WPCNR PRESS BOX. By “Red Light” Bailey. November 25, 2006: The shootout was tied 1-1 after three shooters a side had taken their shots after 50 minutes of play and six shooters.
Conroy Slips his backhander in past Horace Greeley Goaltender, Dylan Picker for the Shootout Clincher. Photo, WPCNR Sports
Tim Conroy started skating slow cruising in head-to-head with Greeley goaltender Dylan Picker with a chance for sudden victory. He conned Picker to his forehand about 15 feet out drawing the netminder sprawling forward, then deftly sweeping to his backhand in Andy Bathgate style, Conroy slipped the puck cleanly alongside the goaltender’s sprawled right leg into the center of the net for the winning goal. Pandemonium! The Tigers leapt the bench and raced to join Conroy after the coup de grace for a mass hug in front of the stands. The Tigers were 3-0, and looking good.
The Equalizer: Rui Encarnacao(9) behind the net has just cruised past after Phil Segona, farside has jammed in Rui's rebound to tie the score with 1:50 in regulation. Picker looks into his net at the puck. Photo, WPCNR Sports
The two hundred fans for the nightcap of the White Plains Tigers Invitational Hockey Tournament had seen the Tigers Phil Segona tie up the game jamming a rebound home after Rui Encarnacao’s flip over aimed over the goalie’s shoulder had hit his armboard and dropped the puck in front between the tender’s legs. Segona, right on Rui’s tail in a superb trailing effort, rapped it between the goaltender’s legs for the tying goal at the 13:10 mark of the final period with 1:50 to go– one of the few rebounds Picker had allowed. Encarnacao had corralled a loose puck in center ice and broke alone on a breakaway swooping in on left wing with Segona trailing on right wing, beating the defenders playing catch up.
Goal Disallowed.
The Tigers Matt Goldstein got caught retaliating on a heavy check with 1:21 to go in the third period, and on the ensuing power play a Quaker low on the box rifled a shot across the goalmouth behind Tiger Goalie, Mike Cambareri, but a Quaker was sprawled in the crease and the goal was disallowed to the disbelief of the Quakers.
NO GOAL! NO GOAL! Referee disallowing Greeley goal with 13 seconds to go in regulation because the across-the-goal-mouth shot was put in by a player in the crease. The Photograph appears to show the player is definitely in the crease. Photo, WPCNR Sports
This was a honey with great goaltending by the Tigers’ Mike Cambareri who kept the Tigers in the penaltyfest with 43 saves, including 3 breakaway saves in the second period, and two stops in the shootout. Dylan Picker was Patrick Roy-look-alike in goal for the Quakers denying the Tigers point blank consistently. It was a game that built and built in intensity with both teams throwing everything at each other.
Cambareri Big Time in Period Two
Cambareri was spectacular in the second period where the Quakers leveled 17 shots at him in 15 minutes, and scored 3 times. The second period began with the Tigers trailing 1-0, the result of a first period short-handed goal by Greeley’s Cole Cherney who snared a loose puck behind the Tiger net and jammed it in around the left post behind Cambareri. Though the Tigers threw 11 shots at Picker in the first, it remained 1-0 going to the second period.
The Second Period saw the Tigers tie it up on a feed from Matt Altieri to Ryan McGhee skating across at the top of the circle left to right, rifled one on a clear shot at Picker and it entered lower right corner to tie it 1-1 at 2:11 of the Second Period. The Tiger penalty killers, Charlie Pavarini, Jamie Fairhurst, Phil Sigona Rui Encarnacao and Tim Conroy frustrated the bigger, but not as fast Quakers, killing off two penalties back to back, allowing only one shot on goal from the 10 minute mark to the 7 minute mark. When Rui Encarnacao scored with another quick low right corner shot at 9:04 of the second period, the Tigers had a 2-1 lead.
Rui Encarnacao (9) has just fired in a flaming forehander that has caught the lower right corner on a screen shot for a 2-1 Tiger lead in the second. Photo, WPCNR Sports
Then the Quakers stepped it up a notch
C. Belles scored on a breakaway to tie at 10:59and Cherney on a great effort on a rebound in a melee to the left of Mike Cambareri, and whipped it behind him into the far left corner to make it 3-2, Greeley at the 13:47 mark. This was after concentrated pressure by the Quakers, who dominated the last five minutes of the second period.
White Plains superior speed produced another equalizer in the last 10 seconds of this rouser of a period. Steve McCarrick fed Tim Conroy who swooped into leaving three Quakers down ice. Conroy fed to Rui Encarnacao who, skating left to right across the goal mouth just about between the circles shot as he was falling and fired, skated around the net, and when Picker failed to cover the bound slipped it behind him on the right side to tie it 3-3 at 14:47 of the Second Period with 13 seconds to go.
The second period showed heavy hitting as the bigger, rangier Quakers were bumping the elegant swift skating Tigers who had been having their way getting down into the Quaker ice. Not in the last half of the second period. Nine penalties were called in the last 10 minutes of the period.
Breakaway Goal Almost Stands Up
The Tigers came out flying in the third period on a power play but got caught pinching for the go-ahead goal when a puck came flying off a Tiger leg on a slapper and ricocheted into center ice. Cole Cherney snared it with John Amodeo on right wing with him. With only one defender to beat, Cherney passed to Amodeo who beat Cambareri cold, lower right corner for the go-aheader at 2:40 of the Third Period. It was 4-3, Chappaqua. Thirteen penalities were called in the third period…9 on Horace Greeley and 4 on White Plains. There was hooking, slashing, roughing, interference, check from behind. The action was gritty, tough, fast and high energy. End to End action with the Tigers finally scoring on Segona’s rebound off the Encarnacao steal when the Tigers were on a power play due to a check from behind by Belles at the 12 minute mark.
8 Tiger Power Plays in the Final Stanza.
Greeley stymied 8 Tiger Power Plays in the third period with heavy hitting, brutal, deft stickwork and looked like they were going to stop the 9th until just 1:50 was remaining in the game. Encarnacao’s alert steal in center ice and Segona following the play as Rui flew past the slow Greeley defenseman and closed in. Rui shot high on the right side hitting Picker high. He failed to smother! Picker deflected, but could not smother and Segona’s stick bladed it in to tie it up. The Tigers threw 17 shots at Picker in the third, but the 18th went in to tie 4-4
The overtime was cautious ending in a 4-4 tie. In the shoot out, Cole Cherney lead off for Chappaqua. Pavarini closed his shot on the right post padding it aside. Phil Segona skated in on Picker. Picker covered his head-on shot. Ian Steinberg closed on Pavarini and again Mike smothered the low left shot to the right. Pavarini refused to commit.
Second up for the Tigers in the shootout was Rui Encarnacao who beat Picker who committed to soon on Rui’s forehand as the boards shuddered with Tiger fan approval.
Belles whose penalty gave the Tigers the extra power play in the third period, was Greeley’s last hope he got Mike to commit and scored. With six shooters gone by it was now, “next goal wins.”
Tim Conroy took the ice and with his Andy Bathgate style won the game deking Picker to come out and whisking the backhand past him. The rest as they say was history.
Tiger Paws: This was big league hockey in every way…Tiger speed is blazing (all must be of French Canadian ancestry, with a lot of Montreal Canadien in them)…they are fast on their blades and tough in the corners. In the two tough wins this weekend they out forechecked and worked the corners against big tough players, and for the most part, refused to lose their poise…They are much more fun to watch than the Rangers, Islanders and Devils.
Saves: Mike Cambareri stopped 43 shots, Dylan Picker, 38…There were 28 penalties in this hockey game , 17 on Greeley, 11 on White Plains. The penalties increased as the game went on…6 were called in the First Period. 9 in the second period, and 13 in the third period… In other tournament action Saturday, Ryetown-Harrison beat Brewster, 5-3; Ryetown plays Stepinac Sunday at 4:15 today. Stepinac defeated Somers/North Salem, 6-0; Monroe-Woodbury downed Mahopac, 4-2 and will face White Plains Sunday night at 8:15 P.M. for the Invitational Crown. Mahopac plays Horace Greeley at 6:15 P.M.
Three Stars of the Game: Star # 1 Horace Greeley's Cole Cherney (2 Goals, 2 Assists); Star # 2: White Plains Rui Encarnacao (2 goals, 1 Assist) and Star # 3: White Plains Tim Conroy (Game Winning Shootout Goal)
Tigers Celebrate! Photo, WPCNR Sports
Hockey Night in White Plains. Photo,WPCNR Sports
