by The Avon Lake Shoremen and Kent Roosevelt Roughriders faced off in the semifinals of the White Division of the Baron Cup Tournament. After struggling to get on the board early, the Shoremen erupted for 4 goals in the third period to capture a 4-2 win and move on to the championship game.
The first period did not feature a lot of great scoring opportunities. Neither team was able to find the back of the net. An Avon Lake penalty by Cole Gresko near the end of the first allowed Kent Roosevelt to begin the second period with a power play.
Just 13 seconds into the period, another Shoremen penalty gave the Roughriders a 2-man advantage. Teddy Maccarone capitalized on that with a goal to put the Roughriders in front 1-0. Despite the Shoremen outshooting the Roughriders 12-9 in the second period, they were still unable to get on the scoreboard.
The third period was a different story for Avon Lake. Otto Mahnke tied the game up at 1 with 11:36 left in the game. Less than a minute later, Nate LePrevost scored to give the Shoremen the lead. The Roughriders fought back to even the game 2-2 on a goal by Avery Stauffer with 7:39 to go.
The game remain tied until Ryan Gibel found the back of the net to put the Shoremen up 3-2 with 2:01 remaining. An empty net goal by LePrevost in the final minute sealed the victory for Avon Lake. The Shoremen advance to play in the White Division Championship of the Baron Cup on Saturday.
Player of the Game:
Ryan Gibel: 1 G, 1 A
