Henault Hat Trick Leads Taconic Past Mt. Everett
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Henault assisted on the first goal of the game to go with his three tallies as Taconic improved to 1-5.
"Just staying in the back of the net, getting back door, putting them in the net, going around the guys -- just good goals," Henault said. "The goals give me a little boost of confidence and the team probably a little boost of confidence, too."
Taconic coach Steve Terpak said Taconic, which also got goals from Nick Whittaker and Brandon Peaslee, was due for an offensive explosion.
"It was a long time coming," Terpak said.
"I knew once we started goals, it was a seam that was just waiting to bust with our team. We've been having so many opportunities and just not finishing, I knew it was only a matter of time, I really did."
Terpak said Henault in particular was primed for a breakout game.
"We've been waiting for him to bust out," Terpak said. "He gets three breakaways every game. It's just the finishing thing. We've been working with him, working with him, working with him, and the kid's responding now. He's finding the back of the net."
Whittaker found it first off a pass from behind the net by Henault early in the first period. Henault cashed in assists from Harrison Rappant and Whittaker in the final minute of the first period to make it 2-0, Taconic.
Peaslee hooked up with Connor Conant to make it 3-0 before Henault scored on a breakaway up the left wing.
Mount Everett (1-4) scored 5-on-3 when Aaron Norton knocked one home from the doorstep. But another Henault breakaway made it 5-1 after two periods.
In the third, the Eagles got a big power play kill from Adam Derwitch, Jacob Malicky and Samantha Hoover, who fended off a 20-second 5-on-3 opportunity. Malicky nearly scored with 5 minutes, 25 seconds left on a breakaway, and Peter Lovejoy did light the lamp for Everett on a feed from Aaron Norton in the closing moments.
Mount Everett coach Aidan Gilligan was encouraged by what he saw from his team in the third.
"I think our kids showed great resolve tonight in terms of not packing it in when it was 5-1 in the third," Gilligan said. "We talked to them in the locker room at intermission, and they said they wanted to go out and win the third period to make a statement. We play these guys two more times, so it's important for us to come out and finish a game like that off.
"When we play 'em again, hopefully, they'll be thinking, 'OK, we competed hard for 45 minutes instead of packing it in when we got down 5-1."
Brenden Leary and Nolan Plouffe combined for the win in goal for Taconic. Jonah Swotes and Sam Riva split time between the pipes for Mount Everett.