After their exciting 2-1 victory over the L.I. Rebels to win the Tier III LIAHL Championship, the Great Neck Bruins Bantams were playing their best hockey of the season going into the state tournament just outside Syracuse in Onondaga County.
They stepped on the ice at the Onondaga Nation Arena (also called “Tsha Hononnyen Daka” or “where they play games”) and ran straight into a buzzsaw.
The Batavia Ramparts eventually won the tournament. The Bruins fell behind early and trailed 7-1 after two periods – losing the game 10-2. There were some positives to build upon in that third period, as the Bruins began to match their opponent’s speed, started competing for and winning loose pucks and applied sustained pressure on the opponent’s goal.
They would need all of those qualities to be successful the rest of the way.
Game two was an early Saturday morning affair against the Cortland Flames. From the drop of the puck this was an even match-up of two determined teams.
The action flowed end-to-end with the Flames scoring first but the Bruins holding the edge in play. After the Cortland goal the Bruins (no strangers to playing from a goal down as it was their pattern all season) started rolling as all three forward lines began pressuring the Cortland net.
The equalizer was netted late in the second by Steven Cacchioli off a scrum in front and the Bruins had new life.
The third period had it all: power-plays, breakaway saves and big hits as each team traded scoring chances and threw everything at their opponent. The Bruins persevered.
The winning goal by Steven Cacchioli came off a gorgeous feed from Dagoberto Rodriguez. His tape-to-tape pass found Cacchioli darting in from the high slot and No. 22 finished the play going top-shelf, glove-side.
From there the defense stood tall with Ryan King showing why he was the Bruin’s best player in the tournament.
The Flames simply could not get by King and his partner Freddie Ondris for clean scoring chances as time and again they stopped odd-man rushes and broke-up passes coming into the defensive zone.
Couple the strong defensive-zone play with key saves from goaltender Emily Becker and the Bruins got their first tournament win 2-1.
Later that same day, the Bruins took on the Norfolk/Norwood Icemen in a game where the winning team would advance to thesSemifinals.
The two teams locked-up in a battle that was even for most of the opening period. The Icemen struck first and held their one goal advantage into the second.
The game was now being played predominantly in the Icemen’s zone with the Bruins pressing for the equalizer. The turning point came late in the second as Cacchioli was thwarted from point-blank range and the Icemen scored a controversial high-stick goal to extend their lead to two heading into the third.
With their backs against the wall, the Bruins scored twice, on a breakaway goal from Jordan Domnitch and a bang, bang goal from Cacchioli, but the Icemen also netted two to claim the semifinal berth 4-2.
While the season did not end with a win, they played every game to the final buzzer and lost only to the two teams that made it to the finals.
Even though they fell short of their goal, these Bruins played like champions and put together a great season, one we will remember for a long time.
