Last week featured two of the best played games this season. There was back and forth action, plenty of scoring chances, timely saves, no extra-curricular activity that took away from the game and for both games, the outcome was not determined until very late in the game or down to the final second of play. Thank you players to all four teams that played last week.
Week of November 10, (Game 1) – After losing their first game of the season in uncharacteristic fashion two weeks ago, the Wanna Be’s made amends and began another winning streak as they snuck past Midas Touch for a 3 – 1 victory. This game was played wide open by both teams, with the defense of the Wanna Be’s finally being tested throughout the game, and the outcome was not determined until the last few minutes of the game.
After a scoreless first period that was evenly played, Rick Cassano got Midas Touch on the board halfway through the second period, scoring the period’s only goal on a bang-bang set-up in the slot from Mark Stickney and Angelo Deluca. The pass and shot came so quick that the goalie could not get set in time. Both teams had plenty of scoring chances in the second period but goalie Bill Gardynski Jr. of the Wanna Be’s and Jeff Deharo of Midas touch held their ground.
In the third period it was all the Wanna Be’s as less than a minute in, Nick Romano tied this game off a rebound out front. Then, rookie Shawn Wyatt scored another one of his surprisingly huge timely goals for his team, by being in the right place at the right time. On Umberto Baldassarre’s shot from the point, Shawn snuck in undetected behind the defense, positioning himself to bat the rebound out of the air into the net. His goal with just under three minutes to play stunned the Midas Touch team. Just under a minute later, John Kelleher sealed this win on some nice passing from Niko Vramis and Nick Romano.
Week of November 10, (Game 2) – In a wild back-and-forth up tempo game, On My Own twice had two-goal leads disappear, but managed to hold on in barely defeating the Portuguese Pretenders by a score of 5 – 4. This game was not decided until the final second when the Portuguese Pretenders had a chance for a shot just before the buzzer but the ball hopped over a player’s stick looking at a partially open net right in front of him.
On My Own came out running and gunning early in this game, setting the tempo right from the opening faceoff. Their aggressive play paid off in the first period, getting goals less than two minutes apart from Joe “the Turtle” Mancinelli and John “I don’t care about that Player of the Week award” Colucciello. In the second period, it was all the Portuguese Pretenders. Even though they were outshot in the period, they scored the game’s only two goals to tie this game back up. Tony Medeiros got his team on the score sheet, followed by Dominic DeFrancisco (both goals were set up by Dan Broderick).
In the third period, with the game tied, defenseman Paul Castonguay made his presence felt from the point, as he dialed it up and unloaded two bombs from the point. The first shot beat the goalie cleanly, while, two minutes later his second shot was deflected out front by Tony Bono. Holding a commanding two-goal lead was only safe for four minutes as Dominic hustled his way out front to score off a rebound, making this a one-goal game with two minutes to play. Taking it upon himself to score the game winning goal was captain Dave Curcio of On My Own, scoring only thirty seconds after Dominic’s goal and sealing this win. Stop the presses Dominic said, this game is not over yet, as he again hustled his way out front to score his third goal of this game off a scramble twenty seconds after Dave’s goal. As previously mentioned, the game came down to the last second, where an unexpected bounce prevented the Portuguese Pretenders from sending this game into overtime. On My Own threw 39 shots on net in this game.