By David Dell
BINGHAMTON, NY- With both teams fighting for a win Sunday to advance to the Commissioner’s Cup finals, Port Huron came up short.
The Prowlers who shut out the Black Bears Friday night at home, was shut out Saturday on the road, forcing a winner take all showdown Sunday in the best of three semifinals round. Both road trips saw Binghamton extend their record of keeping the visitors off the scoreboard during the season’s playoff phase. Saturday Port Huron was shut out 4-0. Sunday they were shut out 6-0
The first period again didn’t start the way the Prowlers would have liked. At 2:13 Dan Weiber, the center of a controversial move post-game Friday beat Reid Cooper for the first score of the game. 23 seconds later at 2:36, Don Olivieri doubled the score 2-0. Both goals coming even strength. Tucker Scantlebury and C.J. Stubbs tangled with minors for Slashing and High-Sticking assessed respectively and Scantlebury also receiving a major Fighting and Misconduct for Continuing an Altercation after Black Bears’ Blake Tosco jumped him. Tosco received just a Fighting penalty. Daniel Stone put up goal number three for Binghamton at 8:34. Port Huron, who only managed two shots on goal in the first on Saturday tallied 7 to Binghamton’s 18.
Tyson Kirkby stretched the lead to four goals at 5:49 of the second and Bryan Parsons was immediately tagged with a 10-minute Unsportsmanlike Misconduct penalty. Several Roughing, holding calls were made on both teams before Gavin Yates sank the puck for a 5-0 lead at 18:50 and drew a misconduct for Inciting an Opponent. Shots on goal still favored the Black Bears but they were much more even at 11-8 than any time in the prior 100 minutes of play.
Just past the midway mark, Scantlebury, Weiber, and Tosco would head to the locker rooms with 10-minute Misconducts for Unsportsmanlike Conduct. With just three seconds remaining, Donald Olivieri stole a pass and hit the empty net with a slapshot from deep in the slot, violating an unwritten good sportsman rule which drew an Unsportsmanlike Conduct misconduct, followed by teammate Jesse Anderson, and Prowlers’ Timothy Organ and Adam Heinzl all receiving Misconducts for Inciting an Opponent. An 18-shot period for Port Huron gave them a 33-39 total for the game but the loss sends them home instead of onto the Cup finals.
Prowlers’ Broadcaster Will Wiegelman spent over five minutes thanking the Coaches Matt Graham, Alex Johnson, Chris Paulin, Trainer Bridget Smith, Game Day Operations manager Amber Graham, Jim McFee DJ, Announcer Austin Dunn, Photographer David Dell of Delta Imaging Photography, the Off-Ice Officials, McMorran Staff and the team for their continued support throughout the season.
The Prowlers play in the Empire Division of the Federal Prospects Hockey League, now in its’ 15th year.
