On Monday, February 22, 2010 the Dukes took on the Providence Celtics in the opening round of the 2010 Blackhawk Cup, Varsity Red Division.  The Monday night game had a late start (9:15 p.m.) at the Addison Ice Arena.

   The Providence Celtics were seeded #24 and the #9 seeded Dukes were thus awarded home ice.  The Dukes jumped out to an early 1-0 when Nick Albergo snapped off a wrist shot at the 14:39 mark from a very challenging, flat angle at the bottom of the left circle.  The shot found its way through some traffic and the Celtic goalie never seemed to get a good read on it before it found the back of the net.

   The offensive highlight of the night came at the 10:29 mark of the first period when Nick Albergo turned a defenseman inside out and then completed a hesitation type move/ deke, forcing the goalie to bite and slide out of position,  resulting in a break-away goal and a 2-0 lead.

   Jason Kuzara shut out the Celtics in the first period and the York lead surged to 3-0 when Mike Tiede lifted a heavy wrist shot past the Providence goalie glove for the score.

   With a 3-0 first period lead, the game looked like it could turn into a rout.  The Providence Celtics had other ideas and came out very physical and aggressive in the second period.  The Celtics aggressiveness paid off as they scored on a power play goal at 12:46 and then tightened the score on a short-handed goal at the 8:22 mark.  Providence was skating with more confidence and when the second period came to a close, it was 3-2 and it looked like anybody’s game.

  The third period was unusual given the repeated Providence penalties that led to a 5 on 3 and then several 5 on 4 power play opportunities for the Dukes.  Despite York skating a man up for the majority of the period, it was the Celtics that had their chances.  Try as they might, Providence could not break through and when they pulled their goalie with just under a minute left, it did not make a difference, as York skated to a 3-2 opening round win.

  The Dukes advance to the Sweet Sixteen and will play CLS in a rematch on Saturday, March 13 at 12:50 pm at the Edge Ice Arena.