AVIATORS FALL SHORT TO WILDCATS

By Joe Soccoa

            Intensity, emotion and exciting can sum up the weekend semifinals series between the Jersey Shore Wildcats and New York Aviators. The Aviators season ended Sunday afternoon in the deciding game against the Wildcats. The Wildcats will move on the championship while the Aviators will head home for the summer with some players moving on.

            Game 1 kicked off on Friday that saw the Aviators and Wildcats trade goals in the first period. The firs two goals came on the power play for the Aviators as Daniel Backstrom and Jimmy Warrick scored nearly 30 seconds apart. Then just under three minutes later it was the captain again Warrick giving New York the early 3-0 lead. Less than a minute later, the Wildcats were able to get on the board. Dominic Sacco answered back less than minute later for the 4-1 lead. Jersey Shore was able to capture the last two goals of the period to end the opening frame trailing one.

            The second period opened up with two goals in less than two minutes as both teams once again traded goals. Sam Shaheen for the Aviators and Dylan Plsek for the Wildcats picked up the goals. That would be all as both teams were trade chances but no other goals would be scored. The Aviators were successful on the special teams as they went 2-for-4 on their man advantages while the Wildcats were 0 for 5. Stephan Mundinger made 46 saves to pick up the win.

            Saturday saw more of a low-scoring affair between the two teams as Game 2 took place. This time it was Jersey Shore that came away with the 3-2 victory and tied the series 1-1 as it forced a game 3.  Jersey Shore threw 58 shots Mundinger but his 55 saves were not enough.  Alexi Pilatsky and Sacco were the goal scorers for the Aviators.

            The deciding game 3 took place Sunday and with the Aviators battling injuires and they couldn’t keep up as Jersey Shore coasted to a 6-2 win. Shaheen and Sacco were the goal scorers. Sacco played the game with a separated shoulder and other nagging injuries didn’t help the cause.

            Head coach Mike Stanaway when asked about the overall outcome of the series he said, “Although there is no question we had the most talented team in the league, some key injuries and our inability to capitalize on scoring chances caused us to come up short on our goal of a league title. Hats off to Jersey Shore, they worked hard and deserved to win.”

            Team general manager and owner Jim Loughran commended the team in a statement by saying, “I can’t be any prouder of this group the way they battled and supported each other throughout the season. They have a great future ahead of them and have set the bar for next year’s squad. There is no reason to hang their heads with what they’ve accomplished.”

            The season has come to an end but the future is bright including some new and exciting news that is soon to follow. To all the fans for their support, we thank you and we’ll see you next season as the goal is the same and bar is set higher.