2019 NN/Webster Thomas Division II hockey playoff

NORFOLK - A dominant second period carried Webster Thomas past Norwood-Norfolk Central and into the NYSPHSAA Division II hockey semifinals on Saturday at the Dominic Zappia Arena. After skating to a 1-1 draw through the opening 15 minutes of play, the Section 5 champion Titans (18-4-2) outshot the Icemen 15-3 in the middle frame en route to generating three unanswered goals and coming away with a 4-1 win over the Icemen. “They came out and played really hard. They were able to get their forecheck established in the first period and that gave us problems,” said Webster Thomas coach David Evans after his squad earned a trip to the state final four in Buffalo next weekend where they will pursue their seventh championship overall and first since 2008. “We made some adjustments in the second period where basically we just made better decisions and made better plays. Once we got used to the enviroment and settled down, we were able to use our speed and put pressure on them for a lot of the game,” he added. “This was a good test for us to pass.” For the Icemen, the loss brought to end the first championship season in five years and extended a state semifinal drought to 34. “We came out and had a solid first period but after we got the first goal against them, I thought they started to get things going. Then in the second period, we sort of fell apart,” noted coach Doug LaVigne, who guided the Icemen (15-7-1) to both the NAC regular season and Section 10 championships in his second year at the helm. “This was the first time here in this situtaion for our guys and I think our nerves showed tonight.” “Give Webster Thomas credit. They were speedy and they are well-coached,” he added. “They were as good a team as we faced and as quick a team as we faced all season.” The Icemen got off to a promising start in Saturday’s quarterfinal round matchup after junior Bodie Molnar took a lead pass up the right side from sophomore linemate Bobby Voss, raced up the wing then snapped a shot from inside the blueline into the top right corner just 5:16 into the game. The Titans countered at the 7:58 mark after sophomore Cade Spencer finished off a play set up by classmates Cullen Hennessy and Zach Wolfe. Junior Kevin Galabski struck for the eventual game-winner 4:12 into the second period assisted by classmate Reed Currie and Hennessy. Wolfe then struck for back-to-back goals, pushing the lead to 3-1 at the 9:25 mark assisted by Hennessy before putting the game out of reach with an unassisted tally just over three minutes later. “Giving up that fourth goal late was tough,” noted LaVigne. After allowing the early goal, senior Cody Rougeux wound up turning aside the other shots he faced in posting 17 saves for the win while sophomore Thomas Cafarella finished with 33 stops for N-N. Webster Thomas will now get set to take on Section 3 champion Skaneateles in the semifinals next Saturday at 11:45 a.m. at the HarborCenter in Buffalo. Skaneateles blanked Section 6 champion Grand Island 4-0 in another quarterfinal game played Saturday.