Friday Finals: Fighting Spirit stay unbeaten with close win
Northeast 2 @ East Coast 4 - In a game where neither team could get a cushion, East Coast escaped with a 4-2 victory over Northeast. No lead was more than two goals during the contest, and the winning goal was scored by Tom Potter at 12:32 of the third period. East Coast additionally got points from Andrew Irving, who also tallied one goal and one assist and Preston Palamara, who also racked up one goal and one assist. East Coast also got a goal from Mason Smith as well. More assists for East Coast came via Jon Mathieu, who had two and Kyler Harding, Jon Macdonald, Samu Landen, and Rick Mulligan, who contributed one each.
Cape Cod 2 @ L/A Fighting Spirit 3 - The game between Lewiston/Auburn and Cape Cod was tight through all 60 minutes, but in the end Lewiston/Auburn emerged with a 3-2 win. Each team kept the other at bay throughout the game, and Dylan Vrees secured the win for Lewiston/Auburn with a goal in the third period. Lewiston/Auburn also had goals scored by Mike Heffernan and Walker Hamilton, who each put in one. In addition, Lewiston/Auburn received assists from David Fish and Brady McNulty, who each chipped in one. Cape Cod was helped by Mike Jessman, who tallied one goal. Jessman scored 2:29 into the second period to make the score 1-1. Cam Tobey provided the assist. Aaron Deady also scored for Cape Cod. Other players who recorded assists for Cape Cod were Maxime Dordet, who had one. Lewiston/Auburn's Claes Endre stopped 19 shots out of the 21 that he faced. Anton Zemba rejected 27 shots on goal for Cape Cod.
Syracuse 3 @ Wilkes-Barre 1 - A stellar performance between the pipes by Kyle VanWagner helped Syracuse defeat Wilkes-Barre, 3-1. Syracuse was led by Matthew Emerick, who finished with one goal. Emerick scored 12:46 into the third period to make the score 2-1 Syracuse. Dan Buehler assisted on the tally. Others who scored for Syracuse included Brendan Sand and Ludovic Scott, who scored one goal each. In addition, Syracuse received assists from Nate Walker and Raymond Rowe, who each chipped in one. Wilkes-Barre was led by Ryan Flanagan, who scored the team's only goal. Flanagan scored 9:52 into the first period to make the score 1-0 Wilkes-Barre. Kyle VanWagner made 28 saves for Syracuse on 29 shots. Wilkes-Barre's Mathieu Beaudet stopped 37 shots out of the 40 that he faced.
Skylands 3 @ Jersey Shore 11 - Jersey Shore's Jared Karas had a big offensive game, scoring one goal and contributing four assists in his team's 11-3 win over Skylands. Karas got on the board by slotting home a goal 1:08 into the second period to make the score 2-2. Dylan Plsek picked up the assist. Karas dished an assist on Marcus McCall's goal that made the score 1-0 Jersey Shore at 25 seconds into the first period. He then added assists on John Rubin's goal at 15:30 into the second, on Bogdan Khvatov's goal at 5:29 into the third, and on Ben Wingbermuehle's goal at 10:22 into the third. Jersey Shore kept Skylands' goalie busy throughout the game, and Ryan Bartholomew made 59 saves on 70 shots. Jersey Shore also got points from Wingbermuehle, who also grabbed one goal and one assist, Scott Hansen, who also registered one goal and two assists, Travis Valvo, who also racked up one goal and one assist, Khvatov, who also had two goals and one assist, and JaColbie McGowan, who also tallied one goal and one assist. Jersey Shore also got a goal from Freddie Schaljo as well. In addition, Jersey Shore received assists from Christian Cooley and Frederic Ampleman, who each chipped in one. Skylands was helped by Alec Sanchez, who registered one goal and one assist. Sanchez scored 16:17 into the first period to make the score 2-1 Skylands. Skylands additionally got points from Tim Vant, who also finished with one goal and one assist. Hunter Ledwith also scored for Skylands. More assists for Skylands came via Antonio Martiniello and Cory Decosta, who contributed one each. Breadan Colgan recorded 15 saves for Jersey Shore.
