Tyler Tafoya scored a pair of quintessential Rampart goals and goalie Erik Contino stopped all 13 shots he faced, as the Rams shut out Liberty 4-0 at Sertich Ice Center on Tuesday.

Rampart hockey coach Josh McIntosh loves to preach to his players about scoring ugly goals. Both of Tafoya’s goals came on shots from within two feet. Tafoya put the Rams (4-2) up 2-0 when Liberty goalie T.J. Hill failed to clear the puck, putting it on Tafoya’s stick. The Rampart sophomore scored his second with 55.7 seconds remaining in the second period, scoring on a rebound.

“I just did what I had to do,” Tafoya said. “We’re not the finesse type of team. We just stuff it in.”McIntosh was excited by Tafoya’s performance.

“Taffy is nothing but classy,” McIntosh said. “He doesn’t toe-drag, he doesn’t go coast to coast, but he’s so complete. He does everything right all the time.”

Contino made his third consecutive start in net for the Rams, all wins. He stood tall as the Rams played short-handed six times, including facing a 5-on-3 for 25 seconds. The Lancers (0-7) had their best chance on forward Corey Lorenz’s brief breakaway. Contino turned that aside, too.

“It’s always good to get a shutout,” Contino said. “Obviously it’s a team effort, it’s not just me.”

Liberty’s six power plays yielded six shots, but few scoring chances.

“Rampart does a great job, really gets in the passing lanes,” Lancers coach Marc Smith said. “We had trouble getting it down low and getting to rebounds.”

The Rams opened the scoring 3:55 in, when Daniel Fullerton scored on a rebound. Ian Johnson finished the scoring on a wrister with 56.8 seconds remaining.

When the Rams return to the ice Jan. 4, McIntosh will have to decide between Contino and Brock Vosburgh.

“It’s a nice problem to have,” McIntosh said. “We have two excellent goalies.”

So who will start when conference play rolls around?

“I don’t know,” McIntosh said. “We’ll go with a little history. Brock has played certain teams well, Erik’s played other teams well. It’ll be a battle the rest of the way.”

Jacob Fitzpatrick, right, of Liberty chases Daniel Fullerton of Rampart as he races to the goal during the first period at Sertich Ice Center on Tuesday. Rampart won 4-0. Photo by BRYAN OLLER, THE GAZETTE