.

Mesi trails both Schottke and Bonito for the team lead in points and had this to say after the win, "It was a real team effort from the goalie on up. Forwards and D battled dehydration, after Roma the camel drank all the water with ten minutes left in the first period."

Westfield Captain/Player/Coach, Robert Carroll Jr. netted the Whale's only two goals, which came in the first period just three minutes apart. He added this after a disappointing loss, "Bob Carroll is only one man, I can't win the game by myself."


Rookie Dan Brown (Lancaster) also added two assists to round out the scoring frenzy for Visualeyes Tuesday night.

NOTEBOOK:
-Forward Steven Browne (Kenmore) celebrates his 27th Birthday today! Happy Birthday Steve!

-Contract talks between the team and English-Gunning have not improved as he sat out the second straight game of the EMHL season and continues to hold out for an extension.

-Rookie defenseman, Duffy Dunnigan (Getzville) played another impressive game after making the step up to the EMHL  "A" league. "I feel like Jimbo is really coming into his own as a d-man. He was solid as a rock last night and you can always rely on him back there" noted Eric Schottke.

-One area that was not firing on all cylinders Tuesday night vs. the Whalers was Visualeyes' power play. PP units went 0-3 in the win.

-Andrew Valint (Tonawanda) has a hurt ankle and is day-to-day.