Reading, Pa. (November 18, 2006) - Alvernia put together three strong periods en route to their finest performance in 2006. Dickinson College proved to be a good measuring stick for the young Crusader squad. The Vern wasted little time establishing a lead, and never trailed from the opening facing off. Timely offense, and greedy defense, combined with sophomore goaltender Chris Medico’s (Madison HS/Madison, NJ) stellar job between the pipes, had the Crusaders firing on all cylinders.
Freshman center Pete Cirard (Harry S. Truman HS/Levittown, Pa.) collected the early lead at the 5:32 mark of the first period. Cirard hovering around the crease, picked up defenseman Brent Reed’s (Hamburg HS/Hamburg Pa.) dump in front, and smacked home the opening goal. Only four minutes later, Alvernia found themselve on the power play while wasting little time converting this odd man advantage. First line center Bruce Hawthorne (Penn Ridge H.S/Blooming Glen, Pa.) working the sideboards just above the hash marks, found Reed alone above the left face off circle. Reed timed a slap shot with activity in front of the Red Devil netminder, the puck easily sailed uncontested into the open stick side corner. The Crusaders offensive blue line production remains the catalyst to the early success of the squad. The Vern was not finished adding to the lead in the opening frame. Defenseman sophomore Michael Gilmore (Eastview HS/Farmington, Mn.) easily accepted Matt Iamurri’s (Neumann & Goretti HS/Philadelphia, Pa.) perfectly placed pass on the forehand, and riffled home a right circle slapper inside the far post, over stick side shoulder. Alvernia jumped to a 3-0 lead which was not threatened untill late in the game.
The second period was an offensive stale mate, with the two teams exchanging several good scoring chances. The quick flow of the second period could be directly related to the fact that neither team spent time in the penalty box. An extremely disciplined Alvernia squad managed to take only three penalties the entire game. The new standard of rules enforcement policy has hindered the pace of games initially but tonight’s game may be a sign of players adjusting to the officiating.
Alvernia entered the third frame with the same intensity and swagger of the previous two periods. Junior Chris Pratt (Conwell-Egan HS, Bensalem, Pa.) fired home what proved to be the game winning goal at the 2:36 mark of the third period. Pratt’s even strength score validated the forward’s offensive success in recent games. Dickinson caused several late scares for the Crusaders with two goals over the final six minutes, the second closing the gap to a one goal game with 1:17 remaining in regulation. The Vern was napping on a 5 on 3 power play and gave up a break away goal. Hawthorne ended the suspense thirteen seconds later with a power play tally from inside the right circle. Pratt slid Hawthorne a pass out of the corner and Hawthorne slapped home a right circle blast off the Dickinson goalie into the top left corner. Alvernia played determined hockey with a total team effort, moving the Crusaders four games over the .500 mark.
Special Team Kudo’s:
Power Play went 2-4 tonight
Pete Cirard spent 0:00 minutes in the “Sin Bin”
Outstanding Efforts:
Chris Medico stifled numerous high percentage shots
Injury Update
Joe Pietrobone looks to return December 2
David Warriner still questionable with lingering concussion
