July 29, 2007 - On hearing the story of the post game celebration with parents and fans swarming the field, surrounding the athletes as they jumped
up and down, hugging and jumping into a large pile in celebration
of their overtime victory, one would think that the description
was of Long Island after finishing their final game of the 2007
Empire State Games winning the gold medal for the 14th time, but
you would be in error.
Hudson Valley, in a game that was only for pride, defeated previously
undefeated gold medal winner Long Island, in overtime, 10-9. Hudson
Valley fought back from a 3-0 deficit to a 9-7 lead and eventually
to the overtime-sudden victory goal by Scott Morell with 0:55 remaining
in the first overtime. Long Island won the gold medal after defeating
Central on Saturday.
The first quarter saw seven goals between the two teams. Long Island
scored the first three with two goals from Francis McDonough and
one from Sean Rogers. Hudson Valley’s first goal came from
Rocky Bonitatibus on a low bounce shot from a sweep from left to
right. One minute later Long Island scored their fourth when Matthew
Cannone ran straight in and shot off-stick hip. Scott Morell and
Bonitatibus scored the next two goals for Hudson Valley and brought
their team to within one at the start of the second quarter.
Six more goals were scored before the half with Long Island and
Hudson Valley alternating the scoring. Brian Smalley starting the
scoring, followed by Bontatibus who scored his third. After Jeff
Cohen scored his first, John Froat (assisted by James Garry) was
there to bring the game back to one again. Anthony Biscardi’s
goal assisted by Palasek was a cross-crease pass, while Joe Marasco’s
was a drive from behind where he was pushed into the crease and
scored while falling. After two quarters Hudson Valley still were
fighting strong and not giving up.
The third quarter was all Hudson Valley as they scored both the
tying goal and then the go ahead goal. Marasco scored the tying
goal on a fast-break while Kevin Gordon scored the first of his
two in a row with an assist from Scott Morell. With the third quarter
coming to a close, Hudson Valley had taken a one-goal lead going
into the last 11 minutes.
Gordon scored his second 0:55 into the quarter. Connor English scored
from a pass by Brian Smalley and Jeff Cohen (from Matthew Gibson)
scored with 4:29 left for the tie at 9-9. The game continued scoreless
until regulation expired. With 0:02 left on the clock Hudson Valley’s
Tyler Granelli received the ball on the crease and got off a point
blank shot on Long Island goalie John Carroll, who came across the
cage for an amazing high to low save. Carroll finished the game
with 5 save and 4 goals against (56%).
Hudson Valley won the face-off in overtime and took the ball down
to their offensive end. They took two shots wide of the net, but
they were backed up. On the third missed shot Long Island gained
possession of the ball (out of bounds). Long Island cleared the
ball, but Chris Coppolecchia intercepted the ball and ran back up
the field to give Hudson Valley one more chance, and it was all
that they would need. Tyler Granelli fed the ball from behind the
cage to Morell who scored the sudden victory goal to start “the
Valley” celebration. Carroll fell to the ground and was consoled
by his teammates after this heartbreaking loss.
Both team played exceptionally well and the game was a fine way
to end the tournament, with a reminder that they games are about
the play and the game and not so much about the medals.
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