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Bergen Catholic Tops Don Bosco Prep In Gordon Cup Quarterfinals

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When Don Bosco Prep and Bergen Catholic met in the semifinals of the Bergen County Tournament back in January the Ironmen prevailed with a third period goal. This time in the quarterfinals of the Gordon Cup the seventh-seeded Crusaders were able to come up with the game-winning goal in the third period as Kyle Marano snapped a 3-3 tie with 7:15 left in regulation (assist from Bryan Hallenback and Sean White).

Don Bosco Prep had won eleven straight games before Bergen Catholic broke the streak with a 4-1 victory on January 21st. The Crusaders had three power plays in the 1st period and were successful on two out of three. Brian Ayers rifled a shot top shelf past Ironmen goaltender Alexei Masanko with two minutes left in the period (assists from Lucas Milbank and Evan Wisocky). Twenty-five seconds later Zach Larsen sent one home making the score 2-0 (assist from Diarmad DiMurro). Masanko robbed Larsen with a spectacular glove save five seconds after the goal to prevent further damage.

“The power play has been something we have been working on consistently in practice,” said Bergen Catholic Head Coach Brian Monteverdi. “We implemented puck movement because passing lanes tend to open up.”

With Bergen Catholic on their fourth power play of the contest, the Ironmen caught a break with a 2 on 1 play as Chris Mazella fed Hunter Galarsco who wristed a laser past Sal Farrugga cutting the lead down to 2-1 with 12:47 left in the 2nd period. Six minutes later the Crusaders reclaimed their two-goal lead off a rebound in front of the Ironmen net, Nicolas Arcoli fired a shot from a wide angle into the far left post of the net.

“We let it loose tonight and one of the freshmen scored tonight,” Monteverdi said. “These kids had opportunities and took advantage of them by producing. It started the last couple of games and especially the last time we played Don Bosco.”

The Ironmen stormed back with 2:07 remaining in the period off a shot from the blue line from Anthony Firrolo, Stephen Bressi parked alone in front of the net stuffed the puck past Masanko. Thirty-nine seconds later Mazzella tied the game up at 3-3(assists from Hunter Galarsco and Michael Jordan).

“Don Bosco came out with the surge and key is reacting to that tempo,” Monteverdi said. “We are going to continue to prepare and stay focused. I told the guys in the locker room enjoy this victory and moment because tomorrow we back down to business.”

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Sunil Sunder Raj

Since July of 2014 Sunil Sunder Raj has been with In The Zone. Sunil has experience covering minor league baseball, high school and college sports. A beat writer for the Rockland Boulders for six years, Ramapo College men’s basketball for four years, NJIT men’s basketball and Seton Hall women’s basketball. Now focusing on feature articles about athletes, coaches and sports media professionals. A graduate of Ramapo College of New Jersey with a bachelor of arts degree in journalism.
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