States 2017 SLC/BEEKMANTOWN Surge of power play goals sparks SLC hockey into state Division II final

2017 BUFFALO - Before the St. Lawrence Central hockey team took to the ice against Section 7 champion Beekmantown Central in the semifinals of the NYSPHSAA Division II playoffs on Saturday, coach Mickey Locke predicted that special teams would play a big part of the game. He couldn’t have been more right. “Wasn’t that amazing,” said Locke after the Larries scored four power plays en route to blanking the Eagles 6-0 at the HarborCenter Arena on Saturday and advancing to the state final where they will take on Secton 1 champion Pelham in a matchup of the first and second ranked teams this afternoon at noon. Pelham earned its bid to the final by blanking Section 5 champion Brockport by the same 6-0 margin in the first semifinal of the day. After trading sporadic chances through the first nine minutes, the Larries began turning the game in their favor when a Beekmantown player was whistled for a four-minute major penalty for a hit from behind with 5:25 left in the opening frame. They got the ensuing power play off to a tentative start but wound up being very effective when junior Andrew Lantry twice finished off plays set up by classmate Trent Dow and sophomore Peyton Felix just 44 seconds apart to spark the Larries to a what proved to be a decisive 2-0 lead. “We knew we had four minutes to work with and we didn’t look very good on the power play through the first minute and a-half or so. From there, we regrouped to score two goals and I thought that set the tempo for the rest of the game,” Locke noted after his team improved to 22-2-1 with its 22nd win in 23 games. From there, the Larries went on to produce two more power play goals in the second period, the second by senior Luke Collins that triggered a three-goal performance and helped sealed the win. “It feels pretty rewarding but was a total team effort but it wasn’t about my getting points today,” the senior captain acknowledged after a four-point effort in his second career state tournament game. “This was another big win for us but we know we’re going to have to bring our A-game tomorrow, plus more.” Lantry got the only goal SLC would need at the 12:08 mark when he took a centering pass from Dow at the left of the crease then drew senior netminder Cole Harvey out of position and slid the puck in the open left side of the goal. His second goal was scored in similar fashion after quick feed across the slow from the left by Dow with 2:08 left in the period. The Larries opened the second period on the man advantage and quickly built on their 2-0 lead just 1:02 into the middle frame when senior Jack Pullano converted from close range through a scramble with assists going to Collins and junior Zach St. Hilaire. Just over three minutes later, Collins pushed the lead to 4-0 with quick shot from the right face-off circle that just managed to slide across the goalline after being slowed by Harvey. Collins then closed out the second-period surge at the 10:28 mark assisted by junior Drew Rose before completing his hattrick with an unassisted goal off a turnover deep in the Beekmantown zone at 8:24 of the third. Sophomore Rico DiMatteo, who made is best stops late in the first period when the Larries survived a late Beekmantown power play, finished with 20 saves in posting the shutout while Harvey turned aside 25 of the shots he faced for the Eagles, who finished at 13-11-1 and advanced to the state semis for the third straight year after winning 10 of their last 13 games. “The story of the game was their power play goals,” noted Beekmantown coach Justin Frechette. “I thought we were getting some good offensive chances but we just couldn’t finish. We aren’t the deepest team and getting the penalties really threw us off.” “I’m proud of the guys. They battled adversity all year but we really pulled together as a team and worked hard to get where we were,” he added.