July 25, 2008 - The fourth quarter was the deciding factor in the Hudson Valley vs Western game. Western won the first quarter 4-2 and held the two goal lead for three quarters.Valley scored four unanswered goals at the start the last quarter to take the lead away from Western and build their own two goal lead. Hudson Valley improved their record to 3-1 with their final round-robin game against Central tomorrow.
Western started with the first three goals of the game with Adam Trombley feeding the ball from behind the cage to Drew Coholan cutting at GLE. Nick Scalzo scored the next two goals for Western. His first goal was on a feed from Jeff Tundo from the top to left side GLE and the second was a one-on-one dodge from the left. Western led 3-0 until 2:52 remaining in the first quarter when Valley scored their first goal. Connor Brown scored on a slow break and found his way to the crease. Scalzo then tried his hand at feeding as he hit Trombley on the crease for the fourth Western goal. The final goal of the quarter was scored by Valley. Joe Marasco attempted to drive from behind the cage, but is turned back repeatedly by Clay Del Prince; however, Marasco stepped back (as if to try and drive again) but instead with his open space hit a cutting Shawn Honovich. The first quarter ended 4-2.
The next two quarters saw the game continuously tied. Western scored the first two goals of the second quarter. Coholan added his second with a drive and dodge from the left side followed by an EMO goal by Scalzo and assisted by Keefer. Western, with 5:03 remaining in the half, led 6-2 with the game apparently under control. However, much like in their Long Island game, the Hudson Valley team never gave up and always kept up the pressure. The coaches at Valley did not give up and keep their players up regardless of the score.
Valley scored the last two goals of the half. Tyler Perrelle drove from right to left in a wrap around behind the cage and finished with a one-handed shot for the goal. Perrelle also took a hard hit, but jumped right back up and was ready to go. The final goal of the quarter was scored as William Steward sent a rocket to the upper corner. Steward finished with three goals in the game. At the Half, Western was sitting on a two goal lead.
In the third quarter each team scored one goal. First, Valley came within one with a slow break goal. The ball came down quickly and moved to the back of the cage where Perrelle hit Steward. With the score tied, Western`s Nick Scalzo caught the ball and after dropping his shoulder stepped around his defensemen and re-took the lead for Western by two.
Valley came within one with an amazing goal by Rob Santangelo who found Perrelle on the crease. As Perrelle caught the ball he was hit and falls down. On the fall backwards he released the ball toward the cage, which scored. Much like in the Long Island game, Valley never gave up and fought back until the end. Unlike the Long Island game however, Hudson Valley capitalized and came away with the win. The tying goal was scored by Stewart when he picked up the ground ball and drove, uncontested, towards the goal and put it away.
The go ahead goal was scored by Ranagan. He got the ball after the face-off and drove straight through the defense with power and conviction and determined to score the goal. Less than one minute later, Valley scored the two ahead goal (what would turn out to be the winning goal). Santangelo scored from the crease with an inside dodge after receiving the ball from behind the cage.
Instrumental in the loss was Western`s inability to get back into the game and refocus their efforts at the end of the game. Whereas Hudson Valley has fought back in two games (one successfully and one not), Western found it difficult to get themselves up at the end of the game. There were few cheers from the fans saying "we are not out of this" or "never give up" that were constantly echoed across the Valley bench when they were down.
Western scored one more goal when Kyle Van Thof passed the ball to Matt Springer who found the back of the net. However, Joe Marasco, the junior All American from Somers, added one more with 1:26 left in EMO with a drive from behind the cage.
Overall, Western only took 14 shots total, with 10 on cage and 8 goals. Valley took 28 shots, with 16 on cage and 10 goals.
Scott Tota played the entire game in the cage for Western and finished with 6s/10ga. Michael Bonitatibus and Luke Haggerty split time for Valley. Haggerty played the first half and made 2s/6ga, while Bonitatibus played the second half and was scored on twice with no saves.
Hudson Valley continued their face-off dominance, especially with Cole McCormack winning 14/19. Ranagan also won 3/3 for Valley.
McCormack led Valley with seven ground balls, followed by Honovich, Virtue, Litwak and Marasco with three each. Litwak also had two takes. For Western, Coholan and Ethan Murphy had three ground balls each.
Scoring for Hudson Valley were Steward (3g), Perrelle (2g-1a), Santangelo (1g-1a), Marasco (1g-1a), Ranagan (1g), Honovich (1g) and Brown (1g).
Scoring for Western were Scalzo (3g-1a), Coholan (2g), Trombley (1g-1a), Brian Scheetz (1g), Springer (1g), Keefer (1a), Tundo (1a), Van Thof (1a).
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