Addison-The York Varsity hockey team finished strong with a 7-5 win versus Plainfield on Friday, October 17. The rink was packed for York Hockey Club’s popular Spirit Night and combined with the annual Breast Cancer Awareness game. York skaters played in honor of family members or friends who fought cancer. York freshman Nicole Polizzi motivated the crowd with a stunning a cappella rendition of the Star Spangled Banner prior to the opening face off.
The first period started out with a heavy slap shot from sophomore defenseman Michael Rouzer. The shot was tipped in by senior Joey Hayes for the first goal of the game. Plainfield tied the score towards the end of the period but the tie was short lived. With 2:32 left in the first period, sophomore winger Mark Dorsey buried a juicy rebound after a shot by senior Frank Carbonetti.
With a little over a minute remaining in the first period, hard-working junior winger Marcos Kapsalis got the puck back to senior Brandon Fuchsen at the point. Fuchsen unloaded a heavy slap shot, which was tipped in once again by Joey Hayes for his second goal of the game. York ended the first period up 3-1.
The second period began with two quick York penalties, putting the home team in a two-man, shorthanded situation. York goalie Liam McFarlane did all he could to bail out his teammates, but after two brilliant saves, Plainfield scored to close the gap to 3-2. Shortly thereafter Plainfield scored again on a breakaway and the game was all tied up 3-3.... but not for long.
Thirty seconds later sophomore defenseman Nick Lee assisted Marcos Kapsalis who scored from the goal line on an extremely low angle wrist shot which somehow squeezed in between the goalie and the goal post.
McFarlane came up with a huge save on a penalty shot midway through the period. “Here we go again,” is what McFarlane must have been thinking as Plainfield scored less than 40 seconds later on an odd man break, tying the game at 4-4.
With time winding down in the second period, York had a great opportunity to regain the lead as Plainfield took a bad penalty with three minutes to go; power play York. But, Plainfield scored on a shorthanded, odd man break and took the lead 4-5.
York took the goal personally and came back with a vengeance with less than two minutes remaining in the period. Senior defenseman Daniel Byrne moved the puck quickly to Kapsalis on the wing. Kapsalis made some nifty moves, created space, and fired a rising wrist shot that found the back of the net, top shelf goal with 1:09 to go in the second period. Game tied 5-5.
In the third period McFarlane faced 18 shots, the majority in shorthanded situations as York skaters took five penalties. McFarlane was up to the challenge iced Plainfield, including a sparkling diving save to keep the game deadlocked.
It looked as though the game would go to shootout, but with 34 seconds remaining senor Matt Dufort found himself all alone with the puck on the doorstep of the Plainfield goal. Dufort took a quick shot and lifted the puck over the goalie’s pad and in for the game winning goal. In a last ditch effort, Plainfield pulled their goalie for the extra skater but junior Joseph Levin fought for control of the puck, made a spin move at center ice and fired it in the empty net to seal the win for York, 7-5.
The next home game is Friday Oct 31 versus Waubonsie at Addison Ice.