Greece 5, West Genesee 2 (State Semifinal - Utica Aud)

Greece 5, West Genesee 2
From D&C:

UTICA — Sophomore winger J.T. Stenglein scored three goals just 3:55 into the first period and led Greece Athena/Odyssey to a 5-2 victory over West Genesee in the semfinals of the New York State Public High School Athletic Association hockey tournament this evening.

The Thunder are now one win away from becoming just the second team to go unbeaten en route to a state championship.

Athena/Odyssey (26-0) plays Mamaroneck (26-2-1) at 3:30 p.m. today in the title game. Mamaroneck of Section I breezed past Section VI champ Niagara Wheatfield, 7-2.

Riley Bourbonnais scored the fourth goal for the Thunder, then assisted on Greg Ryan’s goal that extended the lead to 5-2 at 5:05 of the third period.

West Genesee (22-4-2) used the power play to open 1-0 and 2-1 leads in the first 6:18, but Stenglein retaliated each time.

He scored an unassisted short-handed goal at 5:46, connected on the power play at 8:05, then gave the Thunder their first lead at 9:41 when his pass or shot from behind the net hit a skate and caromed past goalie Evan Mazzoni.

WES VYVERBERG REPORTS:

The music was bumpin' loud at the Utica Memorial Auditorium, where it was the West Genesee Wildcats home in yellow and your very own Greece Athena/Odyssey Thunder visiting in their Saturday best black/purple&gold, both vying for a NYSPHSAA Championship berth in the Division I Semifinals. West Genny broke the seal early (2.44 into the game) putting away a rebound with four seconds to go in their first man advantage. Three minutes later, Greece was back in the box but it was Thunder's turn to tally. Enter JT Stenglein with the authoritative shortie, after a solid forecheck, picking the Wildcat D-man's pocket behind the net, walking out to the edge of the circle and firing a wrister over the goalie's shoulder to even things up at one apiece. West Genny answered back thirty seconds later cashing in on their second powerplay of the game with a blast from the point that found its way through traffic and into the back of the Thunder net, 2-1 Wildcats. A minute later West Genny took their first trip to the box for a hold and it was time for that #1 powerplay in the state (according to VJ Stanley) to go to work. After a few trips around the horn Sofia took a low shot from the left side that caromed into the right corner. Stenglein gathered the puck hooking it out to Bourbonnais at the top of the diamond and then Rilez wound up a low slapper, that was deflected by Gunderson (or perhaps Ryan) past the Wildcats keeper for the equalizer.

Ninety-six seconds later Stenglein notched the go-ahead goal for the Thunder and the men in black never looked back. The play originated with Vyper picking up the loose puck on a face-off deep in Thunder territory and fanning it out to Mike Briganti who was breaking wide right. Briganti carried it through neutral and got it deep for Matty Lane who was making a b-line to the goal line. Lane beat his check to the biscuit, curled to the boards and cycled it back down low for Stenglein. JT put his wizard cap on and pitched it out front, banking it off the back of the goaltenders stick, between his legs, and into the back of the net for the eventual winner. This trick had a 3.2 level of difficulty, putting it up there with the "combination hair flip with a giggle" move from About Last Night and the Triple Lindy from Back to School. Bourbonnais put on a magic show of his own with two minutes to go in the opening frame as he took a rink wide feed from Scotty Tam-Grimshaw, started down the right side of neutral, read the traffic at the border and cut across the grain, eventually entering the zone on the left side. After deking the first defenseman out of his jock and using the second defenseman as a screen, Bourbonnais rifled a shot that went in low/stick side to light the lamp. And that about brings the whirlwind, wide-open first period to a close, with Thunder ahead 4-2.

The scoreless second period featured solid forechecking, some big saves and several crucial kills for the Thunder. West Genny opened with a 56 second man advantage which carried over from a minor cross-check at the end of the first frame. This time the Wildcats were denied. Briganti led the charge taking it to West Genny in the early going, while both Lane and Ryan generated quality scoring chances of their own. Bonis came up big everytime he was called upon, making 13 saves in the second period alone and thwarting numerous West Genny rushes by poke checking the puck away. Midway through the period, the third line of Grills, McNeil, and Briganti made their mark with a couple of strong shifts. McCubbin logged a monster shift as well with a nice keep at the blue line and then later took a drop at the point from Ryan, teeing up a slapper that hit the Wildcat keeper's waffle and went straight up in the air, landing just outside the crease and creating a frenzy, before the goalie held on for a whistle with 5:30 to go. A minute later West Genny was on the attack and Bourbonnais came flying out of nowhere to catch the puck carrier. It was a nice effort but Riley ended up going to the box with a minor cross-check (weak call). JT made a nice clear after outworking his man in the corner on the PK. Then Vyper intercepted a dump-in and went on a little walkabout into the Wildcats end that concluded with a shot on goal and a whistle. Cubbi was back in action breaking up a late rush and holding down the fort in front of the net. The period closed the way it opened, with another kill for Thunder, as Riley returned to the box, this time for a trip, with 58 seconds to go. Vypes, Hebs, JT, and Cheese put up a wall, denying the Wildcats entry to the thunder zone as the second period expired.

Greg and Pat relieved JT and Cheese up front, as they killed off the remaining 32 seconds of Bourb's minor to set the tone in the third. JT went end-end and slid one across the top of the paint for another QSC, but could not connect the dots. A while later when the puck got rimmed in Thunder's end, Cheese crushed his check on the hash marks to get the puck out.  Then Greg went flying up ice into West Genny territory, puck in tow, but he got tied up at the circle, and as the puck squirted out towards the blue line, Riley was on the scene to gather it. Despite the instant pressure and the fact that he got kneed, Riley kept driving to the high slot where he would eventually crank a shot. Ryan got wood on it before it trickled in 5-hole for Thunder's fifth and final goal. But the game was far from over, with ten minutes and a few more penalty kills to go, e.g. Hebs with a high stick, Sah-Fee-Yuh with unsportsmanlike and a hold. Throw in coincidental roughs and an interference call on the Wildcats and we were 4v4 for the final minute of play. The "i believe that we have won" chant ensued as E-hoss and Sherry took the ice for the final shift of the game. It ended a 5-2 victory for the Thunder advancing them on to the Division I Title game on Sunday. I am pretty confident there was a yeah Thun-Derrrrrrrrrrrr in there somewhere!

First star of the game honors go to JT Stenglein with 2G/1A for 3pts, including a shortie and the winner. Second star goes to Riley Bourbonnais with 1G/2A for 3 points. Third star goes to Parker Bonis with 30 saves for his 16th win on the season. Hats off to the Wildcats for a hard fought battle. They actually outshot thunder by a margin of 32-19, which is a feat that only one other Thunder opponent accomplished this season (AQ-23, GT-22 on 22-Nov). The highlight of the day for me, however, was hearing them announce Pat "Sah-Fee-Yuh" at the post game ceremony as recipient of the Sportsmanship Award, when he was assessed an unsportsmanlike minor during the game. Still scratching my head on that one!