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Not Quite Enough

Raiders Eliminated By Eden/Lake Shore In Mini-Game At Northwest Arena

Above, Jamestown Raiders goalie Tommy Chapman makes a save during Friday’s Western New York High School Club Hockey League playoff action at Northwest Arena. P-J photo by Alex Shipherd

Through three periods of regulation play at Northwest Arena on Friday night, the Jamestown Raiders were plainly the better team in Game 2 of the Western New York High School Club Hockey League playoffs against Eden/Lake Shore.

Joe Gerace’s team was able to rebound from a Game 1 loss with a 4-1 victory on the back of a three-point performance by Jack Brinkley, forcing the series into a 10-minute mini-game to decide which team would advance.

After being outplayed for the better part of 51 minutes, it was the visitors who came away with a 1-0 win in that extra series-deciding period as Peter Brockman was able to shovel home a loose puck between the legs of goaltender Tommy Chapman.

With time ticking away after the go-ahead goal, Eden/Lake Shore was able fortify its play in the neutral zone, preventing any late chances from the Raiders while also keeping Chapman hemmed in to prevent an extra attacker from the Jamestown bench.

“Hockey is a game of bounces and inches and we got a bad bounce and they got a goal and we couldn’t get back into it,” said Gerace.

Jamestown’s Luke Tota takes a shot on goal. P-J photo by Alex Shipherd

Playing Game 1 on the road Thursday evening, the Raiders were unable to hang on to a two-goal lead, as Eden/Lake Shore came roaring back for a 5-4 win to enter Friday’s contest with a game in hand.

“After we got a two-goal lead we came into the locker room for the ice cut. We came back, and even though we talked about the fact that the two-goal lead is the hardest lead to hold on to in hockey, we came out a little bit too confident, and they got back in to the game,” Gerace said of his game on Thursday night.

“But I was really proud of the boys that came out hard and won the first game to put us in the mini-game, but we wouldn’t have been in that situation if we had held on to the lead (Thursday) night. That was the difference maker. It is really hard to come in and win two in a row like that.”

There is no question that Gerace and his coaching staff saw a different level of concentration out of their team on Friday.

Both goaltenders were forced to show their merit early as Jacob Gerace blitzed in for a breakaway on goaltender Adriana Harman for a shot that was turned away with a sprawling effort.

Eden/Lake Shore returned that favor with a series of chances on Chapman as Bryan Rechin, Michael Martin and Jarrett Wolf all fired shots from scoring positions. Chapman made 10 of his 27 saves in the opening period.

With 8:20 to play Jamestown was close to getting on the board when Will Turner fired a puck on Harman that was bobbled back to a waiting Cooper Spielman, who chipped a backhand towards the net that was narrowly blocked away by a nice defensive play.

Some more chances from Gerace would see the opening period come to a close with a 0-0 stalemate before Jamestown was able to get on the board in the first minute of the second.

Brinkley was able to put the hosts up with a low shot in front off a pass by Jadon Barron, and the Raiders top line used that momentum to double their lead just a few shifts later.

With the clock reading 13:56, Gerace entered the zone with speed, opting for a drop pass to Brinkley. Drawing his defender to the left side, Brinkley fed a pass to his trailing linemate Barron, who was able to finish off a shifty blocker-side move to make it 2-0.

“Those three really clicked,” Joe Gerace said of his top line. “They were our leading scoring line of the team. They move the puck well, see each other, talk to each other and it was fun to watch them play.”

Two minutes after making it a two-goal game, Eden/Lake Shore climbed back into contention as a shot was fired off the backboard and then shoveled home into an open net by TJ Wahl as Chapman made his slide across the crease.

Jamestown wasted no time getting its margin back after that tally, as Will Steen let a shot go from the high slot that was tipped into the upper corner by Barron to make it 3-1.

The Raiders showed some crisp passing once again on their final goal of the night, this time with the man advantage.

Barron was able to hit a puck down low to Brinkley from the point, at which point Chase Jones called for a pass on the backdoor that was smacked home on a one-timer.

“I’m proud of the boys, they fought hard tonight,” said Gerace. “I’m really sad for them, especially the seniors on the team. They didn’t want to end the season like this.”

The Raiders season comes to a close at 5-12-2 while Eden/Lake Shore will move on with a 9-7-3 record.

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