Sunday - Long Island - Five in a Row

July 25, 2010 - Adirondack looked stronger today than yesterday in their game against Western who stepped up the challenge of playing ADK back-to-back and defeated them for the second time in 24 hours, 13-7. Long Island came back from an 8-7 overtime loss to Central two days ago to defeat them 7-6.

Long Island earned their 16th Gold Medal and 5th straight Gold Medal. They have been in the Gold Medal game the last nine times. Central finished with their 10th Silver Medal and 3rd straight Silver Medal. Central has been in the Gold Medal game eight out of the last nine times. Western finished with their 12th Bronze Medal and their first Medal of any kind since 2007 where they won a Bronze.

Standout performances in today's games came from Jordan Frysinger of Western, Nick Doktor of Western, Zach Reed of Western, Tyler White of Central, Brandon Gamblin of Long Island and Kyle Keenan of Long Island. Frysinger finished with 1g-4a, a tournament leading 13 ground balls in one game and 15/19 at the face-off draw (14/14 non-technical). Doktor finished with 3g-2a and Reed finished with 4g. White finished with 16 saves (70%) for Central. Gamblin (4g) and Keenan (1g-4a) were major players in Long Island winning the Gold Medal.

Check back later in the week for the wrap-up report of the 2010 Empire State Games. SportsFive will look over the stats and summaries and come back with a report of the games highlights.

 

 

 --  Western won their first Medal since receiving the Bronze Medal in the 2007 games. Western defeated Adirondack 13-7 after breaking ahead in the second half. Jordan Frysinger was the standout for Western. He finished with 1g-4a, 13 ground balls and 15/19 at the face-off draw (including 14/14 in non-technical face-offs). He also picked up 13 ground balls, the most by a single player in any game of the tournament. Other significant performances for Western included Nick Doktor (3g-2a) and Zach Reed (4g). For Adirondack, Tim Coll finished with 2g and Tristian Sperry finished with 1g-1a. Overall, Adirondack played much better in their game today then yesterday. Although Western came out on top for both games, today's Medal game was a much closer contest.

Western's Zach Reed scored the opening goal with an assist from outside by Drew Hays. Reed faked high and finished the shot at the goalies feet. His goal put Western into the lead and they never lost it and although Adirondack kept the game close they could never get a tying goal. Western added a second goal after a dead ball drive by Doktor. Doktor drove to the right side of the crease and hit Mike Messina for the goal. Adirondack scored their first goal when Coll drove all the way around the back of the cage and put the ball into the net. Western's goalie, Alex Govenettio finished with six saves. Western added one more goal before the completion of the first quarter. Frysinger added his lone goal of the game with a drive from behind the cage after a dead ball restart. The first quarter ended with Western leading 3-1.

Each team added two goals in the second quarter. Western scored first with Doktor driving from behind the cage and scoring on the inside goal post against Adirondack goalie Bob Wardwell. Wardwell finished with 10 saves in the Bronze Medal game. For the tournament, he finished with 62 saves (53%). Adirondack scored the next goal when Coll drove from behind for his second score of the game. Reed cut from behind the cage and received the ball from Doktor for the fifth goal of the game for Western. With 3:44 remaining in the first half, Western led 5-2. Adirondack adds the last goal of the half with a sweep by Brian Schalnsker. Western led 5-3 going into halftime.

In the third quarter, Western increased their lead by one goal. Adirondack scored the first goal to bring the game to its closest point (one goal). Jimmy O'Brien drove straight from the top of the restraining line for the score. Western came back and scored 0:07 later. Frysinger picked up his own ground ball at the face-off and passed to Reed on the crease. Reed put the ball into the net with a behind the back shot. It was eight minutes before the next Western goal. Western's Derek DeJoe added his only goal of the game with a feed from behind the cage from Frysinger. DeJoe took the second most shots on the Western team (8 shots - 3 on cage - 1 goal). Reed finished with the most shots of any player in a single game with 13 shots (7 on cage - 4 goals). Adirondack's Chris Breiner scored with a drive from behind the cage with 1:10 remaining in the third quarter. With 0:09 remaining Reed added his fourth and final goal of the game (and 9th goal of the tournament). Western led 8-5 after three quarters.

In the fourth quarter Adirondack scored the opening goal when Troy Gargiulo fed the ball to Tristian Sperry. Sperry caught the ball on the crease, faked low and finished high. Reed fired the ball at Wardwell with just over seven minute remaining in the game and Wardwell came up with the save, but could not control the ball. Klay Heston scooped up the loose ball and as he turned to shoot, Wardwell came out to try and stop him. Heston spun past the keeper and scored a high shot against the defenseman between the pipes. Frysinger got his second face-off fast-break after once again picking up his own ground ball. Frysinger had more face-off ground balls in a single game than any other player in the tournament. This time Frysinger passed the ball to Doktor for the goal. Adirondack's final goal was scored by Alex D'Amario and assisted by Tristian Sperry. Western scored the final three goals of the game beginning with Drew Hays dodging from the top of the restraining line. The final two goals were both scored against an open net. Adirondack pulled their goalie to attempt to double the ball behind as Western stalled for the final four minutes. Western's Ryan Yunker and Doktor took advantage of the situation to add to the Western score at 2:32 and 0:59.

 For a more complete look check out the full statistics.

 

 

 

 --  Long Island won their fifth straight Gold Medal with a 7-6 win over Central. Central has won Silver three years in a row and four out of the last five years. Although Central defeated Long Island 8-7 in OT earlier in the games, Long Island came to play today and walked off with another Gold Medal. The game was close for its entirety and was tied three times and within one goal or less for 40 minutes. Long Island's Kyle Keenan led in scoring with 1g-4a. Brandon Gamblin added 4g (with three being assisted by Keenan). James Pannell added another 1g-1a and Tom Gordon added 1g. Long Island, for the first time in the tournament had trouble with the draw. Jake Froccaro finished at 47% (8/17).

Central played a strong game but they could not capitalize when it came down to the end game. Tim Edwards finished with 62% at the face off (8/13). Goalie Tyler White had an outstanding game and finished with 16 saves (70%). Central had trouble hitting the cage with only 48% of their shots landing on cage (33 shots - 16 on cage) and In the second quarter, Central missed the cage on eight straight shots before scoring on the ninth.

Central scored the first goal of the contest to take the early lead. Thomas Grimm scored his third goal of the tournament on a drive from the top and side-arm shot past Long Island goalie Zach Oliveri. Long Island tied the game five minute later with the first of three goals that were scored by Brandon Gamblin and assisted by Kyle Keenan. The goal began with a shot from Alex Hatem. Hatem's shot was stopped by Oliveri but Keenan stripped the ball and after picking up the ground ball, found Gamblin open on the crease. Long Island took their first lead of the game 42 seconds later when Pannell drove from behind the cage and dumped the ball off to Keenan on the crease. Keenan finished into the back of the net with a high bounce shot. Pannell and Keenan are both from Smithtown West. Long Island won the ensuing face-off but White came up with a save and Central cleared the ball down the field for one more shot at the cage. After a saved shot from Connor Ferrito, Central retained the ball on the left side. Ari Waffle started with the dead ball for Central and drove straight along the goal line extended and scored as he was pushed into the crease. The score ended 2-2 after the first quarter.

The opening of the second quarter was slow and went back and forth for over ten minutes with neither team scoring. Central continued to miss shots not putting a shot on cage until their first goal at 1:14. Long Island took six shots with two saves from White. Central's Riley Lasda drove from the outside and after beating three men put the shot into the upper left corner of the goal to give Central back the lead. Central scored again 0:31 later. Tim Edwards picked up his own ground ball off the face-off and ran behind the cage. As he came around to the front he hit Hatem across the crease for the goal. Central led 4-2 at halftime.

In the third quarter Long Island picked up the pace, scoring three goals while holding Central scoreless. They took the lead back with 1:37 remaining in the third quarter and this was all the window that they needed as they held off the Central advances for the remainder of the game. Central's Pannell scored unassisted with a drive from the top of the restraining line for their first goal of the third quarter. Keenan added his second assist to Tom Gordon with a feed from behind the cage with 4:01 remaining. The final goal of the third quarter was scored unassisted by Gamblin. Gamblin scored his 16th goal of the tournament with a side-arm outside shot. Long Island led 5-4 after three quarters.

Each team added two more goals in the final quarter. Long Island took a two goal lead with the 2nd Gamblin from Keenan goal. Gamblin drove across the right side of the crease and Keenan hit him right before he put a jump shot into the top corner. Central scored three minutes later to bring the game back within one goal. Defenseman Matt Koop cleared the ball over the midfield line and looked up field to Ari Waffle. Waffle was uncovered on the left crease when he received the ball from Koop. Waffle fired on the goal and Oliveri came up with a big save. Oliveri couldn't control the save after the stop and Waffle picked up his own ground ball and scored on a rebound. The third and final Gamblin-Keenan goal was scored by a crease feed from Keenan after he drove to the goal from the left goal line extended. Long Island led by two goals with 6:52 remaining in the game. Hatem scored his second goal of the game with a drive from the top of the restraining area and shot to the top corner.

Long Island led the ground ball battle 38-26. Attackmen Pannell and Kevin Wendel both added five ground balls to Long Island's tally. Jordan Stevens and Keenan both added four. For Central; White finished with four ground balls to lead his team. Austin Curtis, Tim Edwards and Derek Kehoe each added three ground balls for Central. Oliveri finished with ten saves for Long Island.

Don't miss the SportsFive wrap up article that will be available later this week.

 For a more complete look check out the full statistics.

 

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