Tigers' hockey gets much needed win at tournament

A season of up and downs continued this weekend for the Amherst Central Federation hockey team as they turned heartbreak into triumph at the second annual Geneseo Lakers Invitational Tournament on the campus of Geneseo State College.

The Tigers suffered a heartbreaking 3-2 loss on Friday night against Section V's Victor only to rebound and take home the consolation championship beating host Geneseo, 6-5, on Saturday.

"My team showed a lot of character this weekend," said Amherst head coach Rich Crozier. "After the devastating turn of events last night, to come out here and pull this one out speaks volumes about these boys and the resiliency of this team."

After a scoreless first period that saw the Tigers outshoot Victor, 11-5, the Tigers got on the board early in the second.

Senior Josh Larwood dumped the puck in. Junior Kevin Denny quickly retrieved it and fed it to senior Matt Allwes in the slot. Allwes took a quick shot that deflected off a defender in front and found its way to the back of the net. For Allwes, it was his third goal of the season.

Ten minutes later, the Tigers struck again to take a 2-0 lead. On the power play, Allwes fed the puck to senior Al McQuiggan. Mc- Quiggan took a quick shot on net and Denny followed up to bury the rebound.

For Denny and Allwes, it was their second point of the game.

The Tigers took a 2-0 lead deep into the third period, but unfortunately were unable to hold on. In heartbreaking fashion, Victor scored three unanswered goals in the last few minutes of the game to win 3-2.

"It doesn't get any tougher than this one," said Crozier. "For 42 minutes, everything was going as planned. We made some tough mental mistakes in the last three minutes and couldn't recover."

Senior DJ Filer made 28 saves in net for the Tigers. McQuiggan was given player of the game for his strong defensive play.

After falling behind 1-0 early in the first against Geneseo, the Tigers roared back with three unanswered goals. The Tigers tied the game at 1-1 when, off a great forecheck, senior Dan Hubbard tallied.

Junior Sean Mullane followed the play into the Geneseo zone and forced a turnover behind the Geneseo net. Hubbard picked up the puck and quickly slid it into the open side on the net.

A minute later, the Tigers made it 2-1 when Larwood scored his first of the season. Again, after a strong forecheck, Denny forced the turnover in the Geneseo zone. Junior Alex Dennis grabbed the puck and quickly passed it to Larwood in the slot. Larwood fired a one-timer on net that beat the Geneseo netminder through the five-hole.

The Tigers made it 3-1 early in the second when Hubbard recorded his second goal of the game. After receiving a pass from Mullane, McQuiggan carried the puck into the zone and let a rocket of a slap shot off that hit the post and caromed right to Hubbard's stick. Hubbard made no mistake, firing the puck right away that just barely passed the goal line.

It was McQuiggan's second point of the game.

Penalty trouble allowed Geneseo to tie the game at 3-3 after two periods of play. The Tigers struck early in the third when Mullane recorded his third point of the game.

A solid forecheck from senior Blake Napierala gave Hubbard a break out of the corner. Hubbard fed the puck across to Mullane who shot the puck passed a sprawled out Geneseo goaltender.

The Tigers made it 5-3 when senior Phil Cultrara tallied his second of the year. Senior Mike Gruttaduria laid out his check deep in the Geneseo zone. Cultrara picked up the puck and made a nice wrap around play into the open side.

Geneseo then answered two minutes later, making the score 5-4. Finally, at the five-minute mark of the third, McQuiggan scored the biggest goal of the Tigers' season to date. While killing a four-minute major penalty, McQuiggan stole the puck from the Geneseo defenders and went in on a break way. The senior assistant captain let a razor of a wrist shot off that went off the right post and into the net.

"What a huge goal," said Crozier. "We put ourselves in a bad spot with the penalty and Al (McQuiggan) stepped up right at the perfect time. You expect your big time players to get big time goals, and none were bigger than that one."

Geneseo made it interesting, scoring a fifth goal, but the Tigers held on for the 6-5 win. Filer once again played solid for the Tigers, making 28 saves and earning player of the game honors.

"There has never been a more needed win then this one," said Crozier. "Six goals is the high for the season and we had eight different players record points. It was a total team effort. I am most proud of the way this team responded from the turn of events last night to come back and win."

The Tigers have a busy week as they take on rival Sweet Home at 7 p.m. on Thursday on the Amherst Pepsi Center Olympic Rink and Kenmore East at 3 p.m. on Saturday on the Feature Rink.