Rolling To Doubleheader Victory Over ‘Terror’
It was a good evening for the Empire State Legends, Mar. 23. The club’s Elite and Minor teams scored big wins against rivals the NY Terror. The Elites came out two up, and the Minors broke even with one loss and one win against the Terror.
Game 1 – Empire State Legends Elites
The Legend Elites sealed the first win of this doubleheader with a score of 3-1 at the buzzer.
The match-up was more than a meeting between two rivals-half the Legends, including Head Coach Rich Ritchie, were part of the NY Terror organization last season.
Playing against old friends on a familiar rink with familiar fans in the stands made the situation far from comfortable. The National Anthem was played and the game one went off without a hitch.
The NY Terror Elites drew first blood four minutes in as Occhicone got beat down low on a passing play. But the goalie made good, stopping a two-on-zero break at the goalmouth with under three minutes left in the period. That save sparked the Legend Elites as Shawn Hrock (Cafferty) converted a pass after a Terror giveaway at center ice with 24 seconds in the period. The game was knotted at 1-1.
The Legend Elites dominated the second period. Dan DiIorio, who had 27 goals in 34 games last season with the Terror, finally broke his “2013 goose egg” eight-game drought, with a wrister from the left faceoff circle (Tamburino, Florio) 1:50 into the period.
The goal brought the Legend Elites to a 2-1 lead. DiIorio would add his second of the game-and season-four minutes later. His shot from the low slot (Tamburino, Florio) gave the Legends Elite a twogoal cushion.
Coach Ritchie instructed his team to play a clock-control game the rest of the way, and the NY Terror Elites did not get many chances after that.
Matt Miano, who was missing from the lineup the past few games, returned to the back line and played stellar defense.
The win inched the Legends Elites closer to a playoff berth, but a game-two win, would seal the verdict for the Legends Elites and have the Terror hanging by a string.
Game 2 – Empire State
Legend Elites
Game 2 was everything is should have been with so much at stake.
Joseph Mazzie’s 24th goal of the season, propelled the Elite Legends to a playoff berth in their first year and left his former team, the NY Terror Elites, with slimmer hopes for a playoff appearance as the regular season winds down
The Legends took an early, 1-0 lead with a goal from Cafferty (Tamburino), bringing his season total to seven.
Two minutes later, a Mazzie slap shot from the “hot zone” (Mike Rotola, James Turburino) gave the Legend Elites a 2-0 lead, and that’s how the period ended.
With everything on the line, the NY Terror Elites came out flying in the second period. Having killed off a Legend power play opportunity earlier, they came to life and scored twice within a minute and a half to tie the game at 2-2.
The next 11 minutes were a “tennis match” as both teams went endto end and goalies made save after save.
Then it happened. With 2:13 left in regulation time, the Legend Elites were called for a hooking penalty. This was a golden opportunity for the NY Terror to earn a come-frombehind win, right? Wrong.
The Legend Elites killed off the penalty, and Brian Yohe jumped from the box with 14 seconds. He fed Mazzie a breakaway pass. Mazzie shot wide but Jeff Kotcher went behind the Terror net, passed the puck to Mazzie in front, and this time, he buried it with seven seconds left in the game, propelling the Legend Elites to a 3-2 win.
The victory assured the Legends a playoff berth and has made it a bit tougher for the Terror to say the same, though they still have a chance.
By sweeping the Terror Elites, the Legends took the season series four games to none.
Editor’s note: Coverage of the minors’ doubleheader will be featured in next week’s Times Newsweekly.
