Elite Squad Sweeps; Minors Struggle
A comeback attempt by the Empire State Legend Minors against the New England Insanity on Sunday, Jan. 20 fell short in the first game, as Bryan Rosen brought the team within one with his power play goal and Phillip Cascio’s second of the game 47 seconds later tied the match at 3-3 with 2:12 to play.
The Minor Legends failed to preserve a chance for a point with a tie as their defense allowed the Black Insanity to answer back with two of their own 26 seconds apart to ice a 5-3 win.
Goalie Jared Occhicone deserved a better fate as his team simply lost the concept of what was at hand.
The Minor Legends would drop the second game by an identical 5-3 score, losing both games of their doubleheader against the New England Insanity Black Minor Team. Peter DiCeccio stopped 16 shots, but was victimized by a pair of NE power play markers and a NE short hander.
Penalties were the issue for the Minor Legends in this game. Three different Legend players lit the lamp (Vincent Villnoti, Sean Beatly and Michael Napoli) to no avail.
Legend Elite
The Elite Legends traveled for a game against the New England Insanity Elites without the services of five players (including goalie Kevin Hammerslag, who is on the injured list). Veteran Keith DiPrima made his 2012/2013 Elite debut between the pipes, stopping 16 shots and preserving an early lead.
Jim Tamburino got the Legends on the board quickly into the match, converting on a 3-on-2 (Joe Mazzie and Frank Florio assisting). Midway through the frame, Brian Yohe fed Shawn Hrock for a 2-0 Legends lead. Mazzie made it 3-0 just 30 seconds later with a wrist shot from the slot, under the crossbar (assisted by DiPrima and Tamburino). Mazzie converted a Florio pass with 3:50 left and after NE broke DiPrima’s shutout, he answered back with his third goal of the game (assisted by Michael Rotola and Florio), setting a team record for the fastest 3 goals of a player (5:11). The period ended with the Legend Elites on top 5-1.
The Insanity outscored the Legends in the final period, as New England took advantage of a few miscues and giveaways as the Legends were offense-happy-not to Coach Ritchie’s liking.
In fact, the Insanity stormed back to make it a 5-4 game with four minutes left.
While New England was called for a delayed penalty with a minute and a half on the clock, the Legends controlled and Jeff Kotcher rifled a shot from the high slot into the net (assisted by Yohe) to give the Legends a two-goal lead with 53 seconds left.
New England pulled their goalie in favor of the extra skater in the final minute, but Florio (one goal, three assists) wristed the puck the length of the ice for a bulls-eye empty netter to ice the win.
The Legend Elites completed their sweep over the New England Insanity with a 5-3 win in the nightcap, making the trip back home from Rhode Island a bit more enjoyable than the Minor Legends.
This game was a bit different than the game before, as it the Legend Elites did not mount a commanding lead.
Mazzie lit the lamp three minutes in for his 17th of the year as he followed up a shot off the backboards. (assisted by Tamburino and Florio). Hrock gave the Legend Elites a 2-0 lead with his ninth tally of the year after ripping a one-timer off a pretty Danny DiIorio pass while the Legends were on a power play. The period ended that way.
Kotcher’s shot from the slot, assisted by Yohe with 10 minutes left in the period, gave the Legend Elites a 3-0 lead. With under five minutes left in the game, the Insanity came alive, taking advantage of a Legend giveaway in the neutral zone and theyconvertedona2on1,breaking Occhicone’s shut out bid.
They tallied a power play goal two minutes later cutting the Legends lead to a goal. A minute later Rotola converted a give-and-go and the Legends led by two again.
The Insanity pulled their goalie in favor of the extra skater and Mazzie stripped a New England player of the puck along the boards and streaked in on an open net for his 18th of the season. Mazzie had a 3-point game, extending his point streak to 12 games, and registered his 31st point of the season.
New England scored with 0:02 left in the game to close out the scoring, but the game was out of reach.
