Hockey Wins Shootout, Advances to Empire Cup Final

Brunswick and Trinity-Pawling skated to a 3-3 tie in the opening round of the Empire Cup at Tirrell Rink on Friday night. Following a scoreless overtime, Brunswick’s Nick VanBelle netted the lone goal of the shootout, sending the Bruins on to the finals. Brunswick will play Millbrook for the 2017 Empire Cup at 6:30 p.m. at Millbrook on Saturday.

 

The Bruins (15-9-5) jumped to a quick 2-0 lead in the first period.

 

Following a goal by Brunswick’s Jack Forrest (7^th goal) in the opening minute of play, the Bruins tacked on a power-play goal roughly six minutes later. Nick Boardman notched his fifth goal of the year, with assists from VanBelle (21^st) and Patrick Burkishaw (6^th).

 

The Pride evened the score in the second period with a pair of goals before taking a 3-2 lead in the third.

 

Leading by a goal just past the midpoint of the third period, Trinity-Pawling collected a pair of penalties, including one five-minute major, giving the visiting Bruins a 5-on-3 power-play opportunity.

 

Brunswick capitalized on the two-man advantage, as VanBelle netted the equalizer, his 21^st of the season.

 

In a 3-3 game at the end of regulation, the two teams played a scoreless five-minute overtime session.

 

Needing to determine a winner to advance in the tournament, the teams prepared for a three-round shootout.

 

Trinity-Pawling opened the action on offense, but Brunswick goalie Strauss Mann stymied the T-P shooter and did not allow a clean shot on goal. In the Bruins’ frame, the visitors also came up empty.

 

In the second round, Mann turned back another Pride attempt, as Brunswick countered with VanBelle’s decisive tally to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead in the shootout heading into the third and final round.

 

In the last frame, Mann was up to the task. The Brunswick goalie slid to his right, matching the approaching angle of the T-P shooter. Mann shut down any scoring chance on the play, making his third stop of the shootout and ending the contest.

 

Brunswick       2 0 1 0 = 3       15-9-5

T-P                  0 2 1 0 = 3        5-16-3

 

1st

(B) Jack Forrest                                                                                  1:00

(B) Nick Boardman (Nick VanBelle, Patrick Burkinshaw)    5X4     7:00

3rd

(B) Nick VanBelle (Charles Shaffer)                                      5X3     12:00

 

(B) Strauss Mann (59:00) 37 saves, 3 goals allowed