By Jordan J. Michael

SCHENECTADY –– Before the hockey season began, Guilderland joined forces with Mohonasen because both teams were short players. Now, after five games, the Dutch-Warriors have a total of five goals and no wins.

“We haven’t shown much discipline,” said Head Coach John DeRubertis after a 4-to-1 loss to Niskayuna-Schenectady at Union College on Tuesday night.

Guilderland-Mohonasen was penalized 11 times during the game and Co-Captain Brandon Glasser received five penalties. Any player who commits five infractions during a single game is ejected.

“I was playing as hard as I could,” said Glasser, who scored his team’s only goal, but had to leave towards the end of the third period after a hooking call. “I guess the referees didn’t like how I was playing,” he said.

DeRubertis told The Enterprise that penalties and the number of shots are the main troubles for the Dutch-Warriors. The Mohawks outshot Guilderland-Mohonasen, 26 to 11.

“We won’t be getting many shots if we’re in the penalty box all night,” DeRubertis said.

At 7:14 into the first period, Sean Haley scored for the Mohawks after the Dutch-Warrior defense gave the puck away to Matt Divietro, who found Haley in front of the net. Niskayuna-Schenectady looked to have another goal with one minute left after the puck crossed the line, but the refs had previously blown the play dead.

“They skated hard tonight after a real bad loss,” said DeRubertis, mentioning the 10-to- 2 drubbing by Shaker-Colonie. “But, our opponent worked pretty hard, too,” DeRubertis said.

The Mohawks got its second goal in the first few minutes of the second period after Guilderland-Mohonasen had just come off a penalty kill. Jonathan Lorraine skated through the defensive zone and found Frank Cermak, who placed a quick shot past goalie Mike Alsante.

“He was focused tonight,” DeRubertis said of Alsante, who made 22 saves.

Glasser scored later on in the second period off a break-away to make the game interesting, but Guilderland-Mohonasen fell quiet after that and couldn’t often gain possession of the puck. Lucas Maloney scored two minutes into the third period on a wrist shot to seal the win for Niskayuna-Schenectady.

“The second period was a tough one,” said Conor Hurley, the other Guilderland-Mohonasen co-captain. “Our hustle was good, but we need to stay out of the penalty box and shoot more.”

DeRubertis said that “depth” is the real issue. “We have a short bench and some inexperienced players,” he said. “The lack of depth creates offensive challenges. We need to put more pucks deep into the zone and stop trying to take too many players on at once.”

Andy Cuthbertson, who was the head coach for Mohonasen-Schalmont last season, agreed with his fellow coach. “He’s right, it’s lack of depth,” he said. “We’re not where we want to be yet. These guys need to play with some more heart and create more opportunities on offense. Glasser and Hurley need to lead the way.”

“We’ll take a step back and look at the depth,” DeRubertis said. “Just keep it simple and get on the puck and try to outwork other teams. That’s the only way.”

Joining forces

Back in August, the Guilderland school board approved Guilderland and Mohonasen combining teams. School board member Colleen O’Connell said that the “numbers were down” for the Dutchmen.

Cuthbertson said on Tuesday that Mohonasen’s numbers were also down after last season. Mohonasen once had a combined team with Schalmont. Schalmont was so low that it was thrown entirely out of the mix, leaving the Warriors with nine players.

“The merger was for the better,” Cuthbertson said. “It keeps each program alive and gives us a chance to compete. I know we haven’t won any games yet, but we should be in a better position.”

There are roughly 12 players from Guilderland and nine from Mohonasen. Hurley said that an earlier trip up north to the Potsdam Tournament “really helped the team.”

“The kids are getting along quite well, especially for being winless in the first five games,” said DeRubertis.

“The combination worked out well,” said Glasser, who is a student at Mohonasen. “There were some kinks in the beginning, but it’s starting to smooth out. It takes a while to get to know people.”

The Dutch-Warriors hope a win comes soon.

“Just learn,” said Hurley. “Day after day.”